Dry Hopping at KO

[BigWilley]

Due to equipment problems I got behind on production and my Pale Ale was just about gone. I figure I needed to do the fastest beer I had ever done, I was planning on maybe stretching it to 10 days but I brewed on Tuesday and filtered the next monday! Anyway, I knew I wouldnt be able to pull off my usual dry hop so I recalled reading about some larger micro that did a one off beer where they threw hops into the fermenter with the yeast at KO. I figured what the hell and doubled my usual hop addition to 11lbs of Columbus into a 14 Bbl batch, fermented at 75F and the beer came out great and even filtered smooth. I crashed it on Saturday, filtered monday. This beer will only last one month in the server and wont go off premise. Im wondering if i should do this again? It was an easy way to dryhop and I obviously dont plan to reuse yeast from this batch. My pale is on premise only and turns over quickly. Also the hops come in sealed 11lb pouches so they are as clean as they are going to be. Any thoughts. At the very least i know how to make a speedy pale with killer hop flavor and aroma. The blow off smelled heavenly!

[gabewilson50]

Fermenter dry hopping

If you're looking for another method, drop the pelletized hops into the top of the fermenter toward the end of fermentation. You should get more aroma out of the hops this way, because actively fermenting yeast will convert aa's to iso-aa's, plus much of your volitile aromas will escape out your air lock during fermentation if you add before knockout. All you have to do is SLOWLY remove the pressure relief valve and funnel in the hops, and allow 24 hours before you crash the beer. Make sure to spray all surfaces liberally with sanitizer.

[BigWilley]

I used to use that method as well but if the ferment is a bit too strong you have to watch out! When the hops start coming back out of the tank its time to put the prv back on and clamp it down quick. I have had a couple of beer gysers! The results are nice though.

[gabewilson50]

Fob showers

Yeah, all it took is one geyser for me to recognize that if your fermentation isn't almost finished, you can't force it all in one shot. The warning to put the clamp back on is when pellets start flying back at you. All you do is reseal it, wait a couple of minutes for the pressure to relive itself through your air lock, and then try again.

[Larry Horwitz]

If you're looking for another method, drop the pelletized hops into the top of the fermenter toward the end of fermentation. You should get more aroma out of the hops this way, because actively fermenting yeast will convert aa's to iso-aa's, plus much of your volitile aromas will escape out your air lock during fermentation if you add before knockout. All you have to do is SLOWLY remove the pressure relief valve and funnel in the hops, and allow 24 hours before you crash the beer. Make sure to spray all surfaces liberally with sanitizer.

....not so very much. AAs need heat and time to convert to IAAs. you can add early if you like but you'll save money and get more aroma for your buck if you wait until primary fermentation is over. Also, you can crop yeast before you dry hop...

[BigWilley]

I have dry hopped every way imaginable and although it seems counterintuitive, adding during the last stage of primary gave me the most bang per lb of hops. You can look at a previous thread for this info. I have heard all the theories about aroma getting scrubbed out by a active fermentation, and yeast absorption, etc. But on this last beer the ferment was extremely vigorous (75F) and I still got great aroma. Granted 11lbs of Columbus is a lot of hops for 14 Bbl but it still smells impressive. I think the vigorous mixing of the hops more than makes up for aroma lost in blow off. Just myho from my experience. The reason I quit adding during the end of active, was so I could harvest yeast.