Hazy Beer After Dry Hopping? How Do You Dry Hop?

[gcphilli]

I have been dry hopping by just simply adding hop pellets to the beer after its done fermenting. I have only dry hopped two beers so far. Both have turned out murky and have little particles floating around in them. So my guess is its the dry hopping that is causing this. Would putting them in a hop bag make much difference? Should I be using whole hops for dry hopping? What are your methods and suggestions for dry hopping and not getting so much junk from the hops into my beer?

[captain carrot]

You might try adding your hop pellets to your primary fermenter when yeast activity slows. Let it dry hop for a week to 10 days and then transfer to secondary to clear. Some finings in secondary may help also (isinglass, gelatin, polyclar etc). Whole hops would cut down on the fine particles. I wouldn't bag them so you get maximum steep. I dry hop all my beers in the keg. I use a muslin bag for whole hops and a finer nylon bag for hop pellets weighted down with a large stainless steel bolt. There usually is some hop matter in the first couple of pours and they tend to be cloudier than my non dry hopped beers. I would trade off clarity for flavor any day of the week.

Welcome to the forum!

[Evan B]

clarity is over rated

[HighCountry]

Highly-hopped beers are high in polyphenols, which tend to bond to proteins and unfermented starch in the finished beer. All the steps mentioned above, as well as filtering, are effective in reducing the amount of polyphenol haze. Much of this haze is caused by very fine particles and is difficult to remove. That's why it's fit to style in beers like IPAs. From the BJCP guidelines for American IPA:

"Should be clear, although unfiltered dry-hopped versions may be a bit hazy."

Lots of fantastic commercial versions are hazy. If you want to reduce the amount of haze, captain carrot provided some good ideas. I don't put the hops in the keg, since I don't know how long a certain keg is going to be around before it's finished. The hops can impart an unpleasant grassy flavor to the beer if they sit for too long. So I dry hop with whole hops in the primary after fermentation is 90% complete. I then keg the beer, crash and cold condition it fore a couple weeks before serving. Dump the first pint or so, and every pint after that is a little clearer. It's a cheap and easy way to 'filter' if you have patience (and lots of other beers in the pipeline to keep you busy).

[HighCountry]

clarity is over rated

Yep, +1.

[captain carrot]

Highly-hopped beers are high in polyphenols, which tend to bond to proteins and unfermented starch in the finished beer. All the steps mentioned above, as well as filtering, are effective in reducing the amount of polyphenol haze. Much of this haze is caused by very fine particles and is difficult to remove. That's why it's fit to style in beers like IPAs. From the BJCP guidelines for American IPA:

"Should be clear, although unfiltered dry-hopped versions may be a bit hazy."

Lots of fantastic commercial versions are hazy. If you want to reduce the amount of haze, captain carrot provided some good ideas. I don't put the hops in the keg, since I don't know how long a certain keg is going to be around before it's finished. The hops can impart an unpleasant grassy flavor to the beer if they sit for too long. So I dry hop with whole hops in the primary after fermentation is 90% complete. I then keg the beer, crash and cold condition it fore a couple weeks before serving. Dump the first pint or so, and every pint after that is a little clearer. It's a cheap and easy way to 'filter' if you have patience (and lots of other beers in the pipeline to keep you busy).

Hey! You can't give all this great advise after calling yourself a moron. Moron card revoked!

[HighCountry]

Hey! You can't give all this great advise after calling yourself a moron. Moron card revoked!

Ha!

You brew long enough and you WILL end up wearing the asshat.

[hopshead]

When you dry hop a beer and it is hazy in the glass, that means it worked! In my beers, a lot of hops, boiling hops and dry hops, will make a beer hazy and its really good. I have started dry hopping by hanging several tea infusers full of pellet hops from the airlock. It keeps the pellets from settling to the bottom of the fermenter and remains suspended in the beer.