When I dry hop this time I want to use a hop sack. Is it necessary to sanitize the hop sack? Or will there be enough alcohol in my beer after a week of fermenting to do the sanitizing?
You might be able to get away without sanitizing the sack, but why take the chance when it’s so easy to do? I put mine in a small bowl of water and put it in the microwave for 2-3 min.
Cool. I never thought of that. Thankyou very much for your prompt reply.
I keep a spray bottle of Star-san around for things like that. Just grab it up, mist whatever you are working with, and move on.
I actually have a 5 gallon bucket of starsan for larger items… Like this.
Soak the bag, drain it and fill with hops.
OR, you can dry hop in the fermenter. Wait until activity has slowed down (little airlock activity, or 4 points above expected final gravity). Pour hops directly into fermenter and swirl the carboy/bucket to get everything nice and stirred up. Repeat the swirling once or twice a day for the next 3 days, then let settle until day 14 of fermentation. rack off and you are done.
Your idea makes a lot of sense. But I am trying to avoid loose hops in my fermenter. I am tired of clogged up bottling wand.
The less yeast you have in the fermentor, the better.
Dry hopping is all about getting the hop oils (aroma>flavor).
If you swirl up the yeast or still have fermentation taking place, you’ll find the hop oils adsorbing onto the yeast and the aromas being driven off by CO2 produced during fermentation. The result is that less hop oils make it into your finished beer.
You might want to consider clarifying the beer and transferring the bright beer to a secondary fermentor or keg and dry hopping for 5-7 days with a nylon sack as described above.