When dry hopping, is it important to transfer to a secondary fermenter and then add the hops? Or can you add hops while the beer is still in the primary fermenter with the layer of trub on the bottom?
Either option works. Most here no longer transfer because it isn’t really needed and opens up a chance for oxidation or contamination. If you which to save the yeast, I recommend transferring. If not, just add to primary after fermentation is complete.
I believe the more recent consensus is that it’s most effective to dry hop after removing the beer from the yeast cake. My understanding is that any yeast left in suspension will bind with the hops compounds and pull them out of solution as it drops out. I rarely secondary, so my procedure is to keg, then dry hop in the keg with enough pressure to seal. I pull the dry hops after the appropriate time and then carbonate the keg to desired pressure. If you bottle, of course that would necessitate a secondary.
IIRC, there is also some change in flavor of the hops addition when there is yeast present. Again, some chemical reaction that I don’t understand, but have read about. Others may be able to shed more light on this.
I’m just starting to get into kegging now and am not very familiar with the process as of yet. When dry hopping in a keg, does the keg essentially act as a secondary fermenter until the hops are removed and CO2 is added? Just want to make sure I am understanding that right.
+1. That’s my practice. Dry hopping into clear beer gives longer lasting, better hop character without the yeast present to reduce and interact IMO.
Quote:When dry hopping in a keg, does the keg essentially act as a secondary fermenter until the hops are removed and CO2 is added? Just want to make sure I am understanding that right.
No, your keg is not acting as a secondary. It would be your brite or serving vessel. The beer is left to completely ferment in the primary…all the way through a diacetyl rest if necessary. Then it’s cooled to drop the yeast out of suspension and the clear beer is racked into the keg. Now you dry hop. (I usually do so under a little pressure to seal the top and also vent any Oxygen that may have been introduced with the hops bag.) Then do your normal carbonating pressure after the hops have been pulled and the keg purged one more time. (Be judicious here, you do not want to blow out all the lovely hops aroma you’ve just captured)
There is recent data (refer to Stan Heironymous’s excellent “For the Love of Hops” for more details) that yeast metabolize some of the flavor and aroma compounds from hops and convert them to different substances. The specific changes depend on the yeast strain and hops. It’s definitely not something you can make broad assumptions across the board. A lot of the compounds involved can be perceived in multiple ways depending on concentration, what other compounds are present in combination, as well as your own nose or palate.
Regarding the suggestion that yeast pull hop compounds out of solution, while that may be true to some extent, there is also some research showing that yeast actually increase the level of certain hop compounds. This is done by breaking down glycosides that some of these hop compounds are bound to. Again, the end result is something best judged by one’s own palate.
In other words, there is no “right” way to do it. I add my dry hops right in primary while there is still a bit of yeast activity (usually day 7 of fermentation), and I am quite happy with my brews. I have yet to do a controlled test comparing a beer that has been dry-hopped in primary vs dry-hopped in secondary, but that’s definitely in the plans for me.
Would using Irish yeast take away from any secondary hop flavors? My thought is that it would clear it out to the bottom faster than beer without a fining agent.
On keg hopping, it’s not always necessary to remove the hops at all. I usually just leave them in the till the keg kicks. I put them in a sanitized sack, track beer on top seal, carbonate, serve.