How to Dry Hop in a Carboy

Learning how to dry hop in a carboy is quite simple, especially if you are already familiar with both dry hopping and working with a carboy.

If you are not familiar with one or either, fear not, we have all your answers.

Let’s begin at the beginning.

History of Hops

While many presume that hops were introduced and adopted suddenly by brewers around the time of global exploration for preservative purposes, nothing could be further from the truth.

It took centuries of experimentation and persuasion to get the world of brewing to accept and adopt hops into beer as a universal.

You see, at first, brewers were simple farmers and women providing for their families.

Beer, mostly ale, was made in small batches as a byproduct of whatever grain was handy at the time.

The grain was roasted as a cereal grain, ground to expose the sugars inside, and then steeped.

Along the way, herbs were added to cut down on the sweetness of the beer, and in combination, these herbs were called “gruit.”

Gruit was typically made up of local herbs to the region of the brewer – bog myrtle, yarrow, St. John’s wort, coriander, rosemary, or wormwood.

The goal was to add herb and floral hints as well as a bit of bitterness.

The problem with all beer at the time was that it needed to be drunk quickly before it spoiled.

Even the most heavily alcoholic beverages would go flat and the grain in the liquid would go bad.

Then, as the Roman Empire spread, the people of Babylonia began to travel with their local plant, the hop, which was used as a vegetable.

In time, they also began to include it in their beverages, brewing strong batches of bitter ale.

It was not long before brewers making beer for travel adopted the inclusion of hops rather than gruit as they noticed hops not only gave beer the effect of bitterness but they also acted as a preservative.

Over time, as travel became more prominent and the brewing business grew larger around the 1600s, the world embraced hops as the standard bittering and preserving agent.

However, hops have long been added to the brew along with the grain before the boiling and steeping.

Dry hopping was only discovered later.

What Is Dry Hopping?

Dry hopping is the act of adding the hops after the boil, and even after primary fermentation at times.

The idea behind dry hopping is that it brings out all the floral, fruity, and herby notes without extracting all the bitterness from the plant.

A dry hopped beer will allow you to taste the hops without too much bitterness.

Think of any strong tea; the longer you steep it, the more bitter it becomes.

Benefits of Dry Hopping

As such, brewers began dry hopping to enhance the subtle elements of the hops they had chosen for their beer without those notes being overpowered by the extra bitterness.

In contrast, some brewers want the extra bitterness, so they will add hops intentionally before the boil, extracting as many bitterness units as possible.

It is all a matter of taste.

Regardless, adding hops at any point during the fermentation process will both cut down on sweetness and add the element of bitterness and floral notes to the beer.

What Is a Carboy

For many smaller brewers, or even larger brewers experimenting with new batches, a carboy is the ideal way to brew a smaller brew.

A carboy is a glass or plastic jug that resembles a water cooler bottle, and it comes in 1, 3 and 6 gallon sizes.

Most brewers will brew 5 gallons of beer in 6-gallon carboy to allow for headspace during fermentation and the addition of hops for dry hopping.

The best carboy is one made of glass as it will not crack or absorb sanitizer or bleach during cleaning.

It also tends to sit flatter on the surface, so you don’t have to worry about pressurization and having your bottle crack.

How to Dry Hop in a Carboy

You have three options for dry hopping in a carboy – loose during primary fermentation, contained during primary fermentation, or contained during secondary fermentation.

Loose During Primary Fermentation

To dry hop loose during primary fermentation, you will literally just drop your hops into the carboy once your wort cools down and allow fermentation to take place alongside the hops.

You can add your hops at any point during primary fermentation, and just remember the longer the hops sit, the more bitterness you will extract.

Once you prepare to rack your beer, you will simply filter out the loose hops with your yeast.

Test Your Yeast

 

This process will make cropping yeast more difficult of course.

Contained During Primary Fermentation

If you do want to crop your yeast, you can contain your hops in a mesh bag or cheesecloth, which will allow you to fully steep the hops in your wort without having them become mixed up with your yeast.

Then, when you are ready to rack your beer, simply pull the hops in the cheesecloth out of the wort and move to secondary fermentation.

Contained During Secondary Fermentation

You also have the option of waiting to add your hops to the secondary fermentation process, once you have already racked and extracted all of your sediment.

This option allows you to ensure the least amount of bitterness as the hops are being added so late in the process, so be sure you keep the hops in a mesh bag or cheesecloth and simply allow the hops to lightly influence the beer with the herbal notes with very little strong bitterness included.

Cheers!

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