Dry-hopping is a technique used in many pale ales, IPAs, Double IPAs,
and other hop-forward beers. 
In fact, many of Northern Brewer's hoppy beer kits 
include a dry-hopping stage.
First off - what is dry hopping? Dry
hopping is the addition of hops to
secondary fermentation. Adding the hops
to the beer at this point in the process
increases the hop presence in both the
aroma and flavor of your beer.
Since these hops are not going into the boil don't expect any bitterness from them.
Also - hop acides are naturally anti-bacterial.
Thanks to this preservative quality
don't worry about sanitizing the hops
ahead of time. They're ready to go
straight out of the package.
Now let's dry hop some homebrew.
Whether you use buckets or carboys whole 
leaf or pellet, the process is pretty much
the same. Put the hops directly into the
secondary formentor first. Using an auto
siphoned or other tubing, transfer 
your beer directly onto the hops.
You can smell the hoppy goodness already.
The hops may float at first but they will
eventually take on beer and work
their way into the solution and then
drop out to the bottom of the fermentor.
The typical dry hopping schedule is
about one week.
This may change based on what you hope
to achieve with your dry hops.
In some cases such as with this giant 
Double IPA, we want a double punch
of hoppy goodness.
So we're going to do multiple 
additions of dry hops,
adding them in stages to get even more
hot character. After dry-hopping is complete
it's time to get the beer off of those hops.
While siphoning the beer, you want to be 
diligent and avoid picking up as 
much hop debris as possible.
Rack this beer into your bottling bucket or
keg for packaging or to a tertiary fermentor
for one more stage of clarification.
Dry hopping can add a bit of cloudiness
to some beers. It's fine to leave it as is, but products like biofine of gelatin are often used
to help clarify the final beer. Dry hopping 
in a primary fermenter is also acceptable.
Wait until all or at least most or all
of the yeast has settled to add the hops 
as yeast particulate can interfere with the
process. This is a great practice for
less dusty yeast strains like
 Wyeast 1968, 1028, or 1098.
However you choose to dry hop, 
once the beer is out of the fermentor,
dump the hops, give your popular carboy
a good rinse and soak, and get ready for
your next homebrew adventure. Dry hopping
is a great way -- even essential in some
cases -- to getting that in-your-face hop
character to the flavor and aroma
of your homebrew beer.
Northern Brewer carries a wide range of pellet and whole leaf hops for your homebreiwng needs
at NorthernBrewer.com.
