Dry Hoping Problem

[hexalite]

Hey guys,

We dry hopped by adding hop pellets to the secondary fermentation. I checked on it today, since it's been a few weeks, and...

There is some sort of white on top of the floating hops in our fermentation bucket. We don't have this white in the carboys, only in the bucket. Could this be mold growing? Texture wise it dosen't look much different from the hops except. It's just white patches on the tips. Kind of like little mountains of snow. Yay, how seasonal. argh...

Any ideas? If it is mold, is the whole batch waste? Thanks!

[eyepah]

I have not had this problem but Palmer has the following solution in his book, "How to Brew"


Cause 1: Normal Fermentation The first time you look inside your fermentor, you will be treated to an amazing sight. There will be whitish yellow-brown foam on top of the wort, containing greenish areas of hops and resins. This is perfectly normal. Even if it appears slightly slimy, it is probably normal. Only if something hairy starts growing on top of the wort should you be concerned. I remember one guy reporting a dead bat floating in his fermentor...That was definitely cause for alarm.
Cure: Get another bat.

Cause 2: Mold A simple case of mold.
Cure: Mold can usually be just skimmed off with no lasting effect on the beer's flavor. Withdraw a sample of the wort with a siphon or turkey baster and taste it. If it tastes foul then its not worth keeping. Otherwise the beer was probably not harmed. Infections in beer caused by molds are not dangerous. Be meticulous in your sanitation and you should not have any problems.

This is available in its complete form online at How to Brew (http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html)

[bruin_ale]

Sometimes I get little circles of foam on the top of my beers that look like it might be spots of mold. Are you sure it's not just foam bubbles?

In any case, I agree with what eyepah quoted, especially the part about tasting the beer before deciding if it's a waste or not.
General rule of thumb for homebrewing:
1. If it tastes good, don't throw it out.
2. If it doesn't taste so good, give it a few weeks to see if it starts tasting better.

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by bruin_ale

General rule of thumb for homebrewing:
1. If it tastes good, don't throw it out.
2. If it doesn't taste so good, give it a few weeks to see if it starts tasting better.

Those are good rules

[corkybstewart]

I harvested about 2 oz of hops this year(1st year plants, Cascade and Nugget) and I wanted to use them to dry hop a pale ale, but then I got worried about infecting my beer. Any thoughts? Am I being paranoid or should I just use them at the end of the boil?

[HogieWan]

I've never heard of an infected batch from dry hopping.

[hexalite]

Thanks guys, good advice.

I just figured, hops are a plant, and plants can rott...

[Big Cat]

hops have an anaceptic quality to them and will not impart infection. quit the opposit it will suppress infection. That is why IPAs are so highly hopped and dry hopped. It allowed the beer to make the 3 month ship ride from England to India without going sour. So don't wory about dry hopping or about things growing on your hops ....it's all good:)

[corkybstewart]

What worried me is that I planted my hops in my old horse pen a month after aI sold my horses, my neighbors have horses, and since July it has not rained here so everything is very dry and dusty-basically there is an unknown amount of dessicated horse shit flying around my hops garden, along with our garden varieties of dust and pollen. You folks who live in humid regions really have no idea what dust is.(I was raised in Mobile AL so I know humidity)

[Big Cat]

hummm.....welll....I would try rinsing well befor drying the hops. And then maybe a little more befor adding it to the fermenter. I think you might possibly have a chance of being fine :p

Although I have shoveled alot of that crap in my time I don't think I would want it in my beer.

[Mad Scientist]

Our wonderful Texas summer heat torched my four bines, despite my best efforts.

[corkybstewart]

Can't be any hotter than here. What I did was to plant mine on the east and north sides of my barn so that they wouldn't have direct sunlight during the late afternoon, and that worked for the Nugget and Cascade. The Willamette never got more than 3 inches tall before they retreated back underground, and my 2 Liberty bines struggled but survived , though without a single cone. Maybe this next year they'll be better established. I also found myself watering them almost every 3 days, and keeping a layer of old hay around the base of the bines.

[Bilbo Beergins]

Check with your county agricultural agent about the dusty hops. Believe it or not, he'll probably jump at the chance to give recommendations. He should know about horse-poop bacterial half-life and such.

Could you rinse them and microwave to kill all bacteria? Don't know if this will kill the effect of the hops, but it shouldn't. All your doing is reaching about 212 F, just like in a boil.

[corkybstewart]

I'm not worried about boiling them, just using them for dry hopping.

[Bilbo Beergins]

What I mean is, could you rinse them with cold water, microwave, and throw in your already boiled and cooled batch?

[corkybstewart]

That might work, and I don't know if there is even any danger in using them as is. I'm not too sure if microwaving them is a good idea. No telling what that would do to their flavor, not to mention the smell in the house.

[Bilbo Beergins]

Maybe just rinse them (to get them wet) and just steam them to kill any bacteria. That way they aren't subject to those waves de la micro.

Come to think of it, would it hurt to rinse them in Everclear?

[corkybstewart]

The Everclear is a better idea. I'll give that a shot next time I brew a pale beer. Thanks for the input.

[hexalite]

Alright guys,

I used my brewing spoon with some cheese cloth wrapped around it to take out the hops floating on top of the wort (with the white stuff on it). It looks as if it had developed a skin of some sort and the whole thing kinda clumped together and came out in one scoop. VERY wierd.

Anyways, I sampled the beer and it tasted alright. But compared to the same batch in another fermentor it tastes a little sweet, maybe apple like? I think it might be doomed. I'm going to check it out in a few more days.

[Bilbo Beergins]

But compared to the same batch in another fermentor it tastes a little sweet, maybe apple like?

Road apples? Seriously, though, I hope the batch makes it to a positive completion. God knows, you might have successfully brewed a wild yeast batch. If it tastes good when it's done, you might want to determine what kind of yeast is on the hops. This is where the county agent might be helpful.

I tried to collect wild yeast from my neck of the woods, but all I got was bacteria. I live in the South Jersey swamps, and it's ALL about bacteria.