Okay, so I am currently working on my first batch that I Intend to Dry hop. I am getting a ton of mixed messages and want to see what the majority thinks. So I have finally come to the conclusion that for a small 5 gal batch, racking to a secondary is more risk than just leaving it in primary for the entire fermenting period. According to John Palmer, bigger breweries just rack to secondary vessels because the amount of sediment is MUCH greater than what we are dealing with and can cause off flavors. The only time we should rack is with fruit additions, or other fermentables and or if we intend to age. Well I'm finding a lot of brewers telling me they ONLY transfer to secondary if they are dry hopping or making additions. Then I have others telling me you can just dry hop in primary a week or so before bottling. Everyone is contradicting each other and just when i think I'm solid on what I believe, someone changes my mind. Let me know what you guys think!
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Welcome to homebrewing, where there are 3 correct answers for every question! :) Remember that most people work on "this works for me", and it might, but something else in their system/technique might be the magic. I only dry-hopped in secondary once because there was no way that 600g of whole hops would fit into my carboy!– Atron SeigeJul 8, 2015 at 13:13
2 Answers
In my opinion a "secondary" should be viewed as a tool. A potentially useful tool, but best used by someone who really has a grip of their brewing process and using it for a very specific purpose. I agree with Palmer, dont chase what the big brewers do, they have different issues then homebrewers. I would definitely suggest dry hopping in your primary vessel but AFTER FERMENTATION IS COMPLETE (I did when I bottled), fermentation will drive off volatile components of the hops. There is a lot of contradictory information out there, Take it all with a grain of salt most things "work" and some work well. As you gain experience you will start to see what works for you!
Good luck and keep us posted!
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Thanks for the info! You solidified my belief. I am sticking to primary only from now on, unless I want to age for more than 3 months or have a fruit addition. I am going to dryhop my double ipa with 3 oz citra and a oz simcoe a week before bottling! I opened up the primary yesterday and it smelled amazing. No more airlock action and it's been in for week and 3 days, but I'm leaving it be for another 3 weeks. Jul 7, 2015 at 15:03
It's not contradictory so much as it's all valid. :)
To answer the titular question: yes, you can dry-hop in primary. Long-term aging is really the only reason to rack to secondary. Dry-hopping, fruit additions, &c. can all happen in primary just fine. Anything that happens w/in 6 months can happen in one vessel (primary) or two (primary and secondary).
