When to drop in hop pellets?

[monkhouse]

Hi, I've never hopped a brew before and currently I have a Wilcos real ale kit that's had 2 weeks in primary, I have got hold of a pack of fuggles hop pellets and I'm not sure really what to do with them.. I've been told just throw them in loose into the brew- maybe 50g worth (22l brew length).
I've heard that if the hops are left too long in the brew then grassy flavours can occur- how long is too long??
What's cold crashing?
Also will I have any issues siphoning the beer into the barrel with the hop pellet sludge?
Will the beer become hazy from adding the hops?

Sorry all the questions just wanna get it right as this will be a Halloween beer that will be shared by friends and neighbours and really don't wanna embarrass myself haha!
-Dave.

[scuppeteer]

If you have the facility, you cold crash once primary fermentation is finished or nearly finished. This process is to chill the beer as rapidly as possible in order to make the yeast drop out and stop it from fermenting further. By dry hopping at this stage you retain the aromas I never leave it more than 3 days before filling to cask/bottle. Others will have different ideas and methods.
50g of Fuggle would be OK but using a more robust hop such as an American one and you can overdo it. Depends what you like.

Pellets should drop out as well but this does depend if you can cold crash effectively. I have a brew fridge which will hold fermentation temps and then I can turn it down to near freezing if I need to. Even so I can get a hop haze using pellets for dry hopping. I wouldn't worry too much if the beer tastes good. It'll be dark anyway and you've got to be pretty picky to notice a haze by night.

[monkhouse]

Added 50g of fuggles pellets loose into primary fv, hopefully the pellets will have dropped to bottom of fv by Saturday as that's when it's getting barrelled.

[Nitro Jim]

Short conditioning period? Or are you force carbonating.

Either way i suspect your ale will be "green".

[monkhouse]

What do you mean? It's finished fermenting, I've added hops that will stay in fv for 3 days before I barrel the beer, I'm not going to start drinking it straight away. Every beer I've ever barrelled has been cracking after only a week in a barrel- it's my bottles that take a while longer..

[scuppeteer]

Short conditioning period? Or are you force carbonating.

Either way i suspect your ale will be "green".

Not quite sure what you mean. If you're doing it properly, depending on the strength, beer should be good to drink in 2 or 3 weeks. Session beers 2 or 3 weeks, something like a proper IPA, minimum of a month or more, anything over 6%ABV, 6 weeks to a year or more.

The term "green" is for beer that hasn't been conditioned correctly for a period of time. Basically you're drinking it too soon!

Force carbonating will not give the best flavour profile for your beer, it'll just make it gassy. Fine for Keg, but not cask.

[Nitro Jim]

Short conditioning period? Or are you force carbonating.

Either way i suspect your ale will be "green".

Not quite sure what you mean. If you're doing it properly, depending on the strength, beer should be good to drink in 2 or 3 weeks. Session beers 2 or 3 weeks, something like a proper IPA, minimum of a month or more, anything over 6%ABV, 6 weeks to a year or more.

The term "green" is for beer that hasn't been conditioned correctly for a period of time. Basically you're drinking it too soon!

Force carbonating will not give the best flavour profile for your beer, it'll just make it gassy. Fine for Keg, but not cask.

OP says he is barrelling this Saturday and it is to be drunk next Saturday. One week conditioning is too short in my opinion.

I stand by my earlier comment.

[scuppeteer]

Ah Yes, apologies, must learn to read properly!

[Nitro Jim]

What do you mean? It's finished fermenting, I've added hops that will stay in fv for 3 days before I barrel the beer, I'm not going to start drinking it straight away. Every beer I've ever barrelled has been cracking after only a week in a barrel- it's my bottles that take a while longer..

Sorry but I missed this earlier. If you are happy with your beers after just one week then so be it. I would suggest that you try leaving longer and see if the beer improves (which I think it will) but it is your call as to whether it is worth the extra wait.

[monkhouse]

The hop gunge is still floating on top of the beer in fv, is this going to be a problem syphoning the beer into the barrel? I the hops are still floating does this mean the hops haven't imparted their flavour into the brew?
Ta.

[Nitro Jim]

Use a siphon with a filter attached. Wilkinsons sell one cheaply enough.

The hops will have done their job subject to the time they have been in the FV.

[monkhouse]

Is the filter the white cup thing that just slots onto the end of the syphon tube? If so I've got one of them I use it anyway, if this isn't the filter you mean then I'm buggered as cannot get back into town anytime soon!

[Nitro Jim]

Yes that will do the job.

[monkhouse]

Don't think I'll be dry hopping again anytime soon! The bloody syphon kept getting blocked up even with the filter, had to start it off syphoning again about 10 times! Even then it took about an hour to syphon it all, what a faff- and the end result is full of bits of hops, pah!

[Nitro Jim]

Make a hop tea instead. Steep your pellets or hops in boiling water, strain and then add to the FV when cooled. No mess in the FV and additional hops in your beer = result!