Marbles in the Better Bottle

Today I racked a tasty new IPA out of my Better Bottle that I had dry hopped with three ounces of Mosaic hops that I put in a hop bag.

This time I had tried improving my dry hopping by putting marbles in the hop bag to sink it into the beer, hopefully getting more contact with those tasty Mosaic hops and my beer.  The marbles didn't turn out to work so well.  I dropped 12 ounces (by weight) of marbles into the hop bag and the bag still floated.  When I tried to remove the hop bag after racking the beer out of my Better Bottle, it was very difficult.  Usually, I can just pull the bag and it slips out of the Better Bottle.  This time, the marbles ended up pressing together, making it impossible to simply pull the bag out.  I spend half an hour with the open end of the hop bag hanging out of the better bottle, digging out the dry hops and marbles with a long spoon.  If I had done this in a glass carboy, I don't think I would have ever gotten the bag out.  I don't think using marbles to weigh down a dry hop bag is such a great idea unless you're using it in something with a large opening like a plastic bucket.

Luckily, I tasted my hydrometer sample and the beer was great.  Mosaic is a tasty hop.