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Dry hop in a corny keg??

Post #1 made 12 years ago
by jakethesnake559
Hi all, I think I may have been misled by my LHBS and am in serious need of some help from people that actually know what they are doing....you guys!!
My APA had just finished fermenting and I was about to rack it with some nice Cascade hops.
Then I got to thinking if I could just transfer it to my corny keg and put the hopsock in with it.
According to my LHBS, this would be no problem at all, but then when went to carb it up and took the first pour, I had tiny hop particles in my beer. Tastes great....but doesn't look the best :sad: .
I used pallet hops in a small draw-string type hop bag. Didn't secure it to the top, just threw it in the keg.
Does anyone have any experience with dry hopping straight in the keg??
Can you use pallet hops?
Does the bag have to be attached to the dip tube or something?
I'm thinking of just leaving it for a couple of weeks then fishing out the hops...hopefully recoverable :pray:
Cheers, Jake.

Post #2 made 12 years ago
by thughes
I have done this but used an old nylon "knee-high" stocking for the hop bag (much finer mesh). Simply tie it in a knot to close it, then suspend it a few inches above the bottom with a piece of dental floss pinched in the lid when you close it up (the floss will not affect the seal of the O-ring).

---Todd
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Post #3 made 12 years ago
by stux
Some people use tea balls too

The important thing is to use something as a blocked dip tube would really suck.
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Post #4 made 12 years ago
by PistolPatch
Hi there jake and welcome to the forum :peace:,

Your first pour or three will probably be messy but this should settle down. Pellets will always turn to silt so you'll always get some debris on the first few pours no matter what you do. The next time you try it go with thughes' idea which will stop the dip tube blocking. As stux said, that is no fun.

:o
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Post #5 made 12 years ago
by Hippy
Mate I dry hop all my kegs using pellets and have never seen a particle of debris. The tea balls are the go. I hop at a rate of 20g per corny keg. The smaller tea balls tend to be way to compact if you try to stuff it all in the one ball so I will drop in 2 with around 10g each. You can also buy the larger tea infusers which also work well. I have even used the larger infusers for my hop additions in the kettle. The beauty of the tea balls is they sink straight to the bottom and are easy to clean after use. Don't add the dry hops until you are ready to carbonate as the aroma tends to fade after a few weeks, which isn't a problem if you drink it quick enough.
Hop tea using a french press/coffee plunger is also effective(see bob brews making hop vodka)and can also used to add to bottles.

Post #7 made 12 years ago
by PistolPatch
Looks like Hippy's tea balls are the go :thumbs:.

Have you got a pic or a link Hippy? Would love to get an idea of their size. (I have a tea ball but I reckon it would hold about 3 pellets :P).

Also, just had a look at these little hop bags I bought a few years ago and their mesh is quite coarse - much coarser than my bag material and my tea ball. No wonder I always get a little bit of garbage on the first pour or two.
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Post #9 made 12 years ago
by Hippy
OK so it's taken me a while to get around to posting these pics, but here is the selection of hop balls I use. The bigger one is good for up to 30 or so grams straight into the keg. The middle one I add no more than 10g to , so I will use 2 of these in a keg. The smallest one on the far right I have e few of and are small enough to fit into a cube, but will only take about 6-7g. These I add as 15 min hop additions, but actually put in the cube after transfer from the kettle. Using the no chill method this substitution for a 15 min kettle addition compensates for the fact the wort stays hotter for a longer period.
Hope this helps if anyone is still interested in this thread. :peace:
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Last edited by Hippy on 26 Dec 2011, 10:13, edited 4 times in total.

Post #11 made 12 years ago
by Hippy
Yeh the smallest ones are handy if you no chill as the next size up doesn't fit in the opening of most cubes. Most kitchen stores have a range of sizes or can order them in.

Post #12 made 12 years ago
by Squared
Has anyone who dry hops in the keg have any issues with grassy/veggie flavours coming out? I am going to do this soon, and especially in the fall cause I'm growing hops this year...

Post #13 made 12 years ago
by Lylo
Squared,I found grassy flavour/aromas from dry hopping in the keg with home grown but attributed it to the freshness of the hops.I think BobBrews has a good handle on this technicque but watch out because he like hops! :argh: And vodka :cool:
AWOL

Post #14 made 12 years ago
by Squared
Lylo wrote:Squared,I found grassy flavour/aromas from dry hopping in the keg with home grown but attributed it to the freshness of the hops.I think BobBrews has a good handle on this technicque but watch out because he like hops! :argh: And vodka :cool:
What varieties are you growing lylo? and which ones grew well? I have some cascade rhizomes coming soon. Done A LOT of research on growing for this spring, hehe. cant wait.
Last edited by Squared on 28 Jan 2012, 12:51, edited 4 times in total.

Post #15 made 12 years ago
by Lylo
I have fuggles and clusters coming out of the proverbial ying yang.Problem being that they have intergrown and I just call them Cluggle Fusters.You are welcome to come for some rhyzomes this spring if you want.I get them from local greenhouses but they grow like weeds against my fence.
AWOL

Post #16 made 12 years ago
by Hippy
The grassiness is definately from the freshness of the hops. Some people even pick their flowers early for wet hopping which lends a slightly grassy flavour to the finished product. Hop pellets on the other hand don't really give any grassy flavour unless that is a specific part of the hop's flavour profile. As I type this I have a POR flower which I just picked floating in my glass. mmm fresh

Post #17 made 12 years ago
by BobBrews
I grow "Nugget, Kent Goldings, Willamette, and Cascade" I had a poor harvest last year (weather - bugs)? but fresh hops were enough for a "hop monster" that I like.

One hint to new hop growers. If you grow hops on the side of your house and you screw a hook into the crown of your roof's peak. Make sure that you don't pull the siding off the rafters! It bends, twists, scratches the other siding on the way down to the ground. It makes plucking hops off the vine less enjoyable? Don't ask how I know this!
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Post #18 made 12 years ago
by tbd
New to the forum, but not to dry hopping in a keg. I use the dental floss method described by Thughes with a fine mesh nylon bag, but I also add a sure screen to make sure that my dip tube does not clog. These fit well over a dip tube on a keg and look like the bazooka tubes that some people use in mash tuns and boil kettles. Cheap and works for me. You could probably go even cheaper and use the stainless water supply hose as well.
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