DIY Randall/hopback

Reidman · 06-30-2007, 07:11 PM

I was thinking of building something like this.
Does anyone use or have experience using one of these?

I wonder if dry hopping would be a waste if your going this route.

http://www.maltosefalcons.com/clubgear/hashback/

**RichBrewer** · 06-30-2007, 10:12 PM

We used a randall for one of our beers at Club Night. I personnaly didn't care for it. I think it made the beer taste grassy.

kvh · 07-01-2007, 08:04 PM

We were talking about this a while back: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/more-ibu-needed-post-kegging-31662/

I think the conversation petered out after the debate of what would hold pressure and what wouldn't- but in short, if you construct it the same way a keg is designed, just smaller, it should work fine. You need a long tube in (to the bottom), a short tube out (at the top), some mesh screening at the 'out' port, and a bunch of hops.

kvh

**olllllo** · 07-01-2007, 08:56 PM

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/diy-randall-confused-22042/

**david_42** · 07-01-2007, 09:47 PM

You still need to dry hop. A randall adds a bit, but it isn't a replacement for dry hopping.

[Based on actual experience using an entire cornie full of hops.]

Reidman · 07-01-2007, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olllllo

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=22042

I searched everywhere on here and couldn't find anything on Randalls..

Thanks..

I guess my question is would a randall be worth it if your beers are already high ibu and you dry hop...? I don't know of any brewpubs in the area that serve through one otherwise I would go try it out.

Brewlog · 10-07-2010, 03:28 PM

A randall is essentially adding the oils and whatever else is physically on the on the hops that can be caught by the screen. So the Randall mainly adds aroma and little to no bittering from the hops since the oils aren't getting heated. That is at least how a few of the experts I talked. We had a randall at our last brewclub meeting so I asked a lot about it. We had a porter run thru the randall with vanilla coffee beans, it was pretty amazing, so you can use it to add more than just hop flavor.

**pjj2ba** · 10-07-2010, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewlog

So the Randall mainly adds aroma and little to no bittering from the hops since the oils aren't getting heated. That is at least how a few of the experts I talked.

Hmmm, heat the Randall..........Hmmm. Could be interesting.

This would have to be done in conjunction with a post Randall jockey box to cool the beer back down. Maybe one could insert the guts of an instant hot water heater into the Randall, or possibly just put an instant hot water heater right in front of a "standard" Randall. Set it up so when the tap is pulled, the heater turns on, just like for normal operation.

I bet this would get a lot more oils and aromas out.

**Jester369** · 10-07-2010, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjj2ba

Hmmm, heat the Randall..........Hmmm. Could be interesting.

This would have to be done in conjunction with a post Randall jockey box to cool the beer back down. Maybe one could insert the guts of an instant hot water heater into the Randall, or possibly just put an instant hot water heater right in front of a "standard" Randall. Set it up so when the tap is pulled, the heater turns on, just like for normal operation.

I bet this would get a lot more oils and aromas out.

And give you hot beer!

**pjj2ba** · 10-07-2010, 04:11 PM

Actually a massively hopped IPA might not be too bad on the warm side - if you could minimize the foaming.

This probably would consume a lot of ice. It might be better to use some kind of cooled glycol system