Keg Hopping Trick

I came up with a solution recently of a way to keg hop for a select timeframe without having to go "fishing" for the mesh bag at the bottom of the keg.

Im not sure if it will work but will be trying it tomorrow, is getting a few packs of fishing bobbers, sanitizing them, and throwing them in the mesh bag of dry hops. I'm not sure exactly how much an ounce of leaf hops weigh when wet, but I hope that the bobbers will be able to keep them afloat. I'll be dry hopping my English IPA with an ounce of Sterling leaf hops for 72 hours. I will post back with results.

If you've tried this let me know!

The hops themselves will keep the bag afloat... IME, you need to add weight to the bag if you want it to sink (at least a couple of ounces).

I've found that leaving the hops (whole hops, in a nylon bag) in the keg for the duration is great. You don't have the flavor degradation like you do when dry hopping at room temps. It's also pretty easy to pull the bag out at the end. Simply invert the keg (once you open the lid) and the bag will fall down to the opening. Then just pull it the rest of the way out.

In my first keg I did this in, I was surprised that the bag of whole hops was fully puffed out (full of damp leaves) but had no beer remaining. I also didn't need to worry about anything getting plugged up by leaves while in the keg...

Or you could us flavorless dental floss and tie it to the lid.

Beer_Eugenics said:

Or you could us flavorless dental floss and tie it to the lid.

Click to expand...

True, or light strength fishing line...

Still, I'd just leave the bag in there for the full time. Besides, the hop flavors will be much slower to add in a chilled keg than at room temp.

You guys can fish (pun intended) it past the seal and still get a seal on the keg?

phoenixs4r said:

You guys can fish (pun intended) it past the seal and still get a seal on the keg?

Click to expand...

I let the bag 'o whole hops roam free within my keg... I really don't see any point in fishing them out after a few days, or even weeks. I've gone over a month with them in the keg without any troubles. Well, other than when the keg kicks...

phoenixs4r said:

You guys can fish (pun intended) it past the seal and still get a seal on the keg?

Click to expand...

I use monofilament and tie the bag to the top of the diptube. Even though I've never been tempted to remove it, I could if I wanted to.

Denny said:

I use monofilament and tie the bag to the top of the diptube. Even though I've never been tempted to remove it, I could if I wanted to.

Click to expand...

Hah! Didn't even think if that! Keep it simple stupid! Thanks.

phoenixs4r said:

Hah! Didn't even think if that! Keep it simple stupid! Thanks.

Click to expand...

It's pragmatic!

I do the dental floss method tied to the lid if I'm removing the hops. I have had no problems sealing the lid.