Dry Hopping the Keg - How's My Process?

I want to dry hop in my kegs. My plan is as follows...would you do anything differently or see any problems with these steps?:

1) Primary for 3 to 4 weeks
2) Cold crash it on gelatin
3) Rack it to a keg
4) Force carb the keg
5) Drop in a SS mesh tea ball with the dry hops
6) Store at room temperature for 1 - 2 weeks to condition and dry hop
7) Remove the dry hop ball & hook up the gas and beer line
8) Let chill overnight
9) Enjoy the next day

I've only dry hopped in the fermenter. But if I did it in the keg I'm thinking I would throw them in when I'm ready to drink it and then see how the taste changes over time. And then yank them out when it gets to where I want it.

with your method: When does it go in the cooler?

What temp are you carbing at?
What temp are you dry hopping at?

maida7 said:

I've only dry hopped in the fermenter. But if I did it in the keg I'm thinking I would throw them in when I'm ready to drink it and then see how the taste changes over time. And then yank them out when it gets to where I want it.

with your method: When does it go in the cooler?

What temp are you carbing at?
What temp are you dry hopping at?

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It goes in the cooler after the 1 to 2 week dry hop & conditioning period. I am force carbing it at 38 degrees (because I will have cold crashed the carboy in the fridge before racking it to the keg). I would add the hop ball at that temperature and let it come back to room temperature for the 1 to 2 week storage period.

It was either this, or use the "set & forget" method to carb the keg while dry hopping it...that would take about 2 weeks to carb and the dry hopping would take place at 38.

For some reason, I just feel like more aroma qualities would leach into the brew at room temperature than at cold temperatures.

have you done this already?

when you open the warm, fully carbonated keg to get the hops out, doesn't all the gas come out of solution? I don't think I've ever opened a keg that was carbed but if it's warm I'd figure the gas would come out of solution.

I would put the hops in and then out, prior to carbing,

maida7 said:

have you done this already?

when you open the warm, fully carbonated keg to get the hops out, doesn't all the gas come out of solution? I don't think I've ever opened a keg that was carbed but if it's warm I'd figure the gas would come out of solution.

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No...the gas would not come out of solution.

claphamsa said:

I would put the hops in and then out, prior to carbing,

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Why? Do you have science to back this up?

Doc Robinson said:

No...the gas would not come out of solution.

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So you've done it and it works good? I would have guessed that the gas would come out but if it works then that's all that matters. :rockin:

plan is as follows..


1) Rack it to a keg
2) Drop in the dry hops(hopbag)
3) Enjoy the next day

Leave hops in till you feel the taste/aroma is perfect or do like I do and thats leave in till the keg kicks.

maida7 said:

So you've done it and it works good? I would have guessed that the gas would come out but if it works then that's all that matters. :rockin:

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I've opened fully carbed (even overcarbed kegs) multiple times and gas doesn't come out of solution.

carp said:

I've opened fully carbed (even overcarbed kegs) multiple times and gas doesn't come out of solution.

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Was the keg cold or warm? Does the temp make a differance?

maida7 said:

So you've done it and it works good? I would have guessed that the gas would come out but if it works then that's all that matters. :rockin:

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Does it come out in a couple of seconds when you pour it? Nope. So it won't come out too quick when you open up the keg.

I'm interested in this, as I've been thinking about dry hopping in a keg.

kaiser423 said:

Does it come out in a couple of seconds when you pour it? Nope. So it won't come out too quick when you open up the keg.

I'm interested in this, as I've been thinking about dry hopping in a keg.

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I've never poured beer out of a warm keg. I have had situations where just the lines were warm and yes it foamed bad.

Ohh wait there was a time we were using a cold plate and the keg was warm and it did foam. So yes the gas will come out if you pour a warm keg.

How do you plan to get the SS mesh ball out?

maida7 said:

Was the keg cold or warm? Does the temp make a differance?

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Generally they have been cold, although I think I recall having opened moderately carbed warm ones as well. I don't think the temp makes a difference.

carp said:

Generally they have been cold, although I think I recall having opened moderately carbed warm ones as well. I don't think the temp makes a difference.

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Last week I opened up 7 full kegs of highly carbed warm soda. It is fine. There's literally no reason for it to explode upon opening, unless you shake it up....Just like a coke bottle.

Now back to dry hopping! Is the consensus to leave the mesh ball in for a while, the whole time, or what? I've had my hop aroma disappear on me from dry hopping the primary, and am interested in how it would work in a keg (where there's no real place for the aroma to escape to).

Covered in another dry-hooping thread, but here's the skinny:

Dry hop in the keg for 7-10 days (BYO article by Stone's Mitch Steele) at room temp. Use your CO2 system with a jumper from out-to-out ports. Push the beer out of the dry-hopped keg into the purged, sanitized new keg. Chill and carb.

Works like a charm. Flawless.

Here is how I do it.
Two weeks in conical, cold crash transfer to keg with hop bag in keg carb for two weeks drink until gone take out hop bag.
I have never had any issues with grassiness or such .

Pat

Soperbrew said:

How do you plan to get the SS mesh ball out?

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Tie a string of fishing line to the the chain attached to the ball.

r2eng said:

Covered in another dry-hooping thread, but here's the skinny:

Dry hop in the keg for 7-10 days (BYO article by Stone's Mitch Steele) at room temp. Use your CO2 system with a jumper from out-to-out ports. Push the beer out of the dry-hopped keg into the purged, sanitized new keg. Chill and carb.

Works like a charm. Flawless.

Click to expand...

This process defeats the purpose of dry hopping in the keg. I may was well use a secondary, which is exactly the point of dry hopping the keg...to skip that step. I guess I could dry hop the primary, but if a process for keg hopping works, it would be much easier.

I'm gonna take Pat's advice.

I don't always dryhop in the keg, but when I do, I have the keg at serving temperature. At the colder temperature, I don't need to remove the bag of dryhops after a couple of weeks. I just leave them in there until the keg kicks.

YooperBrew said:

I don't always dryhop in the keg, but when I do, I have the keg at serving temperature. At the colder temperature, I don't need to remove the bag of dryhops after a couple of weeks. I just leave them in there until the keg kicks.

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Good deal. If Yooper and Pat say so, it must be so. Thanks guys. I'm still going to attach my fishing line just in case something is going overboard.

Doc:

I guess it depends on how you look at it, but I don't have a conical, and hated using a carboy for a secondary dry hop. That's why I do what I do. No chance of contamination or air contact.

Glad you found a way to do it that works for you. That's one reason why HBT rocks!

Doc Robinson said:

I want to dry hop in my kegs. My plan is as follows...would you do anything differently or see any problems with these steps?:

1) Primary for 3 to 4 weeks
2) Cold crash it on gelatin
3) Rack it to a keg
4) Force carb the keg
5) Drop in a SS mesh tea ball with the dry hops
6) Store at room temperature for 1 - 2 weeks to condition and dry hop
7) Remove the dry hop ball & hook up the gas and beer line
8) Let chill overnight
9) Enjoy the next day

Click to expand...

I have been dry hopping in the keg exclusively for a couple of years and have used a variety of techniques. The procedure that I have gotten the best hop flavor from is by using a Surescreen: http://www.northernbrewer.com/default/surescreen.html
It is a stainless steel, mesh tube that allows you to put whole hops directly in the keg. Having the hops loose in the keg dramatically improves my hop utilization over using a tea ball or hop sack.
The only difference in my procedure is that I transfer the beer to a clean keg and then gelatin and carbonate.

What if you suspend the hops in a hop sack or tea ball about 1/4 of the way down the keg. Then as the beer level drops, the hops are no longer on the the beer and you don't have to open the keg if you don't want to. Just a thought... I guess it depends on how fast you drop a 1/4 of a keg and how long your kegs stays around. I suppose eventually those hops start to break down and could give some bad aroma in there... Sorry for thinking out loud here.

I took a keg to a party this past weekend that I was going to dry hop but hadn't gotten around to yet. I went to the party, dropped the hops (more than I would usually use, about 2 oz of cascade) and marbles into a hop bag (in this case loose nylon voile and then a layer of loose cheese cloth) and then dropped it into the keg. It sank immediately. After 30 or seconds so (so it could find it's way to the bottom) I sort of tilted the keg so that the hop bag would be right against the dip stick. We started drinking it about 90 minutes after that and the hop aroma and flavor was excellent. The beer was a little cloudy, I'm not sure if that was from the hops or yeast from the crazy 10 minute uphill rocky drive in my little Kia from a few hours prior, but it was great. Kind of like a ghetto Randall if you can get the hop bag in the right place.

I was sitting around after the best of show comp for the World Expo of Beer drinking some mead with Gordon Strong and he mentioned he dry hops in the keg also...But what does he know ? He's a funny SOB !

Pat

I sanitize a 1gl paint strainer bag, fill w/leaf hops, drop in keg & rack on top. Only needed to pull once (using a sanitized inverted racking cane) on a lower gravity Pale. To me the key is in the leaf hops.

-d

I just toss a sanitized muslin bag with hops, and a stainless steel washer into the keg. It comes out 3-4 weeks later when I kick the keg.

Works great.