bad experience with dry hopping in keg

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sputnam

sputnam

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I really want to dry hop in the keg but I did it once and it turned out awful. Now, I'm scared to do it again. The first time I did it was a few months ago with a Zombie clone. I used panty hose, dental floss, and marbles (all sanitized) and the beer tasted awful. I couldn't wait to get that keg empty!
I will go ahead and say that I THINK I figured out why already...I used oxiclean to clean the keg but it wasn't until way later that I found out I DIDN'T use Oxiclean FREE. So, I'm pretty sure that caused my beer to taste nasty but I just can not bring myself to do it again. At least not without a few people giving me some assurance. Please help!
 
To be clear, you are saying that the beer was bad due to the cleaning agent, not necessarily the dry hopping? Could it be that it was a bad batch of beer that contributed? Did you try the beer after fermentation but before you dry hopped and carbonated?

I only ask as I am planning to start dry hopping this year in the keg as well.
 
I think it was the cleaning agent but now I'm spooked. If I get a few people telling me the bad flavor wasn't caused by the dry hopping method, I may try it again.
 
I've used regular (scented) oxyclean a few times in a pinch and it didn't cause any off flavors. As long as you rinse thoroughly it's not a problem, and you should be doing that anyway.
 
+1 to kenmcchord.

Sounds like something happened. "Tasting awful" means very little to pinpoint a cause. What did it taste like, what off flavors did you detect?

Dry hopping in a keg is one of the best techniques I've come across. I even have a few kegs with a nut welded to the bottom of the lid. It's easy to remove the bag after 4-7 days, which is impossible with a carboy, and with a bucket there's a good chance of oxidation, unless you are willing to flush with CO2. Now you will get some fine hop dust that needs to settle for a few days and will muck up you first few pulls. Dry hopping will give you a strong hop bite that needs to mellow out for a week (or 2).

I use a fine mesh hop bag and marbles. A stocking may be finer, but stretches more. Not sure if it holds more dust back. The dyes in the stockings could be a bit of a concern, being drenched in an alcoholic solution for a week.

You did wash that pantyhose, right? :D
I think you can boil them with PBW, never tried though. And you do need to Starsan it well.

I'd give it another try.
 
I'm going to be dry-hopping and was thinking about doing it in the keg. Now I'm scared!

Maybe I should consider doing something in the stainless steel department.
 
I've dry hopped lots of batches in the keg and all but two were fantastic. The two that weren't great were because of the hops themselves; one was grassy cascades, the other was because they hops sat way too long before kicking the keg (8 weeks).

Dryhopping in the keg is an awesome way of dryhopping. There's no way better to get that full aromatic punch from the hops.
 
I dryhop in the keg all the time. I don't tie it or anything- just use a boiled mesh hops bag (the fine ones, not the coarse ones!) and fill it and drop it in the keg and then rack the beer into it. You don't want to pack it tightly- put the hops in loosely, using more than one bag if needed- but it works great for both whole hops and pellet hops.
 
Were actually in the same boat. I dry hopped in the keg for the first time a few weeks ago and have since gotten some off flavors. To many factors to pin point it on the dry hopping though :/
 
Yooper said:
I dryhop in the keg all the time. I don't tie it or anything- just use a boiled mesh hops bag (the fine ones, not the coarse ones!) and fill it and drop it in the keg and then rack the beer into it. You don't want to pack it tightly- put the hops in loosely, using more than one bag if needed- but it works great for both whole hops and pellet hops.
Click to expand...

That's what I do as well...with one more little step. I take a very small bag and put the marbles in there and then put that and the hops in a larger bag, loosely filled as Yooper does. And then I just leave it there until the keg is empty.

Separating the marbles makes cleanup a lot easier. I just couldn't find a convenient way to separate them from hops afterward.
 
Dry hopping in the keg is about the only way I do it now. I'll use a fine mesh bag weighted with a shot glass and secured off the bottom with floss or one of the stainless cylinders I have now.
I give it two weeks minimum before trying and even then it can be a little cloudly and pungent. So give it time. I use pellet hops and leave them in until the keg kicks and have yet to get off flavors. The longest in the keg has been 4 months.
Had a Pliny the Elder clone dry hopped in the keg with 1oz each Centennial, Columbus and Simcoe on the 5th of December last year. Bottled from the keg towards the end of February for the Suwanee Beer Fest. It took 3rd in the IIPA category. One judge said "could use more dry/finishing hops." Man I wish he could have tried it towards the end of December.;)
 
IslandLizard said:
+1 to kenmcchord.

Sounds like something happened. "Tasting awful" means very little to pinpoint a cause. What did it taste like, what off flavors did you detect?

Dry hopping in a keg is one of the best techniques I've come across. I even have a few kegs with a nut welded to the bottom of the lid. It's easy to remove the bag after 4-7 days, which is impossible with a carboy, and with a bucket there's a good chance of oxidation, unless you are willing to flush with CO2. Now you will get some fine hop dust that needs to settle for a few days and will muck up you first few pulls. Dry hopping will give you a strong hop bite that needs to mellow out for a week (or 2).

I use a fine mesh hop bag and marbles. A stocking may be finer, but stretches more. Not sure if it holds more dust back. The dyes in the stockings could be a bit of a concern, being drenched in an alcoholic solution for a week.

You did wash that pantyhose, right? :D
I think you can boil them with PBW, never tried though. And you do need to Starsan it well.

I'd give it another try.
Click to expand...


hmmm, dyes in the stockings is something to think about. I pulled them out of the drawer, cut them and tossed in boiling water for a minute. definitely didn't starsan(thought boiling took care of that).
 

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