multiple questions for kegging and dry hopping..

[Redpappy]

So I am a BIAB and tend to stay with pale ales and stouts. I have decided to broaden up a bit. Tomorrow I will be doing my first IPA ( Goose Island Clone) Along with doing my first IPA, this will be my First KEG as well. I Do know I will get several different ways of doing things, and that is what I am expecting, and possible some smart a$$ answers ... so...here it goes:

1. what is the best way to dry hop in buckets? I did purchase a bag from Wilsner, in which it came with 2 hop bags, but since they do not have a string to tie them, I'm not really sure how to utilize them ( i know, silly, but hay what can I say, i'm still learning ( after a year and a half of brewing). With me fermenting in a bucket, would it be best to just toss in my hops, or should I use a bag and tie it off with??? a string? just leave it open?

2. My fermentor is in my basement, but my fridge(keg set up) is up stairs. My question is more or less should I fill up the head space with co2( which would mean a lot of extra work, dragging my canister downstairs, and then back up stairs), or just drag my keg upstairs, and out to the garage where my co2 canister(and fridge) is located with out any worries? kinda thinking of the beer just slashing around.

3. I was thinking of just setting the pressure to serving pressure( 5 psi comes to mind, but can be wrong, still got lots to look up) and leave it for a week or 2 before serving, Would that work, or do I really need to bring the pressure up to 30 psi for a few hours first? I'm not in a big rush to drink it, as I have plenty of bottles in my basement that are requiring my attention.

thanks in advance to all the replies...

 

[Jtvann]

Hokay ... I'll do my best to put myself in your shoes and explain what I'd do.

1a- if you have the ability to cold crash (sub 40 degrees) for 2-3 days, my recommendation is to just throw pellet hops in loose. They will settle to the bottom and compact and be easy to siphon off of.

1b-if you can't cold crash, put hops in a sanitized bag and don't worry about the string, you're not pulling them out until after racking to a keg.

2a- long shot here, assuming you can't do a pressurized transfer since you're using a bucket but just in case ... fill keg with sanitizer and purge sanitizer with CO2. Carry purged and empty keg down stairs. Fill with beer via pressure. Carry upstairs, hook into CO2.

2b- the more likely solution for you ... have a very good clean sanitized keg that's empty. Carry it downstairs, pop off the lid and siphon into it. Have your siphon line run all the way to bottom of keg, avoid splashing. Make sure your siphon is strong, dont let air bubbles fill it and stay there. Fill keg, cap it and set CO2. Let the keg equalize (maybe 5 secs) and purge it. Purge it at least 15 times, maybe more.

Annnnnnd lastly

3- I'm betting you dont have long enough beer serving lines. So ... set your CO2 to approx 12-15 psi. Set your keezer temp to about 39-41 degrees. Leave it and forget it. Itll be drinkable in a week and perfect in 2.

While you're waiting for the 2 weeks to go by for carbonation go to your lhbs or morebeer.com and buy 15 ft. Of 3/16 beer serving line. Hook that line up and test her out after two weeks. If you dont like how slow the pour is, cut a foot off the line. Keep testing it over and over giving it about a week or so between cuts of the beverage line. Dont cut to less than 10 feet.

After my dissertation... I think I'll have another beer. Enjoy.

 

[bobeer]

I have a similar setup with how I keg my beer.

I ferment in buckets in my basement, cold crash in the beer fridge in my garage, keg the beer in my kitchen, carbonate/serve in the garage. With Pale ales and IPA's I always dryhop in the keg with a loose sanitized muslin bag. I used to drop the sack full of hops right into the primary for 10-14 days, which worked well, but dryhopping in the keg saves you those 2 weeks or so in time and gets you drinking your beer quicker.

When I move the bucket of beer around, or the newly filled keg, I'm careful not to splash it around too much. I'm 6'2 215+ lbs so I have a bit of leverage dealing with the weight of 5-6 gallons of beer. The beer moves around a little bit but I've never experienced any oxidation or anything like that.