Ping-Pong ball dry hop in keg?

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I dont brew many hoppy beers (mostly belgians, british, german), but I have a second keg of pale-ale I want to serve for a party in a few weeks. I held off dry-hopping when kegging 4 weeks ago.

I know people dry hop in the keg by hanging something from a hook they weld on the lid. I dont weld so It just occurred to me that a solid idea for dry hopping is to sanitize a nylon bag and a ping-pong ball and put the hop charge in there so it will float ontop of the beer and allow for easy removal after 4 days.

i'm sure i'm not the first who thought of this. Has anyone done this? Suggestions if you have?

 

[arnobg]

Unflavored dental floss and marbles in the hop bags works wonders.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Seems like a pretty cool idea.

 

[55x11]

I dont brew many hoppy beers (mostly belgians, british, german), but I have a second keg of pale-ale I want to serve for a party in a few weeks. I held off dry-hopping when kegging 4 weeks ago.

I know people dry hop in the keg by hanging something from a hook they weld on the lid. I dont weld so It just occurred to me that a solid idea for dry hopping is to sanitize a nylon bag and a ping-pong ball and put the hop charge in there so it will float ontop of the beer and allow for easy removal after 4 days.

i'm sure i'm not the first who thought of this. Has anyone done this? Suggestions if you have?

Dental floss. close the lid through the dental floss thread, tie it to the keg holder outside.

problem solved.

 

[sabotenfighter]

careful with the dental floss idea. I lost a the remainder of a 5kg tank of CO2 due to the tiny leak floss lead to.

 

[cas3439]

I dont brew many hoppy beers (mostly belgians, british, german), but I have a second keg of pale-ale I want to serve for a party in a few weeks. I held off dry-hopping when kegging 4 weeks ago.

I know people dry hop in the keg by hanging something from a hook they weld on the lid. I dont weld so It just occurred to me that a solid idea for dry hopping is to sanitize a nylon bag and a ping-pong ball and put the hop charge in there so it will float ontop of the beer and allow for easy removal after 4 days.

i'm sure i'm not the first who thought of this. Has anyone done this? Suggestions if you have?

If you have a wife that drinks wine like mine does, just grab the next cork and a stainless steel screw. I've used this in carboys and in corny kegs for dry hopping. I makes it easier to grab when you want to remove the bag.

 

[55x11]

If you have a wife that drinks wine like mine does, just grab the next cork and a stainless steel screw. I've used this in carboys and in corny kegs for dry hopping. I makes it easier to grab when you want to remove the bag.

cork is porous and impossible to sanitize properly (unless you bake it every time). Over time stuff will start growing inside there.

 

[55x11]

careful with the dental floss idea. I lost a the remainder of a 5kg tank of CO2 due to the tiny leak floss lead to.

agreed - use flat floss, use keg lube, seat lid first under pressure, and seal once lid is settled, and always check for pressure/leaks on the newly carbed keg.

 

[arnobg]

+1 on keg lube and I always spray star san to check for leaks each time kegging.

 

[kh54s10]

I just tie a 1 gallon paint strainer bag shut as close to the top as possible and toss it into the keg. I have done this twice with no problems. I didn't hang it or float it or anything else.....

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I just tie a 1 gallon paint strainer bag shut as close to the top as possible and toss it into the keg. I have done this twice with no problems. I didn't hang it or float it or anything else.....

so the paint strainer bag just floats on the top? This seems super easy!

I dont really want to lose a 10# CO2 tank to floss idea, which is why i'm exploring floating options.

 

[kh54s10]

so the paint strainer bag just floats on the top? This seems super easy!

I dont really want to lose a 10# CO2 tank to floss idea, which is why i'm exploring floating options.

I have no idea where it ends up. When I put it in I push in under with a sanitized spoon so it gets saturated with wort then I close it up.

 

[SGTSparty]

cork is porous and impossible to sanitize properly (unless you bake it every time). Over time stuff will start growing inside there.

But if SWMBO drinks wine like most of us drink beer its not like you're going to run out of new corks. If its a single use item probably not much of a concern.

 

[ScrapRoomBrewer]

I just tie a 1 gallon paint strainer bag shut as close to the top as possible and toss it into the keg. I have done this twice with no problems. I didn't hang it or float it or anything else.....

I've done this a dozen or so times with no issue except for one time when the keg had about 25% left, the bag clogged the outlet tube.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

well I guess I should clarify: in the past i've done dry hop additions of just 4 days in the carboy before kegging. I want to stick to the 4-day addition so my process stays the same. Thus I was thinking of ideas for easy ways to remove the dry hop charge prior to serving. I didn't want to try and have something go out around the seal of the keg for fear of losing a tank of CO2 to a small leak.

Thus I first thought of snagging some thin stainless wire from work and tieing that to the hop bag, but leave some wire sticking out of the top of the beer which I can grab to pull this out. Secondly, I thought of the ping-pong ball idea, which seemed even easier.

 

[TorMag]

I would never use a ping pong ball. It is definitely not food grade plastic. Most ping pong balls smell like crap too. Would not want that floating in my beer.

 

[cas3439]

But if SWMBO drinks wine like most of us drink beer its not like you're going to run out of new corks. If its a single use item probably not much of a concern.

You beat me to it! Replacing the cork every time is nothing, it's like a never ending supply at my house!

 

[Genacide]

I tried the floss method and it didn't work for me. Also, the hops wanted to float anyway, so I'm unsure why you would want this. I ended up tying the hop bag to a stainless steal camlock fitting I had leftover which pulled the bag down. Worked great.

 

[55x11]

I tried the floss method and it didn't work for me. Also, the hops wanted to float anyway, so I'm unsure why you would want this. I ended up tying the hop bag to a stainless steal camlock fitting I had leftover which pulled the bag down. Worked great.

the idea is so you can pull them out when you are done dry-hopping.
But I agree - lately I just let the hops stay in the keg for entire lifetime of the beer (~1-2 months), no grassy flavors ever, I think that's a myth.

I use marbles or sanitized shot glasses to pull the hop bag down, but if you let hops get wet, they will sink eventually on their own.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I would never use a ping pong ball. It is definitely not food grade plastic. Most ping pong balls smell like crap too. Would not want that floating in my beer.

I did not think of this! Looks like i'll be back to my stainless wire idea. I think I can tie this in with the hop bag and leave the wire end sticking above the top of the beer so I can pull it out after 5 days. I'll report back on how things went after the party.

 

[55x11]

I did not think of this! Looks like i'll be back to my stainless wire idea. I think I can tie this in with the hop bag and leave the wire end sticking above the top of the beer so I can pull it out after 5 days. I'll report back on how things went after the party.

who says you MUST pull it out in 5 days? Leave it in! You may like it.

 

[gan]

I've used a zip-tie to secure the bag to the beer-out dip tube, but usually just end up going with the floss method as well. I like that I can pull it out if I ever need to. Keg Lube ensures a good seal.

 

[GotPushrods]

I use 2 small rare earth magnets... one inside and one outside to hold onto each other. This worked wonderfully in kegs, although now I mostly dry hop in carboys as my kegs are O2-free zones. Still works in the carboy, keeps the bag from falling during racking.

I'm not sure if they have different coatings, but they never touch liquid.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

the idea is so you can pull them out when you are done dry-hopping.
But I agree - lately I just let the hops stay in the keg for entire lifetime of the beer (~1-2 months), no grassy flavors ever, I think that's a myth.

I use marbles or sanitized shot glasses to pull the hop bag down, but if you let hops get wet, they will sink eventually on their own.

I think the difference is temperature of the beer. I recently dryhopped a beer for 5 days in the carboy at room temp and it does have a good bit of a grassy flavor. But, I have done dryhopping in the refrigerated kegs for the life of the beer and it never got to that point. YMMV

 

[nutty_gnome]

I am also a fan of the unwaxed floss and keg lube system. Have been using it for a few years with no lost CO2. I also never retrieve dry hops hanging within a full keg. The way to effortlessly remove dry hops from a keg of beer is to suspend the hop bag with the floss at about 6 to 10 inches below the top. Then, as the beer is consumed the level of the beer will drop below the dry hops. And you don't have hops in physical contact with your beer anymore. Collect the bag when you clean your kicked keg.

Its the easiest way to 'time' the removal of the dry hop and all you have to do is drink your beer!

I also don't think there is anything to the notion that you can only leave hops in for a set amount of days. In my basement I haven't found any compelling reason to worry about pulling hops from kegged beer.

 

[TheHopfather]

You can just attach a little worm clamp to the PVR valve on the inside of the keg lid, tie the hop bag up to that, no welding required.

 

[Homer]

I take a hop bag and throw a couple large sanitized ss washers in, then take an ss hose or worm clamp and use that to attach the top of the hop bag to the underside of the relief valve on the keg lid. That way, when you're done dry hopping, just remove the lid, and the hops come with it, then take bag off, and put lid back on.

 

[apagios]

I have a bunch of these I use for dry hopping in the keg. 3" ball fits through the lid hole easily and holds ~ 1/2 oz of whole flower hops. I typically do 4 balls for 2 oz of citra in my pale ale. Even use coarse ground coffee in these for dry 'beaning' my stouts

https://www.amazon.com/Maxware-Stainless-Teaball-Strainer-Seasoning/dp/B00QVV9GAM/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1472061186&sr=8-16&keywords=3+tea+ball

 

[Homer]

You can just attach a little worm clamp to the PVR valve on the inside of the keg lid, tie the hop bag up to that, no welding required.

I type too slow

 

[TanLang]

I just use a super-strong magnet the keeps my nylon bag attached to the keg where I want it to stay.

Here are some good ones on AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U55TTE8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[wischwm]

I used a stainless float in much the same way. Got tired of the clean up. Now I put a hose clamp around the relief valve protrusion and tie the hop bag using unflavored dental floss. I just estimate where to tie the dental floss so the bag hangs a few inches from the bottom of the keg.

 

[energee]

My nylon bag floats on its own

 

[TAPPER]

Teflon pipe tape works better than dental floss in my opinion.

 

[Brewdawg81]

You won't need the ping pong ball. It's gonna float anyway. You may not trust this, but: In the past, I had intended to remove after a few days, but never got around to it. It didn't seem to affect it after the first week anyway, so now I just make a habit of leaving it until the keg is gone. Seems the hops do most if not all of their work imparting flavor & aroma the first week in the keg. I might reconsider this if it were more than a few ounces of hops.

 

[robertlhawley]

I use the drawstring from the hop bag and tie it to the keg's dip tube. This, however, is more to keep the hops from floating up and blocking the pressure relief valve, so more of a sinker than for retrieval...

 

[2talljones]

get a lid that you can tie the bag to from under the lid.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I've done the floss but didn't think I got a perfect seal. Then I realized I've never actually pulled the hop bag out of the keg. So . . . I just toss the bag in, now.

 

[55x11]

I think the difference is temperature of the beer. I recently dryhopped a beer for 5 days in the carboy at room temp and it does have a good bit of a grassy flavor. But, I have done dryhopping in the refrigerated kegs for the life of the beer and it never got to that point. YMMV

that may be true. I sometimes dry hop warm, but only for a few days and in fermentor (at the back end of fermentation), and sometimes much longer, in the keg, but for entire duration of the keg (6 weeks or more). No grassy flavors. You may be right, room temp + long exposure could give you that.

 

[55x11]

I have a bunch of these I use for dry hopping in the keg. 3" ball fits through the lid hole easily and holds ~ 1/2 oz of whole flower hops. I typically do 4 balls for 2 oz of citra in my pale ale. Even use coarse ground coffee in these for dry 'beaning' my stouts

https://www.amazon.com/Maxware-Stainless-Teaball-Strainer-Seasoning/dp/B00QVV9GAM/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1472061186&sr=8-16&keywords=3+tea+ball

I got a bunch these a while ago and never really liked them for dry hopping - the problem for me is the hop pellets swell up considerably in volume when they get wet. So you need to guess the expansion, otherwise you will end up with wet hops on the outside and dry hops inside. I find that fine mesh bags work best in the end.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

You can just attach a little worm clamp to the PVR valve on the inside of the keg lid, tie the hop bag up to that, no welding required.

this sounds like a winner.


Also, like i stated in the intro, I dont brew many hoppy beers. I've always just dry-hopped in the carboy for 3-5 days then kegged, I assumed I would get grassy flavors if I left the hops in the keg permanently.