Dry Hop Keg Lid

After listening to TBN about dry hopping I decided I had to find a way to dry hop in the keg and still be able to remove the hops after 1 to 2 weeks. Fishing line would not work as the keg would not seal.

I thought about welding some kind of loop on the lid and my welding buddy told me that Morebeer.com already sells a corny lid with the loop on it, but that costs $33.

Check out the keg lid hook suspending hop bags.



I'm stoked as I have 15 gallons of Wounded Knee IPA to Keg and dry hop with Simcoe and Amarillo.

 

I like it. I also like that your welding buddy just happens to be up on beer-related gear. Excellent.

 

Could u weld an S hook on there? I think that would work better for a hooking. Nice though!

 

Very nice lid, Ed. Nothing better than a beer with some age on it, but still has all that fresh hop taste.

 

Prolly could, but it would be harder to tack it there. I'm going to use some limp fishing line to suspend a hop bag. More pics to follow.

 

Would some simple epoxy work for us non-welding-skill-having folks?

 

...but apparently dental floss works.

But I wouldn't know, I just dry-hop in the primary.

 

I heard that too, but there was some laughter with it. :cross:

I normally drop a stainless hop ball in mine, but it stays there till the keg is empty. I got some vegetal remarks on some beer contest feedback, so I'm banking on this solving that problem.

 

I'v had success using a zip tie to attach the hop bag to the dip tube.

 

Yes, but how do you get it out after two weeks when you want to chill and carb it?

 

I'm wondering if I can get off cheap and use some JBWeld (Food grade once cured). This is a good idea on how to dry hop in the keg!

 

I was going to suggest that JB weld is a reasonable idea. It is food grade after curing and as long as you don't aerate the heck out of it when you mix, there shouldn't be any pitting for sanitation concerns.

 

+1 on JB weld. Any type of hook made out of ss would work nicely....preferably one that will accomodate a hop ball. You could probably even solder something on, considering it's not going to be under much stress.

Then again, I've never had a problem just leaving the hops in the keg.

 

Building on the zip tie thing, I actually zip tied another zip tie to the original one fastened on the tube to create a loop and slid it near the top which hooks nicely to my tea ball.

I would be a little concerned of having it attached to the lid in fear if you tip the lid the wrong direction, you will be doing a little bit more fishing than you hoped to!

 

I just do a keg transfer under pressure. Still it's a pain making sure I've got a keg handy to make it work. I'll investigate that.

 

I have a piece of of SS rod that I bent into a hook at one end. I just sanitize it & snag the hop bag.

 

I kegged 15 gallons of Wounded Knee IPA and dry hopped each one with an ounce of Amarillo and Simcoe. I sanitized the bags, some marbles, and the fishing line with starsan. Before hand, I tied a loop in one end of the fishing line. Wearing sanitized food service latex gloves, I was able to load a one gallon paint strainer with the hops and marbles and tie the fishing line to it. I then put the line back through the loop and hooked it on the lid and tightened it. It's on secure, but will come off easily.

I have them suspended in the middle of the keg, so a 10 days from now, I'll pull them out. So far, it's working as planned.

 

I use a hose clamp around the pressure relief stump.

 

I just toss mine in keg, with a surescreen on the dip tube and transfer to a serving keg to carb... No issues and I don't have to worry about fishing it out and contaminating my beer.

 

That's using your noggin!

Again, after listening to TBN's podcast on dry hopping, I'm going to get my hops out after a week to 10 days with this method. I'll have a sanitized lid ready to swap out as soon as I pull the hops. Just replace the lid, hit with CO2 to purge any O2 and it's ready to chill and carb.

 

Ed, I like the fishing line idea. Have you tried to see if you lose pressure if you pulled the line out the lid and let the o-ring seal it off. I am new to dry hopping and kegging....seems like it is worth a try on a test keg. Ryno

 

I don't think fishing line works as well as dental floss (Get the non-mint kind unless it is a Christmas beer...)

 

I'm having some stainless washers welded to the inside of 2 of my lids this morning, that will make a nice loop to hang stuff and will only take a small tack weld.
But the hose clamp, man that's way to simple, why did I not think of that?
I heard the same episode and looked at the morebeer lids. I thought, man I'd rather spend the $33 plus shipping on more beer ingredients. I may forgo the welding in favor of hose clamp. That way I would not worry about warping the lid (you'd be surprised how easily ss warps)
-Ben

 

In case anyone wasn't sure, I've found no ill effects leaving dryhop in the keg for the duration of the serving time. I just kicked a keg of American Amber that has been on an ounce of Cascade leaf for 2.5 months. The only difference is that the last pint you pour is going to be HEAVEN because all the beer that was in the mass of hops will drain out as the last of the beer is drawn out.

 

When I brewed a bitters that called for keg hopping I simply took a paper clip, bent it into a hook and then used a hard drive magnet on the outside of the lid to hold it in place. Hops went in a bag and were suspended by fishing line. No rust was seen on the paper clip when the keg was kicked.

 

I was going to dry hop in keg with a sure screen (third down) on dip tube, and then transfer to a serving keg for my double IPA in primary right now... Should I come up with a gigantic tea infuser or does my plan sound adequate(assuming I won't clog it with 1 oz pellet hops)?

Thanks for any/all input- I love learning more about brewing!

 

Has anyone had a probem using a hop ball and it busting open....I was told that if I used more than 1/2 oz. in it, it would swell and bust open the ball...

 

See, I was going to suggest just drilling through the lid and attaching a bolt or hook, and sealing up with a couple rubber washers, but pjj2ba's idea is totally off the hook.

So far, I just dry hop in a mesh bag and when I want to pull the bag, I'll slip on a rubber glove, sanitize and fish it out.

 

You must have little hands because my hoof wont go anywhere near through the opening in a keg.

 

would JB Welding a SS nut to the underside of the keg lid work probably? You wouldn't have to worry about the line coming off since it'd be a closed loop.

Ed, did your method work as well as you thought it would?

 

Dry hopped as posted for about two weeks (just 1oz pellets in keg with sure screen, no infuse); went to transfer corny to corny, and the initial draw did clog the tube. Removed the post, cleared/sanitized the tube and was good to go. Let it sit a little longer, now on tap and tasting great! Next time I think I will use an infuser of sorts next go around...

 

I used the SS hose clamp to the PRV on the inside of the lid, used a nylon fine grain bag attached with a section of ss wire, put about an ounce of leaf hops in the bag, used the stiffness of the wire to submerge the bag and soak the hops. This worked great, no sediment or nasties.

 

Worked out like a champ. There was some residual hop powder in the beer, but it settled out nicely.

 

KISS very nice idea. I have a pale ale that I wanted to dry hop this week and didn't want to do any major equipment adjustments. This seems like the ticket.