Timeline for Kegging Pale Ale

Hello, my second brew went...well...not so well so I have a question on number 3. I'm brewing the Dry Dock Pale Ale from Northern Brewer. I had it in the primary for just shy of 3 weeks. I racked to the secondary yesterday. Would it make sense for me to dry hop tomorrow (Friday) and let it go for a week before kegging? My goal is to be able to drink the beer next weekend (the 26th). Is that not long enough in the secondary and how and how long do I need to forcecarb? Thanks in advance.

 

Strictly speaking, you don't need secondary at all, but since it's already there I'll forego the pros and cons. Someone else can rave about that...

So your secondary has no time requirement, at this point all that matters is the dry hopping time. It goes a little faster if it's warmer, slower if it's cooler. I would say a week is enough, assuming it isn't in a fridge or anything.

Regarding force carbing, it depends on your style. Burst method is fastest (30psi, shake/roll the keg, then down to serving pressure). It is fastest, but can cause over carbing most easily and doesn't make your beer "not green" (not that any other method will). Set and forget is the safest, truest method, but requires a couple weeks. Personally, I think a mix of the two is best. Start at 30 psi, maybe shake a little (I don't, but it will speed it up), then lower to serving pressure. I think it still takes a day or two to get where you really want it, but it is much faster than the set and forget method.

Make sure you have a carbonation chart of volumes CO2 based on temp and pressure.

Edit: Or just listen to Yooper. She said the same as me, twice as well, with half the words.

 

I like to shake it for 15-20 minutes at the serving pressure. It gets you 80% of the way to your final carbonation level right away and there's zero chance of overcarbonating.

Also, for future reference, the keg basically is a secondary. You can do your dry hopping straight in the keg and eliminate a transfer. I usually keep the beer cold and haven't had any problem just keeping the hops in there until the keg is kicked.

 

^ this will serve you well. Though dry hopping in the keg will give your beer more time on gas. 2 birds one stone.

 

That's a LOT of shaking...


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I agree with dry hopping in keg. If it's a big party and you think you'll do a good job drinking most of it then just dry hop and leave them floating or so. But if not you can always: hold the dry hop bag with dental floss/fishing line to keep it near the top so it doesn't create grassy notes from being in there too long. Or zip tie the bag onto the beer dip tube. At about 2/3 the height for the same effect. What these do is when you drink so much, the beer level will be below the hops so no more dry hopping.


- ISM NRP

 

One of my kegs has a little tab welded onto the bottom of the lid so you can tie a dry hop bag on. I imagine this could be accomplished with a food grade adhesive and a plastic hook.

which is all to say you can dry hop in the keg while carbing...

 

Thanks for all the replies. If I do dryhop in the keg is it ok to tie the hopsack to the fishing line and leave the line outside the keg? Will the seals leak if so?

 

You could try it, but it seems like it would be hard to keep it from leaking. I don't use keg lube...maybe it could help?

 

dental floss?

 

Well, I guess "shaking" is the wrong word. If you lay the keg on its side you can just roll it back and forth with your foot. Put on some tunes and have a beer and the time passes pretty quickly.

Regarding running the line for the hop sack outside of the keg, I think it might work, but it's unnecessary. Just tie the other end of the string to something that floats. When (if) the time comes to remove the hops, just sanitize your hand and yank it out.

 

My favorite way to dry hop is to add the hops in a fine mesh hop bag with marbles, and let em sink to the bottom of the chilled beer keg where the pickup tube is at. The hop aroma stays around for the length of the keg (my kegs last 3-4 weeks). And because the beer is chilled, you don't get the grassy flavors like you would if you left them at room temp beyond 7 days.

The only downside I see is that it takes longer for the beer to take on the aroma b/c the beer is cold. But usually by the time my keg is fully carbed (1 week), the aroma is there.

 

Ive left hops in a keg to dry hop for a month or more and never had grassy notes, maybe it has to do with the hops but ive done it multiple times with no issues...

I think the fact that its always under CO2 pressure and super cold prevents a lot of those notes from coming out? Not sure...

Throw them in a bag, throw the bag into the keg and let it go...the nice thing about doing it in a keg is you literally lose zero of the aroma profile like you would when doing it in a primary and then transferring it...every ounce of flavor and aroma in those hops is going to stay in the keg.

 

When I chill for two days, then carb at 30 psi for 36 hours and let it sit at 12 psi, I don't get any carbonic bite. I also don't shake.

 

Never had a problem with foam or cloudiness due to shaking. Anything you stir up falls right back out in a day or so. Yes, it's not strictly necessary, but it's another tool in the toolbox.

I agree, though, that there's no point in dry hopping this particular batch in the keg since it's already in a secondary. I was just throwing that out there for the next time around. Sorry if that caused any confusion.