All Things Randall: tips, hacks and best practices

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pvpeacock

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I'll admit I had some money burning a hole in my pocket, so I bought a Randall from Home Brew Stuff 10
While there are a handful of Randall threads here, I did not find one addressing tips, hacks and best practices for using them. So here's the place to do that.

I will admit, that I have not used mine yet, but just received 1 lb. of Centennial and 1 lb. of Azacca hole cone hops. So my plan is to give it a try this weekend with a 5.5% ABV IPA I have on tap that has lost some of its hop goodness (it is still delicious nonetheless).
 
I finally tested out my hop Randall with Centennial hops and was not impressed. The beer just tasted grassy, not hoppy. Given my expectations of a really bright, hoppy aroma and flavor, I was sorely disappointed.
 
Leaving flavor and aroma aside, even though that's the whole point...

Did you have any difficulties with foam when using the Randall? Other issues?
 
There was significantly more foam than a regular pour, but I could live with that IF the hop flavor was what I had expected. The only other problem I had was that the rubber o-ring was broken and it took me a while to find a replacement that worked (prevented leaks). I will try it again one day with different hops, but the grassy flavor from the Centennial hops was very disappointing.
 
There was significantly more foam than a regular pour, but I could live with that IF the hop flavor was what I had expected. The only other problem I had was that the rubber o-ring was broken and it took me a while to find a replacement that worked (prevented leaks). I will try it again one day with different hops, but the grassy flavor from the Centennial hops was very disappointing.

Have you tried pellets too? I think David Heath has a Youtube video where he put t90 pellets in a muslin bag inside the randall. Think it was Kegland’s new device not named Randall. I don’t know what differences one may get with leaf vs pellets, but the pellet & randall method could just be an alternative way to use post-boil hops.
 
Reviving this thread, because...

I just "converted" my Blichmann Hop Rocket to a Randall - conversion just meant putting flare fittings on it and removing the strainer cup. Wow!

First, the tip-or-trick: some hop bits will flow with the first pour. These can clog your shank/faucet.

Second: when there's a down stream clog, things are gonna get messy. Disconnect the Randall from the keg, of course, but remember: the beer in the Randall is carbonated and will spurt forth when the outlet is disconnected.

3 oz. of Mosaic™ flowers made my latest DIPA, which was already sweeter than desired, too sweet. Floral AF though, so I was happy about that. Yumm!

So I switched (messily!) the Randall to my new WC IPA, which is very promising though not yet fully carbed.

I have had no foaming issues after the first pour.
 
The aforementioned IPA is adequately carbed now and super-tasty. We'll see how persistent the strong hop aroma/flavor goodness lasts over the coming weeks.

I have hold on the serving kegs with floating dip tubes, but this success makes me wonder whether the Randall could replace dry hopping altogether. But there is only room for one Randall in my kegerator, on the hump behind the four kegs.

Cheers!
 
I would think there would be a distinct falling curve of intensity of character provided by a Randall, vs fairly consistent character in a keg of dry hopped beer. It's been years since I used one and never kept it on a keg for its full life...

Cheers!
 
Good questing, l@Kickass. Answer: I'm not sure. It produces a unique result. It's not super hard. If I didn't already have the hop rocket I might never have tried it. I'm not ready to evangelize for the Randall, nor ready to call it a mere gimmick.

Incidentally, I had stopped using the hop rocket as originally intended (a hop back to infuse wort on its way from kettle to fermenter).

Whatever the merits is the Randall, I've found that dry hops in the serving keg can work very well.
 
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