Closed Transfer to Keg Equipment Setup

[marc1]

For those that dry hop, how are you doing it without introducing a bunch of oxygen? I’ve seen some posts with magnets or pulleys - seems janky and unsanitary.

My way is definitely not optimal, but most of my beers are not dry hopped.

I have a kegmenter. I take a clear plastic bag and put it over the fermenter and hold it to the sides with bungee cord. I cut a small hole in the bag and run CO2 in. I have vacuum sealed hops and scissors inside the bag on top of the fermenter. I manipulate everything through the bag. I open the fermenter, cut open the hops, put them in, and seal the kegmenter. Then I turn off the CO2, remove the bag, and purge the fermenter many times at 30PSI.

It's a PITA, but it works OK. It would be nice to have some kind of purge-able TC attachment for dry hopping. Maybe someday I'll look into getting a new lid made with that built in.

 

[tracer bullet]

I take a clear plastic bag and put it over the fermenter and hold it to the sides with bungee cord. I cut a small hole in the bag and run CO2 in.

Sure! Have thought of something like it. It's a fairly legit lab thing. Glove Bag 108D X-37-37HG Inflatable Glove Chamber, 33 1/2" Sleeve; 37" L from Cole-Parmer

Not saying you should buy that. Just that you aren't nuts.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

1. How long does it take for the transfer to complete? I've read up to an hour for some.

It definitely goes slower than a non-closed transfer. Probably 15 minutes for a 5 gallon keg. I have thought about something like @tracer bullet said and remove the poppet and post. I suspect that is the bottleneck to the flow.

These days I also have an inline filter. Like the "Bouncer Filter" but an off brand that is cheaper. The first time I tried a closed transfer was for an NEIPA and the poppet clogged. I think I managed to get it cleared out with out too much oxidation, but it was a pain. The downsize of the filter is that it adds another item to clean and makes purging the inlet line harder.

This one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XYQNBQR

 

[marc1]

Sure! Have thought of something like it. It's a fairly legit lab thing. Glove Bag 108D X-37-37HG Inflatable Glove Chamber, 33 1/2" Sleeve; 37" L from Cole-Parmer

Not saying you should buy that. Just that you aren't nuts.

Yes, that's the idea except without the manipulation glove ports. I just grab everything through the bag.

 

[szap]

With hops in the keg, a floating dip tube has worked well for me.

 

[BongoYodeler]

This is what I use with my 30 liter (7.9gal) Speidel fermenter.