Draft Hopping

[Yunus]

This may have been done before but I haven't seen it.

I make a good IPA thanks to some recipes found on this board. However I have never been able to match the hop aroma of some of the commercial IPA's I love so much. My DIY solution is to run the beer through hops in the tap, its really simple and works!
Parts -
2 - 1/4" barb to 3/8" MIP brass fittings
2 - 3/8" FIP to 1/2" FIP brass adapter
1 - 1/2"X6" brass nipple (MIP on both sides)
Thread seal tape
1 Picnic tap setup for use on a keg (you could make it more permanent with a line going to a real tap if you always want to use it.)

Except the picnic tap, I got all the fittings at Lowe's for about $18 after tax.

Apply thread seal tape to all the brass fittings when you put it together.
Attach the barbed fittings to the 3/8" brass adapters.
Attach 1 of your adapter/barb fittings to the nipple.
Stuff as much hops as you want in the nipple ( I used about 1/4 oz of Centennial 9% which is what I am dry hopping my Edworts Stone IPA clone with)
Attach the other adapter/barb fitting to the nipple.
Now you just cut the line on the picnic tap in the middle and attach both ends to the barbed ends of your new draft hopper or whatever this thing is.

Put the tap on your favorite hoppy beer and pour one. I didn't have to adjust the pressure at all, although I might get less foam at a lower pressure.

Advantages - more hop aroma, more hop flavor, I've only done this once so more testing is required to make sure I'm not tricking myself into thinking its more aroma/flavor. Clarity is not affected save for 1 or 2 tiny particles of hops I saw floating but I think this might be because it was my first pour too.

Disadvantages - head, the entire beer comes out of the tap as head, so you gotta wait a minute to let it settle before you can drink it. But I did find it to be a creamier head than is normally on the beer, not quite a guiness head but somewhere in between.

Let me know what you guys think.

Also let me know if I just reinvented the wheel

 

[calpyro]

I like your idea.
I found a similar solution to the quest for hoppy beers. I bought one of these: Search Results

I dry hop in the keg and just keep the hops in the keg while I dispense. On average, I keep around 1/2-1 pound of hops in each keg. Mostly home grown hops. The beer just keeps getting hoppier.

Good work!

 

[Yunus]

I should mention I also dry hop in the keg. I just use a stainless steel tea ball though. That stainless steel sleeve might be a good option though, then you can just toss the whole hops right in there.

 

[david_42]

A micro-randall.

 

[RockfordWhite]

How often would you ahve to switch out the hops?

 

[Yooper]

A micro-randall.

That's exactly what I was thinking! A randall, using less hops. That's a great idea!

 

[Yunus]

I don't know about switching out the hops, I think the real treat is going to be the first pour of each evening. With a couple ounces satured in the hops overnight that first glass should be the best.

I just googled randall and hops and found what your talking about. I guess in a sense I reinvented the wheel but I would imagine that system would cost more and use a whole heck of a lot more hops. Now that I know this device is already invented the official name of my device should be the
Micro organoleptic hop transducer module.
or
Randall The Enamel Animal Jr.
or micro-randall

The article I found
grove's beer log: Bring on the hops!