Dry hop bags or overcarbed?

[Idlehanz]

I dry hopped an IIPA in the keg over a month ago. I planned on force carbing and left it at 30 psi for 3 days. It seemed way overcarbed, so I took it off the gas and let it sit a week. No big deal, as I wanted it to soak up some of that Citra yumminess. Anyway, after sitting for a week I tried it again and it was still to overcarbed. Or so it seemed. I took it off gas again for 2 weeks and then tried pouring a pint everywhere from 3-10 psi and all I got was foam. I just started thinking.....maybe my hop bags are in the way of the tube, and it's drawing that beer through the bags. Does this seem reasonable? Is my only option to sanitize a coat hanger and pull those bags out?

Thanks for any help.

 

[smagee]

I'm relatively new to force-carbing itself, so take this with a grain of salt. That said, 30psi for 3 days seems like a long time, but should taking it off the gas entirely really reduce that? I understand that it'd distribute the carbonation through the beer during that time, but if it's still too high, shouldn't you bleed off some of the pressure?

The hop bag problem sounds somewhat plausible, and it would never have occurred to me, so I'll look forward to seeing what others have to say on the matter.

 

[Idlehanz]

I knew I'd forget to add a few details. Once I took it off the gas at 30 psi, I bled the keg about once a day for the next week. You're right though, just taking it off the gas wouldn't decrease the carbonation. I believe I should have bled it more than once a day, but it wasn't really hissing much when I did.

 

[bruin_ale]

Funny, I have the exact same thing going on right now, but I didn't do 30psi for 3 days - the carbonation is almost perfect, but I get half a glass of foam whenever I pour. I have the same theory, I think the dry hop sack is blocking the dip tube..

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

once the co2 is in solution, its tough to get it out. Just purging the pressure in the headspace wont get you there very fast. The co2 needs a reason to come out of solution, and just reaching equilibrium is a slow way for it to do so. Keep purging once an hour or so, and you'll eventually get there.

 

[bruin_ale]

sanitize the coat hanger and pull em out.. then tell me if that fixes your problem

 

[g8tor]

The first thing I would do is take the keg out of the cold and store at room temperature. As the beer warms up the CO2 will start to come out of solution and then keep pulling the pressure relief valve daily. You should see a lot more gas coming out. Once you have the pressure you want you can put it back in the refrigerator and set it at the PSI you want and try again, assuming your system is balanced. If still foaming then check your bag and check to see if any hops got stuck in the poppets or connections.

Good luck,

Scott

 

[duckmanco]

I'd pull the bag out, easier attempted fix than constantly letting co2 out of solution IMO.
.
I learned this trick from somewhere on this board, I used a new and sanitized nylon stocking, fill with hop of choice, and then use teflon tape (cheap stuff used for pipe threads) and tie it to the bag (length of the tape depends on how far down you want your dry hops). I then left the tape FLAT against the rim of the keg and sealed the lid. The tape is so thin, it still allowed the keg lid to seal, and voila a suspended bag of hops in the keg that can be pulled out in seconds when I need to, or drink the keg and let the bag hang there till the beer level drops beneath the bag, either way.

I've done this once so far, and it seems to be working quite well. On a side note, 1 oz. of Simcoe in the keg= pungent sticky citrus-y orange grapefruit tangerine piney-ness like I have never experienced. I never EVER got hop aroma and character like this from dry hopping in the primary, EVER. Kegging is awesome.

 

[badhabit]

I always tie off and suspend my bags with dental floss to keep them off the bottom.

 

[cjever19]

Cool dry hopping tricks! Teflon tape and dental floss, when would I have thought of that. I had my sights on one of those tabbed keg lids from morebeer. I guess that's $50 I can spend on something else

 

[bruin_ale]

I was planning to bend a stainless washer at a close to 90 degree and solder it to the bottom of my keg lid and use that for tieing off - same as the tabbed keg lid but free (since I already have the flux/solder anyways).

 

[cjever19]

I was planning to bend a stainless washer at a close to 90 degree and solder it to the bottom of my keg lid and use that for tieing off - same as the tabbed keg lid but free (since I already have the flux/solder anyways).

Another cool idea, I wonder how strong it would be. If you had a few ounces of hops in there, full of beer, I'd bet that's close to the limit of the solder. Keep us posted!

 

[Yooper]

Is it just me? I have two "doo hickeys" for dryhopping in the keg. A tightly woven hops bag for pellets, and a teaball for leaf hops. I just chuck them in there and leave them. I've never had a bit of trouble, or any grassy flavors at all. Just hops goodness.

 

[bruin_ale]

Another cool idea, I wonder how strong it would be. If you had a few ounces of hops in there, full of beer, I'd bet that's close to the limit of the solder. Keep us posted!

You'd be surprised.. especially with the extra surface area I'd create by bending the washer at a 90 I bet it could hold the weight of a full 5 gallon keg by the lid itself - a bag of wet hops is nothing. I'm sure someone has already done it, but if I can do it without making my lid all ugly from burnt flux I'll post in the DIY.

 

[HDEEZ]

Is it just me? I have two "doo hickeys" for dryhopping in the keg. A tightly woven hops bag for pellets, and a teaball for leaf hops. I just chuck them in there and leave them. I've never had a bit of trouble, or any grassy flavors at all. Just hops goodness.

So you leave the hops in the keg until it's empty? Say 5-6 weeks?

 

[Yooper]

So you leave the hops in the keg until it's empty? Say 5-6 weeks?

Yes, sometimes a bit less or a bit longer (depending on how thirsty I am!). The cold temperature really slows down the dryhopping effects, and I've never had an issue. In a fermenter, I only dryhop about 5-10 days.