Dry Hop/ Dip Tube Clogging

[KennyPowers55]

The last two IPA recipes I made called for dry hopping. Both times the dip tube clogged in the first pours. The first keg I racked into another keg through a strainer, which ended up being fine, but if this is a step I can avoid, I would like to avoid it. Both beers were hopped with pellet hops in the primary. No secondary was used. Is this normal? What am I doing wrong?

 

[billl]

Are you putting loose hops in a keg?

 

[rtracer]

Dry hopping in the fermenter I assume? I dry hop all my beers. I just throw them in loose, but I have the ability to cold crash my beers before kegging and most all the hop material drops into the trub layer and I siphon just above. Get some mesh bags to dryhop in and that should help keep the hop material out of the keg

 

[RM-MN]

I wrap a paint strainer bag around the end of the siphon and hold it in place with a rubber band which is all sanitized before I start the siphon. That keeps the hop particles out of my bottles. If you want to dry hop in the keg, use a fine mesh bag to hold the hops.

 

[shortyz]

i only dry hop with leaf due to that problem.. pellets are a pain in the a** in a keg. if i do pellets i will put them in a carboy and let them do their thing, then transfer to the keg.

 

[KennyPowers55]

The dry hopping (with pellets) is taking place in the primary. I haven't been using a secondary. Both times the hops were added 5-7 day before kegging. Should I allow for a longer time for the hops to settle out?

 

[Jwin]

The dry hopping (with pellets) is taking place in the primary. I haven't been using a secondary. Both times the hops were added 5-7 day before kegging. Should I allow for a longer time for the hops to settle out?

They won't settle in any reasonable time sure to off gassing. Cold crashing essentially prevents off gassing(hence suck back) and they then settle out.

The simplest solution if you can't crash your beer, shorten your dip tube by about an inch and a half. Once the hops that make it into the keg settle out, your good.

 

[KennyPowers55]

They won't settle in any reasonable time sure to off gassing. Cold crashing essentially prevents off gassing(hence suck back) and they then settle out.

The simplest solution if you can't crash your beer, shorten your dip tube by about an inch and a half. Once the hops that make it into the keg settle out, your good.

I will have to look into cold crashing. I keep my keezer set to 31-33 or so. Would that work? I dont have another temperature controlled environment I can use yet and even the keezer is starting to fill up.

 

[KepowOb]

That temp range would work perfectly.

 

[m1k3]

I cold crash (wait a few days) and then run off a few ounces into a separate container before filling my keg. I find that the first and last ounces from the fermenter are most likely to have unwanted hop and yeast.

 

[toddk63]

I dry hop in the serving keg. I put them in a muslin bag designed for specialty grain steeping. Never had a problem but once. That time, the bag came open.

 

[pointerbrewing]

My issues it will always clog up in the actual BALL lock where the spring is, not the actual tube. I fixed this buy when racking into the keg using a hop bag to filter out large hop particles when sucking in, this worked perfectly. So a fine bag zip tied to the bottom of the racking cane on the fermenter side (not tube going into keg) fixed this issue for me.

 

[mx222]

Had this same problem yesterday. In the past I've racked to another keg but yesterday after removing the ball lock post and cleaning the spring and poppet several times a lightbulb went off. So I removed the gas line, opened relief valve, removed ball lock post, re-attached ball lock post without poppet and spring, grabbed an extra ball lock connector I had, opened it up and removed spring and pin, put cap back on the connector, attached a short hose to this connector, attached connector to post, re-attached gas and it pushed the hop matter through into a pitcher until the beer ran clear. Hooked everything back up and problem solved. Obviously the better idea is to not have the hop matter in there in the first place but worth a try before you spend time racking to another keg.

 

[BlurryEyed]

If dry hopping in a fermenter, try using a hop sack or screen that fits inside your fermenter. If you're using a carboy with a small opening, consider buying this: http://www.homebrewing.org/Glass-Carboy-Dry-Hopping-Tube_p_3587.html

If you're using a bucket or fermenter with a larger opening, a nylon bag with a few glass marbles to weight it down will work just fine.

I myself dry hop in the serving keg until the keg is tapped using a nylon hop bag. Some people report grassy off flavors - but I don't have that level of beer snobiness. Tastes great to me!

 

[beerkench]

No need for fancy filters or hop bags. Cold crashing for a few days is your friend. It sets the hop matter nicely onto the cake. With good practice you can then syphon off without taking up any matter.
I have good success filling my kegs from the fermenter's spigot valve and by raising the spigot side of the fermenter slightly at the beginning of fermentation by propping something under it. This way it's easy to get the yeast and hop matter away from the spigot due to the tilt on the bucket.

 

[FatLiquor]

Had this same problem yesterday. In the past I've racked to another keg but yesterday after removing the ball lock post and cleaning the spring and poppet several times a lightbulb went off. So I removed the gas line, opened relief valve, removed ball lock post, re-attached ball lock post without poppet and spring, grabbed an extra ball lock connector I had, opened it up and removed spring and pin, put cap back on the connector, attached a short hose to this connector, attached connector to post, re-attached gas and it pushed the hop matter through into a pitcher until the beer ran clear. Hooked everything back up and problem solved. Obviously the better idea is to not have the hop matter in there in the first place but worth a try before you spend time racking to another keg.

Boom! You got it!
If your using a picnic tap, you can just leave it like this till your empty. I dry hop the crap out of my beers and often in the corny. It doesn't take much hop matter to get siphoned in there to plug her up tight. Just need to remember not to unhook the valve while under pressure😜

 

[msherretz]

Use a secondary fermenter and dry hop bags. Then crash cool the secondary before filling the kegs. Never dry hop in a keg!!!!
Leaving the trub behind early in the fermentation will improve your beer; thus a secondary is needed. Dry hop in the secondary and give it enough time to settle (more than one week up to three weeks) but remove the hop bag after the number of days specified. Then transfer to the keg and age in the keg in a cold place like 32 to 35 deg F if you can. Patience will really pay by giving you a clear beer if you don't get in a hurry. I try to keep my kegs aging for 1 month before serving. Like a good stew, it tastes better with time.
But, the hop aromas are fleeting, so drink a real hoppy beer quickly. They don't age well over 6 months.

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

Go to a shoe store and get those little disposable mesh socks that they use for people to try on shoes. They are perfectly sized for dry hopping in a keg or even in a glass carboy. The fine mesh lets almost nothing through.
After a second broken full carboy disaster, I bought a 30 liter Speidel plastic fermenter and a 6 gallon "Fermonster." Both work great and the big wide mouth makes cleaning and dryhopping much easier.

 

[Calichusetts]

I use stainless steel tea balls. You can get a set of 6 pretty cheap. They hold over 1 oz and are just awesome.

 

[KennyPowers55]

So I made a batch of Bell's Two Hearted clone and I decided to dry hop in the keg this time using hop screen that I purchased via the sponsor forum. I also added an extra 4 oz of hop pellets. I transferred from the 5 gallon keg to a 3 gallon to bring to a gathering. I was able to fill up just under 3 gallons, then I noticed all sorts of hop crap going through the beer line.

My plan was to leave the hops in until the keg was kicked. Is that wrong? It seems like I can't get this dry hop thing right.

 

[BlurryEyed]

So I made a batch of Bell's Two Hearted clone and I decided to dry hop in the keg this time using hop screen that I purchased via the sponsor forum. I also added an extra 4 oz of hop pellets. I transferred from the 5 gallon keg to a 3 gallon to bring to a gathering. I was able to fill up just under 3 gallons, then I noticed all sorts of hop crap going through the beer line.

My plan was to leave the hops in until the keg was kicked. Is that wrong? It seems like I can't get this dry hop thing right.

Unless you're using whole cone hops, you should be using a nylon mesh bag when dry hopping in the serving keg, otherwise you'll end up with a clogged dip tube and/or hop sediment in your beers. Weigh it down with glass marbles (I get mine at the $1 store) and use unscented floss to suspend the bag in the keg so it doesn't get stuck under your dip tube.

I dry hop in the serving keg in this fashion and have yet to have any issues. Be sure to use keg lube on the lid if you're suspending with the floss.

 

[charles]

Would it work if you add more hops in the fermentation bucket and transfer to a bottling bucket or keg so you don't have any sediment?

 

[KennyPowers55]

Would it work if you add more hops in the fermentation bucket and transfer to a bottling bucket or keg so you don't have any sediment?

The last two beers were dry hopped in the primary (no secondary) and I still ended up with sediment in the keg. The first time it was definitely my fault. I had sediment on the top and bottom of the primary and at some point broke the siphon. When I started it up again I mixed everything up in the process.

The second time everything seemed to go smooth but I still ended up with a clogged tube. This third time...I thought the hop screen would have made sure this didn't happen.

 

[BlurryEyed]

Not sure if you're doing this already, but cold crashing for 24-48 hours makes a huge difference. If I'm going for clarity, I do a combo of cold crashing + gelatin fining. Super easy and pulls all the sediment to the bottom of the fermenter.

 

[jerbrew]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=590731

been using this for my keg hops. Love it. If I do a uuuuuuuge dry hop I do it in the fermenter and then load that thing up with another smaller round just for funzies and prolonged hoppage. I can fit about 3 oz of leaf in there i think and a ton of pellets so if I do a smaller drop hop (>=3 oz) I just use that in the keg.

I keg pretty quickly (usually about 10-14 days max) so sediment is always there for a few days even a week depending on yeast and amount of hops. This last DIPA i made had about 5 oz first round dry hops and 3 oz in that keg hopper thingy. took about a week to really drop clear but now it's crystal clear and as long as I don't go sloshing the keg it will be lovely for the rest of its short existence.

 

[charles]

I have never used gelatin to clarify. Will it remove any flavors from the beer? I have been using secondary fermentation and I have not had any problems with it.

 

[KennyPowers55]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=590731

been using this for my keg hops. Love it. If I do a uuuuuuuge dry hop I do it in the fermenter and then load that thing up with another smaller round just for funzies and prolonged hoppage. I can fit about 3 oz of leaf in there i think and a ton of pellets so if I do a smaller drop hop (>=3 oz) I just use that in the keg.

I keg pretty quickly (usually about 10-14 days max) so sediment is always there for a few days even a week depending on yeast and amount of hops. This last DIPA i made had about 5 oz first round dry hops and 3 oz in that keg hopper thingy. took about a week to really drop clear but now it's crystal clear and as long as I don't go sloshing the keg it will be lovely for the rest of its short existence.

This is what I used for this batch, My first time using it. I did occasionally "slosh" the keg to assist with carbonation. Maybe that was my mistake? It seemed like it was taking too long to carbonate so I started giving it an occasional shake.

 

[jerbrew]

This is what I used for this batch, My first time using it. I did occasionally "slosh" the keg to assist with carbonation. Maybe that was my mistake? It seemed like it was taking too long to carbonate so I started giving it an occasional shake.

I will shake my keg around only in the beginning of carbonation if I do it at all. I usually just set my keg to 30 PSI and leave it for a day. Check and adjust accordingly. once my keg goes into the kegerator to carb and cold crash I try not to bother it too much. I screwed up last time and wasn't careful when trying to get my bottling setup attached and had to wait another day and a half and another pint to get a clear beer again.