Dry Hop in Keg?

[UnaBonger]

So I have a finished beer that came out OK... I'd like to add a little more hop bite to it... Is it possible/advisable to add bag of hops to a serving keg already in a kegerator? In a sense, dry hopping a already finished beer... Thanks.

 

[ubermick]

As long as you pull them out again after 5-7 days, you should be okay putting whole leaf hops into a bag in there. (I wouldn't use pellets, you're asking to clogging up your line)

Or, just make yerself a Randall! http://dcsanders.com/?p=57

 

[Yooper]

I don't pull mine out after 7 days- they stay in until the keg is empty. It turns out great! You will want to make sure you use a sanitized hops bag of course, because you don't want to clog up your dip tube.

 

[ubermick]

I don't pull mine out after 7 days- they stay in until the keg is empty.

I was told that after 7 days they start leeching off flavours into the beer. But then again, I was told that if I didn't stop masturbating, I'd go blind, and dfghiou iu0 er io gr dfg hijo g dioet890tkngu89 3ut ufndstpu wu908gp drgiu art 0[dar goiuhj cgvxzp8uy asdrdsf9 uadfgoij dfsg[09u dfag[ a erg[0i agriu adfgs[u ads0u4t=345.

So, what do I know?

 

[UnaBonger]

The Randall is a great idea! A little overkill for what I want to do, but I love the idea!

Thanks for the response Yoop! That was exactly what I had hoped. Are pellets OK in a sanitized paint strainer type bag or is there a specific hop bag that you're referring to?

 

[Yooper]

I love the idea of a randall, too! I keep saying I'm going to build one but never do.

I think there are a couple of reasons for the debate on 7 days vs the entire keg life. One is that I've heard that leaving beer on the dryhops longer than 10-14 days or so can impart "grassy" flavors. That may be true at room temperature. In my experience, though, dryhopping in the keg at fridge temps, that does not happen and it actually takes longer than 7 days to get the full effect of the dryhopping. It's a temperature thing. If your keg is at room temperature, it's probably different than at fridge temps. I've never dryhopped in the keg at room temperature longer than a few days.

It would be interesting to hear from people who did dryhop in the keg for longer than 7 days and DID get some grassy flavors. I've never really heard from the other side on this issue.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the response Yoop! That was exactly what I had hoped. Are pellets OK in a sanitized paint strainer type bag or is there a specific hop bag that you're referring to?

I use bags and those "tea balls" for whole leaf hops. But for pellets, I use a pretty tightly woven hop bag. They dissolve into sludge and it'd be nice to keep them contained!

 

[dave73ok]

The randall linked above is mine, and it was so easy to build. It works great, too.

Also, I dry hop in the keg. I leave the hops in there until the keg is kicked. I haven't noticed any off flavors or grassiness.

 

[BierMuncher]

I dry hop in the keg pretty regularly. Just a few pennies worth a materials and it's pretty easy:

One gallon paint strainer, marbles and a zip tie:

Marbles keep the bag weighted down:

The tricky part is getting the bag zip tied to the dip tube. Might need your SWMBO to help if your mits are too big:

Bag stays at the bottom of the keg during fill, chill and serve.

 

[samc]

Grassy flavors with dry hopping have only happened to me in the first few days of kegging. After a week everything settles out and it stays 1-2 months depending on keg life.

BM - marbles was my original method until I read about lead in China glass marbles. I don't have a source of the info, but now I use the SS doohicky from my Sanke spears as the weights. And if you are zip tying to the dip tube, don't see why you need the weights at all. I zip tie fishing line to the underside stub of the PRV of the keg lid.

 

[UnaBonger]

BM, you keep the hops in there the life of the keg?

In my case the beer is already kegged and I cant get to the dip tube like that... I do like the idea of the marbles to get it to the bottom. Where can you buy marbles now-a-days?

Will a paint strainer bag keep pellet hops in check? I have used them while brewing and always thought a little sludge got out, however, probably not enough to really worry about...

Thanks for all the ideas!

 

[ubermick]

I've never dry hopped in the keg, but from using pellets in standard dry hopping, there's ALWAYS sludge that leaks out. And I had an IPA where I didn't get everything out, and I ended up having to transfer it to another keg, since the poppets and diptube would constantly get clogged.

 

[knightbeer39]

Yooper: I have dry hopped in a keg that was in my keezer the whole time. I left the hops in for about 3 weeks, and it came out VERY grassy. No grassy flavor at all at the time of transfer. Now I used homegrown cascades that were only a year or two old plants, so maybe I didn't have enough lupulin to mask the vegetative flavor, but it was incredibly grassy and we would have enjoyed that keg a lot more if we hadn't done that.

Now I only dry hop in the keg for about 7 days or so and pull it. No grassy flavors, but I would agree that I am not getting the full hop potential either..

 

[shortyjacobs]

All I do is put the pellet hops in a muslin bag and drop them in, (sanitize the bag). No weights, no muss, no fuss. They float at first, but sink eventually.

 

[zymurgy101]

I love the idea of a randall, too! I keep saying I'm going to build one but never do.

I think there are a couple of reasons for the debate on 7 days vs the entire keg life. <snip>.

Umm...do they last longer than 7 days??

 

[zymurgy101]

So, you put pellets in a sanitized hop bag, drop it into the keg for the life of the keg and it eventually sinks to the bottom. Since the bag isn't tethered, does it not clog the dip tube at some point?

I forgot to dry hop my SNPA clone while in the carboy.

 

[dedhedjed]

i dryhop in the keg with pellets all the time. put the hops in a sanitized muslin bag, then take some plain dental floss or fishing line would work and tie it tightly around the knot in the hopbag, and then tie the other end onto one of the keg handles. then just close up the keg as usual and the seal should be fine, always has been for me. this allows you to easily remove the hops if you are so inclined.

 

[BulldogBrewer]

All I do is put the pellet hops in a muslin bag and drop them in, (sanitize the bag). No weights, no muss, no fuss. They float at first, but sink eventually.

This is how my current IPA is. About 10 days on right now. No grassy flavors, no sludge... Just yummy IPA. Its supposed to be for a birthday party this weekend.. sure hope it makes it... LOL

 

[shortyjacobs]

So, you put pellets in a sanitized hop bag, drop it into the keg for the life of the keg and it eventually sinks to the bottom. Since the bag isn't tethered, does it not clog the dip tube at some point?

I forgot to dry hop my SNPA clone while in the carboy.

It's never clogged for me...

 

[BoiseJim]

How many ounces (and I assume they're cascade) are people using for this method?

 

[ubermick]

I think what people do (I'm assuming) is just use whatever the recipe calls for in dry-hopping - only instead of dry hopping in the secondary, they're doing it in the keg. For example, I've got a recipe for a Racer 5 clone that calls for dryhopping it with an ounce each of Columbus, Centennial, and Amarillo for a 10 gallon batch. Next time I brew it, I'm just going to follow what folks have been doing on here. I'm gonna skip that dry hop, but when I put a keg on, I'll put a half ounce of each in a bag in the keg, and start the carbing.

By the time the keg's carbed, the dry hopping should have hit peak happiness!

 

[NBABUCKS1]

I plan on using a stainless steel ball and just dropping it in there full of hop pellet's for my pliny clone and leaving it in there. I may have to add a few marbels to it as I don't know if it'll fall into the beer or not.