dry hopping in keg??

[Thejiro]

Does any ine do this?? Ive been doing this instead of dry hoping during secondary. Although im not sure if there is any benefit or detriment to doing this. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Tia
Ken

 

[bcryan]

I dry hop in the primary. I've never dry hopped in keg but would probably work just fine. Just make sure to clean those poppets when the keg runs dry.

 

[hercher]

I've been dryhopping in the keg for years. I've used pellets, plugs, and whole hops. I put the hops into a woman's nylon stocking and toss it in. The cool things is that the beer takes on a certain dynamic character, as the hop aroma increases over time. With pellets, I don't bother with a weight as it seems to sink on its own. With plugs or cones, you may want to throw some sanitized weights in there.

 

[TacoGuthrie]

I have these beauties in all my kegs. I try to dry hop with whole hops but have used small amounts of pellets too. These things are your answer.

I've never had my beer turn 'grassy' from dry hopping in a keg, but a keg doesn't last more than 3 weeks in my house anyway.

 

[Hammy71]

I use stainless tea balls with pellets. Sinks and no big pieces to clog the poppets.

 

[RJS]

Dont just throw em in, might be obvious but just in case you were thinking "oh, no bag, ill just throw em in". You will clog the beer out tube and need to rack to another keg. I did this in 6 kegs at once and i learned a great and noble lesson

 

[bob1852]

I use 1-gallon paint strainer bags; tied and hung mid-way into the keg with non-flavored dental floss.

 

[logdrum]

I use 1-gallon paint strainer bags; tied and hung mid-way into the keg with non-flavored dental floss.

That's my method as well. If I've got a slow moving keg, I'll adjust the bag up by releasing the pressure & yanking on the floss. I use leaf hops 99% of the time for the dry hopping.

 

[Kershner_Ale]

A short piece of SS braid zip tied to the dip tube seems to work just fine as well. I have some leaf hops in my Rye IPA keg right now. On rare occasion I'll see a tiny piece of hop leaf in a glass but 99% of the time all is clear.

 

[step]

Dont just throw em in, might be obvious but just in case you were thinking "oh, no bag, ill just throw em in". You will clog the beer out tube and need to rack to another keg. I did this in 6 kegs at once and i learned a great and noble lesson

Yeah, I was "under the influence" the other night and thought I would "fix" a keg of pale by boiling some hops in water for a bit and throwing them plus some "dry" hops in the keg and when I went to pull a pint tonight... nothing. Looks like I better finish up a keg and rack it over. Oh well, if it works great, if not no big deal because it was way out of balance and I don't think I could 5 gals of it anyway.

It does seem obvious that you would want to contain them. I think I am going to invest in some herb balls (Large Tea Stariner - Black Tea, Green Tea, Herbal Tea Nad Bulk Teas) for dry hopping the keg

 

[calpyro]

I have these beauties in all my kegs. I try to dry hop with whole hops but have used small amounts of pellets too. These things are your answer.

I've never had my beer turn 'grassy' from dry hopping in a keg, but a keg doesn't last more than 3 weeks in my house anyway.

I use the Surescreen as well: Surescreen : Northern Brewer
I have used all of the mentioned methods, bags, tea balls, and loose without protection.

Bags work OK, but when you want to put in a lot of hops, they get all bound up in the bag and you don't get all of the goodness out of the hops. When it's all done, open up the bag and there will be a lot of hop aroma/flavor still in the center of the hop bag.

Tea balls are too small. I could not get enough hop flavor from the small amount that I put in the ball. Again, the stuff in the center of the ball did not get utilized.

The Surescreen just fits over the liquid-out tube, and allow for literally pounds of hops with %100 contact with the beer. The hops are just floating around "Commando".

I just shake the keg everyday for about a week to ten days. When I am done, I chill the keg and transfer to a fresh keg using an out-to-out hose.

The Surescreen costs $8 and it will last forever. I have four kegs equipped with them. It is my secret weapon to make big hoppy beers. Don't tell anyone.

 

[david_42]

One plus of bagging hops in the keg, you can pull the old bag and replace the hops should the keg last that long. I've never needed more than an ounce or two at a time.

I have a Surescreen in one keg, but that gets used for blackberry cider.

 

[calpyro]

One plus of bagging hops in the keg, you can pull the old bag and replace the hops should the keg last that long. I've never needed more than an ounce or two at a time.

I have a Surescreen in one keg, but that gets used for blackberry cider.

One or two ounces?
I start my IPA's with at least three ounces per keg. For double IPA's at least six.
that's why bags don't work

 

[TacoGuthrie]

Obviously I'm with calypro on this one. I tried hop bags and paint strainer bags but really prefer and have found a difference with loose hops. Same reason I ditches the hop bag in the brew kettle for a screen.

I dry hop with whole hops. To date I have found no hops in my poppits, and I've looked everytime.

$5 screen = $1,000,000 in taste and aroma.

 

[terrapinj]

it seems to take longer to get the same strong pungent aroma that you get from dry hopping at room temp IME but you can def leave them in there longer

my current imperial black ale im dry hopping 3oz in primary for 1 week and then adding another 2oz when i keg

im sure it goes without saying but if you decide to dry hop after the keg is carbonated be very careful - it will immediately cause massive foaming

 

[terrapinj]

anyone have any problems with that screen for pellet hops? NB says they are more prone to clogging than whole leaf

 

[calpyro]

anyone have any problems with that screen for pellet hops? NB says they are more prone to clogging than whole leaf

I only use whole hops with the Surescreen

 

[TacoGuthrie]

anyone have any problems with that screen for pellet hops? NB says they are more prone to clogging than whole leaf

The most pellet hops I've used at one time is 1 oz when I mixed it with 1 oz whole hops. I would think it'd be fine up to two oz.

 

[tesilential]

I've been dry hopping in the keg since I started kegging, but am now switching up.

I used to leave the hops in until the keg kicked, which for me is usually at least 2 months. I noticed my aroma and flavor were turning for the worse. With 2 oz cascade leaves I got bright floral aroma for about 2 weeks. After that it became predominantly orange in flavor, more like I was using orange rinds instead of hops.

I'm experimenting with 2 IPAs currently, using a 10 day primary dry hop, then a second dry hop in the keg with nylon bags (at room temp). After 10 days remove hops and serve. If my aroma fades before the keg kicks I'll dry hop again, always making sure to remove the hops before 2 weeks.

 

[Golddiggie]

I have 1oz of EKG whole hops (in a bag) in my 3 gallon keg of my English IPA right now. They've been in the fridge for about 3 weeks now and are starting to fade again. I plan on checking the keg level in the morning. If there's not much left, I'll just finish it off faster. If there's still a good amount left, I'll probably remove the bag of hops and put it back into the fridge and finish it off. Since I live alone, and mostly drink alone, it's not easy to finish one keg very fast. Especially when I have three taps to pick from. I'll probably bottle some from the keg before I open it up to see how much is left. That way I can give some to a family member that's fond of my IPA's the next time I go there.

 

[calpyro]

I've been dry hopping in the keg since I started kegging, but am now switching up.

I used to leave the hops in until the keg kicked, which for me is usually at least 2 months. I noticed my aroma and flavor were turning for the worse. With 2 oz cascade leaves I got bright floral aroma for about 2 weeks. After that it became predominantly orange in flavor, more like I was using orange rinds instead of hops.

I'm experimenting with 2 IPAs currently, using a 10 day primary dry hop, then a second dry hop in the keg with nylon bags (at room temp). After 10 days remove hops and serve. If my aroma fades before the keg kicks I'll dry hop again, always making sure to remove the hops before 2 weeks.

I have also had struggled with a degradation of hop flavors.
During a club meeting at Russian River, I asked the brewer for some tips on dry hopping. He gave two tips to try.

The first was to get the hops off of the beer as soon as the beer starts tasting grassy. For me, I start getting off-flavors at around 10-14 days depending on the temp that the beer is dry hopping. I have now expanded that thought to transfer the beer to another keg at around 7 days, but I have increased the amount of hops that I use. For me more hops for a shorter time gives a big hop flavor without the harshness that occurs with a longer contact time.

The second made a big difference in the long-term flavor stability of the beer. He thought that I was oxidizing the beer with the dry-hop addition due to the air in the hop cones.
Essentially, I focused on eliminating the O2 in the hops by purging the keg with CO2 and metabolizing it through yeast activity. He recommended that when I add the dry-hop addition to add a small charge of sugar to "cask condition" the beer. His theory was any O2 left in the hops would be metabolized by the renewed yeast activity fermenting the sugar.

Purging alone did not solve the problem. But when I tried the advice of adding sugar, my beer stayed fresh with bright hop flavors for a much longer time. This was one of the biggest improvements in my hoppy beers.
I use 1/4 cup of sugar per keg boiled in a cup of water at the same time I add the dry hops. At around 7 days, I chill it to 34 degrees and transfer to a fresh keg.

 

[tesilential]

I have also had struggled with a degradation of hop flavors.
During a club meeting at Russian River, I asked the brewer for some tips on dry hopping. He gave two tips to try.

The first was to get the hops off of the beer as soon as the beer starts tasting grassy. For me, I start getting off-flavors at around 10-14 days depending on the temp that the beer is dry hopping. I have now expanded that thought to transfer the beer to another keg at around 7 days, but I have increased the amount of hops that I use. For me more hops for a shorter time gives a big hop flavor without the harshness that occurs with a longer contact time.

The second made a big difference in the long-term flavor stability of the beer. He thought that I was oxidizing the beer with the dry-hop addition due to the air in the hop cones.
Essentially, I focused on eliminating the O2 in the hops by purging the keg with CO2 and metabolizing it through yeast activity. He recommended that when I add the dry-hop addition to add a small charge of sugar to "cask condition" the beer. His theory was any O2 left in the hops would be metabolized by the renewed yeast activity fermenting the sugar.

Purging alone did not solve the problem. But when I tried the advice of adding sugar, my beer stayed fresh with bright hop flavors for a much longer time. This was one of the biggest improvements in my hoppy beers.
I use 1/4 cup of sugar per keg boiled in a cup of water at the same time I add the dry hops. At around 7 days, I chill it to 34 degrees and transfer to a fresh keg.

Hmm those are good tips! Nice to hear RR say to get the out quick since one of my current IPAs is an attempt at Pliny.

Wow I never thought of the hops themselves bring oxygen in! I added about 5 ounces of leaves to a bucket after primary, I'll add a little sugar to make sure the yeast take up the o2.

The Pliny clone is already kegged and I shoved about 3 oz leaves and 1.5 oz pellets into that, hopefully the co2 in the beer and in the headspace keeps out the o2 somehow. I actually shook the keg after adding my hop bag so now I'm worried that I oxidized the beer. Can't really add sugar since most of the yeast is gone....or can I? muahhua muah hahaha

 

[BrewThruYou]

Interesting discussion. I've only been kegging for a few months, but found that my dry hopped in the keg beers blew away my non-dry-hopped ones and my dry hopped in secondary beers.

I'm probably going to grab some of those surescreens. Right now, I use a 1G paint stainer bag tied with dental floss weighed down by some sanitized glass marbles. I like the idea of just chucking in the hops.