Dry Hopping in the Keg My Ugly Method (Pics)

[BierMuncher]

1 - $1.00 paint strainer bag from Lowes.
1 – Small zip tie (100 for $1.49 at Home Depot)
1 Handful of marbles from my childhood (circa 1966)
1 – Ounce of Cascade Whole Leaf and 1 hop plug (1/2 Oz) of Glacier Hops



Here you can see the marble co-mingling with the hops.



Zip tie the bag to the liquid dip tube (Illustration purposes only. Of course you have to do this inside the keg)



Here you can see the hops ready to go for a dunk



Hops…meet beer. Beer…meet hops.
Without the marbles, the hops would want to float and I want these babies fully submerged.

 

[BierMuncher]

And now it's into the chiller for a ten day soak. The hops are at the bottom of the keg so the beer should have a continual exposure to these incredible hops.

Man I love Glacier hops.

 

[Joe028]

How do you remove the hops? Or do you rack to another keg?

 

[BierMuncher]

How do you remove the hops? Or do you rack to another keg?

The hops stay in right to the end of the keg.

This is as close as you can come to the effect of a randall...without having a randall.

 

[the_bird]

BM, you are like hardcore ghetto....

 

[Drunkensatyr]

That sure beats the way I have been doing it. String tied to the underside of the lid. I will have to try that on my next APA!

 

[98EXL]

Dude, I love teh ghettoness!

 

[lackofstyl]

Hey, BM what is the benefit of the tie wrap? Were the marbles not enough to keep it down?

 

[Drunkensatyr]

To keep the bag off the bottom so you dont block the dip tube.

 

[BierMuncher]

To keep the bag off the bottom so you dont block the dip tube.

Right.

I could have taken the chance that the bag would not have worked it's way down to the end of the tube, but this way it's guaranteed.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Dude, I love teh ghettoness!

That's ghetto supreme for sure. I love it!!! :rockin:

 

[Brewing Clamper]

Dude, you're ufcking brilliant! Couple of questions:

1) Do you notice a more grassy flavor towards the end of the keg?

B) Do you get any small particulate matter from the hops in your beer or is the mesh bag tight enough?

 

[WortMonger]

Any suggestions for dry hopping in a sanke? I haven't dry hopped since I made the move to sanke from corny. This is an idea

but for $30 I could probably rig something up cheaper. Has anyone used the brew infuser before?

 

[olllllo]

Where are the jagged hunks of flesh-eating stainless steel?

 

[BierMuncher]

Dude, you're ufcking brilliant! Couple of questions:

1) Do you notice a more grassy flavor towards the end of the keg?

B) Do you get any small particulate matter from the hops in your beer or is the mesh bag tight enough?

Thanks. This is my first time dry hopping in the serving keg. As I understand it, EdWort dryhopped his Stone IPA and I had a sample of that (beer swap) and there were no issues with hops particle.. I’m using whole leaf hops for just that reason. My guess is that any particles will bind with the residual yeast at the bottom of the keg. I have my liquid dip tube bent a little sharper on all my kegs to avoid “unwanted” at the bottom of the keg.

As far as grassy flavors…again, if EdWorts Stone was any indicator…the flavor should be fantastic.

Where are the jagged hunks of flesh-eating stainless steel?

Ha…ha… You’re thinking of my keggle. I’ll be risking flesh wounds with that thing tomorrow.

 

[BierMuncher]

Dude, I love the ghettoness!

Would you expect anything else?

 

[BierMuncher]

That sure beats the way I have been doing it. String tied to the underside of the lid. I will have to try that on my next APA!

That was my first intinct...but I couldn't find anything to tie it to...

 

[ArroganceFan]

Great idea, I will definitly use this method when I dry hop in the keg.

 

[BierMuncher]

I'm not aware of any detriment to leaving the hops in the keg for the duration. In my case...duration is likely to be only three or four weeks...tops.

Maybe someone else who dry hops in the keg can shed light on any cons to a lengthy dry hopping period.

 

[oshow1]

Do you get the grassy taste that sometimes comes with prolonged dry hopping? How long do you condition the keg before carb'ing or do you force carb straight away? I've played with dry hopping in the carboy and tend to leave the dry hops in no longer than one week. I like the idea of dry hopping the keg but think that prolonged exposure could result in off flavors...

 

[hal2814]

I've had hops in the keg for months directly contacting the water with no ill effects. I've found the hops tie well enough to the dip tube without the marbles. My only problem is that my forearm gets stuck trying to reach into the keg to tie the bag on. For some things like IPA I'll tie the bag low on the dip tube like you have. For a regular pale ale or bitter, I tie the bag high and after a few days pull a couple of pints so the water level drops below the hop bag. Tying high tends to keep grassiness to a minimum but pulls off a lot less aroma.

 

[FreakinA]

BierMuncher, how did this turn out? Any reports on the taste of the beer you did this to? Do you still do it this way?

 

[homebrewer_99]

FWIW, I dry hopped a brew in the secondary for 26 days and there was definite grassiness in the flavor.

IMO, this method would work best if you added it to a keg about 3-4 days before a party in which you hoped it would be floating by the end of the night.