Then what were you trying to say in your previous post?
I’ve got it figured out at this point.
Then what were you trying to say in your previous post?
According to this source hop pellets weigh on average 500 kg/m^3.My main question was about the volume needed for the spool. What’s the volume that pellet hops take up? I’m doing 12 gallons, and would like the ability to drop a full lb of hops just in case I ever decide to do that high. Wondering if 6 inches is enough, or should I even go 8 or 12?
It will purge. Fermentation is slow enough that diffusion guarantees full replacement of air through CO2 by the end of fermentation from every nook and cranny.Follow you on all but the first part. I figure leaving the clamp seal basket cracked just so no hops fall in, but would still allow headspace including the spool to naturally purge.
Once hops are dumped, leaving the valve open would keep the same pressure as the rest of the tank.
Now I’m not sure if it actually would purge naturally. It could, but am not certain.
I’ve got an inline filter that has a 3 inch opening with a 1.5 TC top. I considered going that route and putting my spunding valve on the top, setting it to near zero pressure. Close off the blow off cane for a while, thus forcing all the pressure to exit upwards. Doing that would surely purge the headspace.
I’d just have to make sure to add an actual pressure relief valve Teed in somewhere else.
For some styles it can make a difference such as a NEIPA, and some highly-hopped IPAs - even a very small amount of O2 can lead to premature staling. Since I began paying more attention to minimizing O2 in my process - especially in dropping hops post-fermentation - my hop aroma has lasted much longer, and the initial hop impressions were more intense. It's just a good practice for hop-forward styles, IMHO.
I cannot say whether this concept translates to a larger scale system as I only have experience with a 5-gallon batch system so I'll defer to those with experience on larger systems. What I do know for sure is the quality of the "hop experience" improved in my IPAs as soon as I more tightly controlled O2 ingress in my process. This hop dropper with CO2 purge capability was an improvement for me.
These guys can provide you with a similar contraption even for very large scale operations.So how would somebody drop 22 lbs of hops in with one of these contraptions? That’s for a 7 barrel system, but still fairly small scale.
I have also got 2 GF conicals and have been researching how to dry hop similar to a hop dropper. Have you found the 1.5” TC gets blocked? I know you said to open 180° and activate the lever several times, but I’m just checking it’s worth it before I try to build it. Do you by chance have a parts list and picture for assistance. Cheers and happy brewing!I have two grainfather fermenters that only have a single 1.5 TC connection in the lid. I have had success dropping hops through the small valves by using a 6" 1.5 TC spool and opening and closing the valve a full 180 degrees. Tapping on the side of the spool with a wooden spoon can help release the pellets also, but the back and forth movement of the valve seems to work the best. Depending on the type of valve you have, you might have to remove the handle to get this range of motion. A ball valve might be more problematic because the settled hop pellets are not moved by the ball when the valve is actuated.
Curious, did you cold crash before you transferred? Also, with that particular fermenter, there's a good amount of headspace. I'd look into using hop bags and magnets for your dry hopping needs. Put your dry hops in a sanitized mesh back at the very beginning before sealing up, and use magnet in the bag and magnet outside the fermenter to hold in in place above the work/top of the fermenter. When it comes time to dry hop, just remove the magnet from the outside and your hops fall into your wort/beer, and they stay contained in the back so you don't have any issues when transferring out.Great thread guys- Thanks! - I successfully dry hopped under pressure last week using a similar setup as described above. The loose hops did get momentarily stuck, but then all dropped into my Flex+ fermenter. All good -UNTIL yesterday when I had a hop jammed transfer into the keg. I only got the keg half filled and then had to call it done.
Not sure I want to use loose pellets ever again. Has any tried the same method, but with using a narrow diameter SS mesh hop tube to contain the hops. I have found a 1.375" ID ball valve so I just need a tube that will fit through it.
Please let me know if anyone knows where to find a tube of this size.
Curious, did you cold crash before you transferred?
@mongoose33 - Also how long are you cold crashing, and what other methods are you using to avoid hop jams during transfer from Flex to keg? I do like your set up, mine is similar except I have the older Flex lid with only one 1.5" port.
@mongoose33 how long are you letting the hop dropper purge before dropping them into the fermenter? I have the parts for an identical setup but haven't had a chance to test it out yet.
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