Keep Fermenter Dry Hops out of Keg

[slayer021175666]

Well, I dry hopped my NEIPA yesterday and I didn't use a bag or anything. I just threw them in. Now, I'm wondering how I can keep them from getting into the keg. I've seen people say, to tilt the fermenter back from the spigot. I have seen floating dip tubes. I have seen dip tube screens. Stainless steel scrubbers. Hop bags put over the dip tube in the keg. I'm interested in those but, I'm more interested how to keep them out of the keg in the first place. Any ideas?

 

[bjhbrew]

I’ve tried a few different methods but ultimately what had worked best for me is a good long cold crash and a floating dip tube in the fermenter to draw from top down. Bagging the hops works with pretty much any transfer method but there’s always the question of whether you’re losing out on some hoppy goodness by being bound up in a bag.

 

[slayer021175666]

I'm a little scared of the cold crash because it could suck air through the airlock and oxidize the NEIPA.

 

[Falstaff]

For my bottling bucket I run the tube through my hop spider. You couldn't do this into a keg, as the hole is probably too small, but you could run it into a kettle first.

 

[palmtrees]

I'm a little scared of the cold crash because it could suck air through the airlock and oxidize the NEIPA.

Definitely don't cold crash if you don't have a way to handle suck back. But a cold crash is still the best way to keep dry hops out of your keg.

With this batch, you could do a cool crash and ramp it down very slowly. Like a few degrees per day. That will usually allow enough time for off-gassing to produce enough CO2 to displace the extra headspace created by cooling. You probably can't get down to serving temps with that method because it doesn't off gas as much in colder temps. But I've gotten to 50 successfully with this method. Especially if you've got a long blowoff tube that can suck back a little starsan while you wait for new CO2 production. Letting it sit in the 50s for a few days should drop out most of the hops.

For the future, especially if you do a lot of dry hopping, I recommend finding a way to fix the suck back issue. Maybe that's with a mylar balloon filled with CO2. There are tons of threads about that here. I personally switched to a Fermonster with a modified lid with keg posts so I could put a few psi of pressure on the fermenter and cold crash without any oxygen ingress. It's greatly improved my ability to clarify beer before kegging. I couldn't be happier with the switch and wish I'd given up on carboys years ago.

 

[bjhbrew]

I'm a little scared of the cold crash because it could suck air through the airlock and oxidize the NEIPA.

a rational fear. I didn’t start doing the cold crash until I had a fermenter that could be pressured up before crashing. The solution you seek is at least partially dependent on the gear you’re using. When using a fermenter that I can’t cold crash in I’ll just bag the hops.

 

[slayer021175666]

Thanks Falstaff,
But, the problem would be oxygen exposure. They say it's pretty bad for a NEIPA.

 

[slayer021175666]

Thanks, palmtrees .
I'll look into it. Off the top of my head though, could a guy just take a bucket lid and drill holes in it to put the CO2 fittings on?
bjhbrew,
Thank you. Wish I HAD bagged them, now. Live and learn, as it were.

 

[palmtrees]

Thanks, palmtrees .
I'll look into it. Off the top of my head though, could a guy just take a bucket lid and drill holes in it to put the CO2 fittings on?
bjhbrew,
Thank you. Wish I HAD bagged them, now. Live and learn, as it were.

No, a bucket isn't really pressure capable because the seal around the lid isn't tight enough. The Fermonster lids screw on and have an O-ring seal so they can handle a few psi of positive pressure. They're very cheap, and the modifications are pretty simple with minimal equipment. There are some great threads on here about how to do it. Try this one: Turning your Fermonster into a complete closed transfer system for cheap!

 

[bjhbrew]

I’m curious, what are you working with? A bucket with an airlock in a grommet? If it’s still actively fermenting than grab a dollar store Mylar balloon and hook it up to the airlock so it fills with the off gassing co2. Then you could cold crash and pull the co2 back into the fermenter. But still, how are you going to transfer to the keg? A closed transfer is certainly recommended for o2 sensitive beers like yours (or maybe all beers) and it doesn’t take much to get setup to do so.

 

[slayer021175666]

I’m curious, what are you working with? A bucket with an airlock in a grommet? If it’s still actively fermenting than grab a dollar store Mylar balloon and hook it up to the airlock so it fills with the off gassing co2. Then you could cold crash and pull the co2 back into the fermenter. But still, how are you going to transfer to the keg? A closed transfer is certainly recommended for o2 sensitive beers like yours (or maybe all beers) and it doesn’t take much to get setup to do so.

Yes. Bucket and airlock. I like the balloon idea to get me through for now. Would you have to time it in any way as far as filling the balloon and knowing when your beer would be completely fermented out?
As far as how I was going to keg it goes, I was going to fill the keg with CO2 and drop the bucket spicket tube down into the keg and just be careful. Try not splash. I know that would mean air would get on the surface inside of the bucket but, at least, it wouldn't be sitting on it for 24 hours like a cold crash. Once it was all kegged, I would purge the headspace with C02 and hope for the best. I did it this way last time and I didn't get any ill effects as far as taste.

 

[palmtrees]

Yes. Bucket and airlock. I like the balloon idea to get me through for now. Would you have to time it in any way as far as filling the balloon and knowing when your beer would be completely fermented out?
As far as how I was going to keg it goes, I was going to fill the keg with CO2 and drop the bucket spicket tube down into the keg and just be careful. Try not splash. I know that would mean air would get on the surface inside of the bucket but, at least, it wouldn't be sitting on it for 24 hours like a cold crash. Once it was all kegged, I would purge the headspace with C02 and hope for the best. I did it this way last time and I didn't get any ill effects as far as taste.

If you use a T connector, you can hook up both the balloon and an airlock/blowoff at the same time. The co2 from fermentation will go into the balloon first and when that's full, it will go out through the airlock. So you wouldn't have to time anything. Then when you cold crash, it pulls first from the balloon. Otherwise, you can just hook up the balloon early in fermentation, seal it when it's full, and then quickly swap out the balloon for an airlock while it finishes, then swap the balloon back on when you cold crash.

 

[bjhbrew]

At the height of fermentation a balloon would fill pretty quick and you’d have to remove and seal it until you were ready for cold crash. If you’re kegging and have a co2 bottle then I’d just fill the balloon freezer from the bottle when ready for it. As for the transfer, if you have a spigot on the bucket you could make up a hose that has a black keg quick disconnect on the end so you could go straight from bucket spigot to the keg beer out post. For bonus points you could elevat the bucket higher than your keg, pre purge the keg (liquid purge), and then hook a jumper from you keg gas post to your airlock; instant closed transfer no pressure needed.

 

[slayer021175666]

Damn. You guys have some good ideas! So I have a couple questions. Number one, how do you connect the balloon? Just tape it to the airlock or something? Wouldn't star san solution get into the beer? I guess that's not so bad but... I'd rather not.
And bjhbrew, what did you mean by (liquid purge)? Just, making sure there's no liquid in the keg?

 

[slayer021175666]

Also, how would you make sure there's no air in the lines that you're connecting to the bucket?

 

[bjhbrew]

Liquid purge just means that you fill the keg to the brim with sanitizer then push it out with bottled co2 to effectively remove nearly all o2. Best way is to fill with sanitizer through the beer out post and let the star San flow out the pressure relief valve when full and even depress the poppet on the gas post to make sure there’s no air pocket in there. When you push the star San out, the hose you use on the beer out post becomes the hose that you will attach to your fermenter spigot so it is already sanitized and purged. To purge you gas line you could just pressurize you keg to like 2ish psi after pushing out the star San, then, when you snap on the gas disconnect that extra co2 will rush out the gas line purging it before quickly attaching it to your fermenters airlock or through the grommet in the lid. Haha, the things we do for o2 sensitize beers!

 

[bjhbrew]

It’s been ages since I used a balloon for this but I’m pretty sure I used a short chunk of vinyl tubing that I could tightly slide onto the middle of a 3 piece airlock and the other I just shoved through the opening of the Mylar balloon and taped the connection with electrical tape. The tee idea that palm trees suggested sounds brilliant.

 

[slayer021175666]

Any reason it wouldn't work with a regular balloon? I think I might have one of those here. I take it, the Mylar balloons are preferred for their strength. Correct?

 

[IslandLizard]

Mylar balloons are preferred for their strength. Correct?

No, Mylar is preferred for its O2 impermeability! Good hop bags are also mylar, and vacuumed or N2 flushed and filled.
Regular latex balloons will let O2 through, as if there's no barrier at all.