Keg Hopping IPA - Advice Wanted

[303Dan]

Hey Everyone,

I'm trying to dry hop in a keg for the first time and I was wanting to get some advice from people who have some experience with it.

Basically, this beer is a very hop forward, west-coast style IPA. Primarily Citra and Centennial hops, mostly flameout and whirlpool additions, then dry hopped in Primary (4 oz Centennial and Citra) for 6 days after fermentation was complete. I then kegged it with another dry hop of Citra (4oz. This is a 5 gallon batch, btw) in the keg using a fine mesh hop bag hanging from the inside of the release valve on the lid of the keg. It's been in the keg for about 5 days, so it's still pretty flat (I'm carbing at serving pressure), but I tried a sample, just to get an idea of where it was at.

The hop flavor and aroma are definitely huge. I'm really happy that it's as hop forward as I was going for. But it's pretty raw at this point. Hard to explain, but it's a harsh hopiness, that's the best way I can describe it. It's something that I'm assuming will mellow with time in the keg and also will be different once the beer is fully carbonated and all the sediment has dropped out. Does everyone find that to be the case? That the nature of the hop flavor and aroma mellows out after a little while when dry hopping in the keg?

So, my primary question really is: especially given the fact that the aroma is already very strong (i.e. doesn't need any more) and maybe not in the best way, should I remove the hops from the keg? Or just leave it in there? I can see leaving it in there as being preferable in this technique to avoid having to expose the beer to more oxygen, spash it around when removing the hop bag, etc, etc. But if this "sharpness" of hop flavor will get worse with leaving them in there, I'd rather get them out.

Is it a situation where after a certain amount of contact time, all the oils are drawn out of the hops anyway and continued contact time will stop changing the beer? I did try to hang it pretty high in the keg so that once 1/3 or so of it is gone, the level of the beer will be below the hop bag.

Any advice from the more experienced out there would be greatly appreciated!

Dan

 

[hvjackson]

I would not leave hops in the keg indefinitely, that will contribute to a vegetal flavor. I think 2 weeks is the recommended maximum dry hop time but I usually go less, like 5 days or so.

If you are carbing in the keg you should be able to remove the hop bag without much oxygen introduction since there will be a layer of CO2 over the beer when you open the lid. Once you have removed the bag you can flush the headspace with CO2 by pulling the relief valve a few times to expel any oxygen that did get in there. If you want to be obsessive you can cover the keg opening with sanitized tin foil while you are untying the bag but I probably wouldn't bother... the whole maneuver should only take a few seconds.

 

[nygel74]

Gotta say, I just tried keg dry hop for the first time this weekend as well. I tried the floss trick, and couldn't get a good seal. Long story short, I just dumped the bag straight in. From what I read, you want to stick to the 2 week dry hop limit when its at room temp. If you crash it and carb it, it can extend it to about a month since the dry hop slows way down cold. Anyway, I am curious about my experiment and am planning on crashing it on Friday. im interested in hearing how yours turns out.

 

[BreezyBrew]

So, my primary question really is: especially given the fact that the aroma is already very strong (i.e. doesn't need any more) and maybe not in the best way, should I remove the hops from the keg? Or just leave it in there?

I've always left the hops in there for the life of the keg since that's what Denny Con suggested. Never had any grassy flavors, and I'm pretty sensitive to that. I recently had a keg sit in my kegerator for almost three months, it still had the hops in there sans beer and when I pulled the co2 release valve, it still smelled great. I haven't gotten any vegetal flavors from keg hopping the entire time but certainly have from a carboy dry hop.

 

[m00ps]

I have always left the keg hops in for the entire life of the keg. Ive never got vegetal or grassy flavors. I once even ended up leaving one IPA on the keg hops for 4 months at room temp due to certain circumstances and it was great when i finally tapped it

 

[hezagenius]

Another option would be to dry hop in one keg and then transfer to another keg, assuming you have a spare keg to do that. You can use the pressure in the 1st keg and transfer it from the liquid out line of the 1st keg to the liquid line out of the second keg.

 

[303Dan]

Thanks everyone. So far I'm thinking I'll just leave them in there and see how it goes.

I almost didn't even think about it before I used 4oz in the keg hop. Does that seem like maybe too much? I've seen plenty of recipes calling for a two-stage dry hop with similar amounts, so I wasn't thinking there would be a difference here with the 2nd stage being in the keg.

Also, is it everyone's experience that the hop flavor and aroma change/mellow a little bit after the first week or so of contact time in the keg?

Thanks again for all the advice.

Dan

 

[303Dan]

Gotta say, I just tried keg dry hop for the first time this weekend as well. I tried the floss trick, and couldn't get a good seal. Long story short, I just dumped the bag straight in. From what I read, you want to stick to the 2 week dry hop limit when its at room temp. If you crash it and carb it, it can extend it to about a month since the dry hop slows way down cold. Anyway, I am curious about my experiment and am planning on crashing it on Friday. im interested in hearing how yours turns out.

I'll definitely let you know it turns out after it's fully carb'd and ready to go.

 

[hezagenius]

It will take a few days for the hop flavor/aroma to come through but if you are still in the carbing stage, it should be noticeable by the time your beer is carbed to the appropriate level. And yes, it will probably be a little sharp at the beginning, at least that's what I've noticed. For whatever reason, my IPAs usually hit their stride after 3 weeks and stay pretty solid for several weeks after that. If you are drinking say a pint a day once you hit the carb level you want, you will probably drink the beer below the hop level before any overexposure to hops could occur. And I've left hops in a keg for months and didn't really notice much. It could also depend on the hop variety being used. I can't recall what I used. I think it was a Sculpin clone. That beer was delicious from start to finish, maybe the best I've ever made. I also hopped with leaf hops. I figured it would be less likely for particulates to seep out of the bag.

 

[BreezyBrew]

It will take a few days for the hop flavor/aroma to come through but if you are still in the carbing stage, it should be noticeable by the time your beer is carbed to the appropriate level.

My results have been similar... my kegs hit their stride at 2 weeks. Dryhop aroma increases until then, and probably until week three, but in smaller increments.

 

[303Dan]

It will take a few days for the hop flavor/aroma to come through but if you are still in the carbing stage, it should be noticeable by the time your beer is carbed to the appropriate level. And yes, it will probably be a little sharp at the beginning, at least that's what I've noticed. For whatever reason, my IPAs usually hit their stride after 3 weeks and stay pretty solid for several weeks after that. If you are drinking say a pint a day once you hit the carb level you want, you will probably drink the beer below the hop level before any overexposure to hops could occur. And I've left hops in a keg for months and didn't really notice much. It could also depend on the hop variety being used. I can't recall what I used. I think it was a Sculpin clone. That beer was delicious from start to finish, maybe the best I've ever made. I also hopped with leaf hops. I figured it would be less likely for particulates to seep out of the bag.

My results have been similar... my kegs hit their stride at 2 weeks. Dryhop aroma increases until then, and probably until week three, but in smaller increments.

Thank you! That's what I was hoping to hear. Actually, even right now when it's pretty flat, the aroma is huge. It's just really sharp/harsh. So it sounds like I can count on that mellowing out in a matter of weeks.

 

[BreezyBrew]

So it sounds like I can count on that mellowing out in a matter of weeks.

Yes and no... If it's a water chemistry issue (I have had major) it may not age out. if you're water is good and it's just hops, then, yeah, time does change beer since it's a living thing. Thank God that brewing is an iterative process and you can tweak what you don't like to no end.

 

[303Dan]

Yes and no... If it's a water chemistry issue (I have had major) it may not age out. if you're water is good and it's just hops, then, yeah, time does change beer since it's a living thing. Thank God that brewing is an iterative process and you can tweak what you don't like to no end.

I don't think there should be a water chemistry issue. I built my water up from 100% distilled for this beer. I did go fairly high on sulfates, but nothing out of the ordinary for IPAs. Here are the final numbers on the water I used, using Brun Water:

Calcium: 95ppm
Magnesium: 13ppm
Sodium: 0ppm
Sulfate: 235ppm
Chloride: 32ppm
Bicarbonate: 0.0