New England IPA "Northeast" style IPA

[Dgallo]

I’ll be alright with Other Half being a little under an hour away. Loving the silky Chromas they came out with this past week.

They’re great too but they already distribute kegs up by me and so does EQ. Both do can drops too, so for me this is a bigger deal since I can’t get it unless I want to take a 4 hour ride

 

[RTHP99]

Other half is tough to beat when you take into account the quality, variety, quantity of beer they put out. I'm pretty pumped about equilibrium's new location though, since I live about 20 min away . Hopefully they up their stout production. Life After Death Star was absolutely amazing and showed that they can produce stouts that are as good as their neipas

 

[kevink]

Has anyone ever brewed one of these beers with 2-3 year old hops that were vacuum sealed and kept frozen? I just tapped a batch similar to my others (process and recipe) and it's awful. It tastes "old" with almost a medicinal flavor, no mouthfeel, and no super fresh hop aroma or flavor. I'm really at a loss here since most of these types of beers come out pretty amazing aside from the occasional "meh" batch. The older hops are all I can think of that could have screwed this up. I know I didn't oxygenate the beer at any point of the process because I have been fine tuning O2 exposure stuff almost every batch and have it down very well. Thoughts?

 

[Sbe2]

They’re great too but they already distribute kegs up by me and so does EQ. Both do can drops too, so for me this is a bigger deal since I can’t get it unless I want to take a 4 hour ride

I hear ya. I still try and make a yearly treck to Treehouse.

 

[jturman35]

Any thoughts on this hop schedule?

 

[Noob_Brewer]

Any thoughts on this hop schedule?

View attachment 658455

With the flaked oats and wheat being about ~13% of the grain bill, do you get what you want out of those adjuncts? Just curious really as Ive more commonly seen peeps having 20-30% from flaked oats/wheat/barley type adjuncts.

EDIT: Oh, sorry your question was related to hop schedule lol. When you doing the actual dry hop? All at once after fermentation complete?

 

[jturman35]

I think so. I heard on Brulosophy Scott Janish has lowered his adjuncts when brewing this style from 20-30% down to around 15-10%. I do feel the finishing gravity helps with mouthfeel as Scott also mentioned they aim for a little higher 1.018-1.020. My beer finished at 1.020.

I brewed a session 4.5 % hazy beer this summer that had 20% flaked wheat, 9% flaked oats and 9% flaked barley and seemed thinner than the 12% adjuncts posted above. At a month in this beer by far looks and feels more like a NEIPA compared to other versions. I have brewed this recipe twice and only changed the yeast/water profile. The first batch i did 150ppm sulfate, 100ppm cholride and was more like a nice crisp pale ale. I also used Imperial House yeast and now prefer Imperial Juice. I also prefer the higher 150ppm Chloride to 96 Sulfate ratio which rounds and smooths this beer out. I'm going to try 175ppm Chloride next batch.

As far as the dry hops the last batch i did 6oz split over 3 additions. I like the idea of hopping early to help scrub off oxygen. I added 2oz at day 2, 2 oz day 10, and 2 oz in the keg. I feel like the day 10 addition is the only one that proposed the greatest risk of introducing o2. I'm considering dry hopping 3 days before kegging. I have done the Citra, mosaic, galaxy and it was just ok, compared to Citra only version. A local brewery does a beer called Bro Flo IPA one of those ($16- 4 pack) which is Simcoe in the whirlpool and Moteuka, Sabro Dry hops that im trying to recreate. I remember the beer being so smooth yet you could tell it was loaded with hops. At 103 IBU's i am defiantly going to see about smoothing this beer out some. It does have a tad too much bitterness bite on the back of the tongue that needs to be dialed down a notch to be a 40 point beer.

 

[Dgallo]

Any thoughts on this hop schedule?

View attachment 658455

I like the hop schedule a lot. Only thing I would maybe change is taking 1 oz of motueka whirlpool and adding it to the dryhop so there is 3oz there and moving 1 oz of the simcoe from the dh and placing it in the whirlpool. In my experience simcoe is great hoptside and motueka is quite delicate and comes through better in the dh. That being said it will work either way

If you don’t mind a suggestion in your grain bill; I would just use 2row with the promise instead of Maris. In this style I’d be very hard pressed to believe any of the Maris character comes through over the hops. But again it’s not like it doesn’t work in general I just feel you could save a little money

 

[Dgallo]

Has anyone ever brewed one of these beers with 2-3 year old hops that were vacuum sealed and kept frozen? I just tapped a batch similar to my others (process and recipe) and it's awful. It tastes "old" with almost a medicinal flavor, no mouthfeel, and no super fresh hop aroma or flavor. I'm really at a loss here since most of these types of beers come out pretty amazing aside from the occasional "meh" batch. The older hops are all I can think of that could have screwed this up. I know I didn't oxygenate the beer at any point of the process because I have been fine tuning O2 exposure stuff almost every batch and have it down very well. Thoughts?

You’re right on the money with your theory. It’s the age of the hops. The essential oils can break down and kind of stale. Fresh, quality ingredients make quality beer. There’s a reason why all the top guys are paying more per lb for hops from specific rows or acres from certain farms instead of saving money and buying older hops

 

[jturman35]

Thanks for the suggestion Dgallo! I just have a habit of using MO malt. I moved some of the simcoe to 10mins, and now im wondering if i need more whirlpool hops. I like a little more aggressive beer, but i don't want to overdo the Simcoe either. I'm getting about 75ibu rolling with this current hop schedule.

.50 Warrio @ 60min
1oz simcoe @10mins
2oz simcoe whirlpool 20mins
1oz sabro whirlpool 20mins
1oz motueka whirlpool 20mins

3oz motueka dryhop
2oz simcoe dryhop
1oz sabro dryhop

 

[Dgallo]

Thanks for the suggestion Dgallo! I just have a habit of using MO malt. I moved some of the simcoe to 10mins, and now im wondering if i need more whirlpool hops. I like a little more aggressive beer, but i don't want to overdo the Simcoe either. I'm getting about 75ibu rolling with this current hop schedule.

.50 Warrio @ 60min
1oz simcoe @10mins
2oz simcoe whirlpool 20mins
1oz sabro whirlpool 20mins
1oz motueka whirlpool 20mins

3oz motueka dryhop
2oz simcoe dryhop
1oz sabro dryhop

It looks good to me. You could always drop your whirlpool temp to 150-160 which can help lower your ibus a tad. What program are you using to calculate the ibus? 75 seems high for me to only have a 60 and 10 min boil addition with a total of 2 oz.

I would roll with this schedule you posted. It seems well planned from my stand point. Very similar to something I would do myself

 

[jturman35]

I’m using the older version of Beersmith. I know it’s a calculated guess trying to figure ibu’s.

I tend to overthink recipe formulation when doing these high hopped beers as they usually not cheap to brew. Hell most aren’t cheap to buy packaged either at $17 (4 pack 16oz cans)

 

[aaronm13]

Going with this recipe over the weekend, is there any recommendations for adjustments to it? Grain bill is my standard one I've been tweaking since I started brewing this style. Only change is this time I've dropped around 9% wheat malt and boosted the golden promise to compensate.

Not sure about the hop ratios as I've not used Strata before but going with 1:1. Want the Strata to come true so thinking if Citra was higher it could easily over power it.

 

[Dgallo]

Going with this recipe over the weekend, is there any recommendations for adjustments to it? Grain bill is my standard one I've been tweaking since I started brewing this style. Only change is this time I've dropped around 9% wheat malt and boosted the golden promise to compensate.

Not sure about the hop ratios as I've not used Strata before but going with 1:1. Want the Strata to come true so thinking if Citra was higher it could easily over power it.

The only change I would make is your additions. Don’t use chalk as additive. It is insoluble in water so you won’t actually gain anything from. It can only dissolve being held under pressure or having a high PH. You’re better off using CaCl in your adjustment if you’re trying to boost your calcium

 

[aaronm13]

The only change I would make is your additions. Don’t use chalk as additive. It is insoluble in water so you won’t actually gain anything from. It can only dissolve being held under pressure or having a high PH. You’re better off using CaCl in your adjustment if you’re trying to boost your calcium

Thanks for pointing that out, it's a mistake. Forgot to check the exclude chalk box, I never use chalk.

 

[Frieds]

A local brewery made what they called a ‘New England Lager’ where I assumed they brewed what would have been a neipa and then fermented with a lager yeast. They added locally produced fruit juice to the brew as well. It was hazy, juicy, fruity but also dry and smashable like a lager.

So I decided to try my hand at making something similar and I’m over the moon with the result. We’re lucky enough to have a few shops that sell the same fruit juice nearby.

70% Golden Promise
18% Rolled Oats
12% White Wheat

60 Minute Boil

50gm Mosaic @ Flameout

OG 1.050

2pkg W34/70 Rehydrated @ 11C (52F)

2L 100% Apple & Mango Juice

110gm Galaxy @ Day 10
70gm Citra @ Day 10
70gm Mosaic @ Day 10

FG 1.012

The final product is delicious. It has the obvious lager character but it is hazy and juicy with the fruit juice playing a great supporting role with a subtle yet noticeable mango undertone. This looks like something I’m going to brew a lot of in the future.

 

[ihavenonickname]

Interesting I’d love to try it! I’m actually counting three things you are doing here that really catch my interest.

Lager yeast in a neipa: ya surprised this hasn’t been a bigger thing, keeps the focus on the hops. I’ve had a bunch of hoppy and dry hopped lagers lately, usually pretty good.

Juice - honestly I don’t really get it... you ferment our all the simple sugars which will get you pretty dry and potentially hot. Why not add fruit late in fermentation?

Your dry hop to whirlpool hop ratio is 5:1 whoa! Is this a hopping schedule you like in your neipas in general? I’ve mostly been about 1:1 for a total of 12-13 oz.

 

[Frieds]

Interesting I’d love to try it! I’m actually counting three things you are doing here that really catch my interest.
Lager yeast in a neipa: ya surprised this hasn’t been a bigger thing, keeps the focus on the hops. I’ve had a bunch of hoppy and dry hopped lagers lately, usually pretty good.
Juice - honestly I don’t really get it... you ferment our all the simple sugars which will get you a pretty dry, potentially hot. Why not add fruit late in fermentation?
Your dry hop to whirlpool hop ratio is 5:1 whoa! I’d this a hopping schedule you like in your neipas in general? I’ve mostly been about 1:1 for a total of 12-13 oz.

To address your three points:

1. I’m not a big lager drinker but the commercial version that I based mine off was a delicious beer that I could imagine myself drinking all summer long, and the all round idea and combination worked.

2. As for the fruit juice, the commercial version used mango and passionfruit juice and the passionfruit was at the forefront on the nose and very noticeable flavour wise. I can’t begin to even explain just how delicious this fruit juice is, the best I’ve ever tasted by a long margin.

3. I wanted to incorporate aspects of both styles. I’ve never brewed a lager before so I’m not experienced in a lot of the processes but I do know that they aren’t hopped that heavily, so that was my reasoning for the low kettle addition. Then I just decided to do a heavy dry hop like a neipa. Usually i go 1:1 in my neipas hot side/cold side.

 

[aaronm13]

Brewed my lastest batch yesterday and all went well. Felt strange putting in a whirlfloc tablet. Not touching it until fermentation is finished before adding the first dry hops.

Question for those who do this method. Do you just wait till no obvious signs of fermentation then do a soft crash for 24 hours then add the hops? I have a Tilt but I don't find it overly accurate to rely on it's gravity readings.

 

[Dgallo]

Brewed my lastest batch yesterday and all went well. Felt strange putting in a whirlfloc tablet. Not touching it until fermentation is finished before adding the first dry hops.

Question for those who do this method. Do you just wait till no obvious signs of fermentation then do a soft crash for 24 hours then add the hops? I have a Tilt but I don't find it overly accurate to rely on it's gravity readings.

No wait until your tilt reads the same for 48-72 without any change, then start your soft crash. You want the beer to clean up any VDK or acetaldehyde prior to crashing

 

[isomerization]

No wait until your tilt reads the same for 48-72 without any change, then start your soft crash. You want the beer to clean up any VDK or acetaldehyde prior to crashing

I’d also add that this is precisely the key feature the Tilt is built for. Absolute values, not so much, but general trends with no wasted sampling or O2 exposure is great.

 

[aaronm13]

Perfect, thanks guys. In fairness to the Tilt I do find it gets more accurate towards the end of fermentation but at the start it's just all over the place.

Going to do both rounds of dry hopping in kegs to totally eliminate oxygen pick up.

 

[couchsending]

Perfect, thanks guys. In fairness to the Tilt I do find it gets more accurate towards the end of fermentation but at the start it's just all over the place.

Going to do both rounds of dry hopping in kegs to totally eliminate oxygen pick up.

How are you dry hopping in kegs with no O2 pickup?

 

[aaronm13]

How are you dry hopping in kegs with no O2 pickup?

I do closed transfer from fermenter to keg. Completely purge the kegs beforehand. Can't push out starsan so just have to purge as best I can. That's been my process for a good while and have been fairly successful in little to no oxidation.

 

[aaronm13]

I do a closed transfer from fermenter to keg under co2. Completely purge the kegs beforehand. Can't push out starsan so just have to purge as best I can. That's been my process for a good while and have been fairly successful in little to no oxidation.

Sorry, it's new year's Eve and I've been drinking.

 

[couchsending]

I do closed transfer from fermenter to keg. Completely purge the kegs beforehand. Can't push out starsan so just have to purge as best I can. That's been my process for a good while and have been fairly successful in little to no oxidation.

What’s your purging process if you don’t mind me asking. It takes a ton of Co2 to actually purge without pushing a liquid out.

 

[aaronm13]

What’s your purging process if you don’t mind me asking. It takes a ton of Co2 to actually purge without pushing a liquid out.

It really does take a lot of co2. The way I've been doing it is I usually have about a half keg or so of star San which I push out. When empty I open and drop the hops in as quickly as possible. I know oxygen is going to get in. I then fill the keg to 20 psi and empty 4 times. Then transfer beer. It's far from perfect but it's all I can do. When I transfer to the serving keg this time I will fill fully with star San and empty.

My water turns star san cloudy straight away and leaves a bit of a film on anything it's been sitting on for a few days so going to start getting RO water for that too to see if it helps.

 

[Dgallo]

Does anyone know specifically what Other Half is stating/doing with there High Density Hop charge (HDHC)? My guess is just marketing a higher dryhoping rate but does anyone know if it is a new process?

 

[Noob_Brewer]

No clue- does sound a bit of marketing hype. It definitely sounds catchy, more so than just saying they are “single dry hopping” if that’s what they are doing. Hop heads would probably just stick with the DDH

Just read on their website HDHC is equivalent to 15lbs/bbl of hops and they are combining that process by taking various forms of the same hop ie their own “experimental” citra, citra cryo, and citra pellets.

 

[ihavenonickname]

I can't imagine a sustainable efficiency at that hopping rate (15lbs/bbl ~= 35-40oz per 5 gallon batch). You would lose so much liquid to hop absorption! Now if they have a way to to serve all that liquid out of the hops I'd love to know how!

 

[Dgallo]

I can't imagine a sustainable efficiency at that hopping rate (15lbs/bbl ~= 35-40oz per 5 gallon batch). You would lose so much liquid to hop absorption! Now if they have a way to to serve all that liquid out of the hops I'd love to know how!

I have a feeling they are using that new hop extract oil product and the the T45 pellets are twice as concentrated as the typical T90. So it’s a theoretical 15lb/bbl

 

[couchsending]

Isn’t the “experimental” hop product just Incognito? Or maybe it’s produced using the same process as Incognito but by another manufacturer so they do t actually use the “Incognito” name.

Whatever it is that beer sounds horrible.

 

[couchsending]

It really does take a lot of co2. The way I've been doing it is I usually have about a half keg or so of star San which I push out. When empty I open and drop the hops in as quickly as possible. I know oxygen is going to get in. I then fill the keg to 20 psi and empty 4 times. Then transfer beer. It's far from perfect but it's all I can do. When I transfer to the serving keg this time I will fill fully with star San and empty.

My water turns star san cloudy straight away and leaves a bit of a film on anything it's been sitting on for a few days so going to start getting RO water for that too to see if it helps.

Another option is to bag the pellets, throw them in the keg and hook up the liquid out on the keg to the blowoff on your fermenter then put a blow off on the gas in on your keg. Do this after active fermentation has begun and ideally if you have enough head space or use a yeast that doesn’t produce a huge krausen... don’t want yeast clogging the poppets and creating a bomb...

Fermentation will quickly purge the keg way more effectively than your present process. To fully eliminate O2 you need 13 full purges at 30 PSI. Pushing half a keg of Star San out and 4 purges at 20 still leaves a ton of O2 in the keg.

Don’t worry the pellets won’t degrade while they’re in the keg before you transfer beer onto them.

 

[Loud Brewing]

Very interesting claims from Other Half. I would tend to agree with Dgalllo as far as their equivalent dosages and presumed use of extracts. I have used several of the distilled hop oils from different vendors and found them to be very one dimensional even in conjunction with pellets etc. Has anyone here used the Haas incognito product with success?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Just thinking out loud, I guess you could invert some containers over a burning candle (or less smokily a gas flame) to burn up oxygen, then a quick blast of CO2... Not sure it's practical but would be one way to reduce CO2 consumption...

Don't forget most of the top breweries are using centrifuges to wring beer out of hop waste to keep their yields commercial.

 

[aaronm13]

Another option is to bag the pellets, throw them in the keg and hook up the liquid out on the keg to the blowoff on your fermenter then put a blow off on the gas in on your keg. Do this after active fermentation has begun and ideally if you have enough head space or use a yeast that doesn’t produce a huge krausen... don’t want yeast clogging the poppets and creating a bomb...

Fermentation will quickly purge the keg way more effectively than your present process. To fully eliminate O2 you need 13 full purges at 30 PSI. Pushing half a keg of Star San out and 4 purges at 20 still leaves a ton of O2 in the keg.

Don’t worry the pellets won’t degrade while they’re in the keg before you transfer beer onto them.

I'd like to do it this way but unfortunately I don't have the space to set it up. My fermentation fridge is just a small under counter one and just about fits my fermenter. To do what you mention I'd have to drill a hole in the fridge somewhere to run a hose out and connect into the kegs outside. Was looking at getting a Fermzilla but that is a few inches too tall to fit into my fridge too. Think this is the best I can do with the space and set up I have.

I use a SS Brewtec bucket with the dome lid and 3" TC gas post and PRV on top. So what would be the lesser of two evils in regards to oxygen pick up. Open the TC and drop the hops in then purge headspace in the fermenter or transfer to a keg with the dry hops as outlined by my process above?

I've never lost a batch to oxygen as the keg usually kicks before that has time to fully happen. So my process must be ok. Some guys in my club have shown me some of their samples after only a few weeks and they're so dark looking.

 

[couchsending]

I'd like to do it this way but unfortunately I don't have the space to set it up. My fermentation fridge is just a small under counter one and just about fits my fermenter. To do what you mention I'd have to drill a hole in the fridge somewhere to run a hose out and connect into the kegs outside. Was looking at getting a Fermzilla but that is a few inches too tall to fit into my fridge too. Think this is the best I can do with the space and set up I have.

I use a SS Brewtec bucket with the dome lid and 3" TC gas post and PRV on top. So what would be the lesser of two evils in regards to oxygen pick up. Open the TC and drop the hops in then purge headspace in the fermenter or transfer to a keg with the dry hops as outlined by my process above?

I've never lost a batch to oxygen as the keg usually kicks before that has time to fully happen. So my process must be ok. Some guys in my club have shown me some of their samples after only a few weeks and they're so dark looking.

Ah gotcha.

I ferment in SS Conicals so I can dump hops/trub before transferring but otherwise my setup is somewhat similar.

If you’re beer is turning dark you’ve done something seriously wrong. I’ve literally never had that happen. However hop aroma is the first thing to go with O2 exposure. Your beer might never darken but the hop aroma/flavor could be lessened.

Since you have a TC fitting with a gas post and a PRV this is what I would do (my process)

Pull the blow off and install that fitting right before terminal. That PRV releases around 3 psi so you should build up enough head pressure where you won’t necessarily need to attach Co2 when doing a soft crash. After diacetyl rest and ideally a forced VDK test soft crash to 55/60 depending on the yeast you’re using. Leave it there for 24-36 hours. Attach gas to TC fitting and turn it on before pulling the clamp and leave it on while the TC fitting is removed. I use a funnel to pour in the pellets as I find it’s the easiest/fastest way. IMHO they need to be loose. Bagging them will only entrap more O2, reduce utilization, and it takes longer to get the bag in there. Although if you have a 3” opening that’s different. I have a 1.5” opening on my lids. I used to have a few 3” lids but I swapped back to 1.5. Felt it kept O2 exposure down.

After hops are in I purge maybe 5 times and ideally leave it with as much head pressure as the PRV can handle.

After 4 days at 60-63 I’ll slowly step down to about 42. I’ve found this is as low as I can go and still maintain positive head pressure without having to keep Co2 hooked up and go through a bunch of it. It’s low enough to get most of the hop particulate to settle so you shouldn’t clog a transfer. This might be an issue for you if you can’t remove hops first but I’d bet if you rotate the racking arm vertical and pull a bit of beer you should be able to transfer without clogging a poppet. I rarely ever get a clog. 1 in 20 maybe.

 

[aaronm13]

Ah gotcha.

I ferment in SS Conicals so I can dump hops/trub before transferring but otherwise my setup is somewhat similar.

If you’re beer is turning dark you’ve done something seriously wrong. I’ve literally never had that happen. However hop aroma is the first thing to go with O2 exposure. Your beer might never darken but the hop aroma/flavor could be lessened.

Since you have a TC fitting with a gas post and a PRV this is what I would do (my process)

Pull the blow off and install that fitting right before terminal. That PRV releases around 3 psi so you should build up enough head pressure where you won’t necessarily need to attach Co2 when doing a soft crash. After diacetyl rest and ideally a forced VDK test soft crash to 55/60 depending on the yeast you’re using. Leave it there for 24-36 hours. Attach gas to TC fitting and turn it on before pulling the clamp and leave it on while the TC fitting is removed. I use a funnel to pour in the pellets as I find it’s the easiest/fastest way. IMHO they need to be loose. Bagging them will only entrap more O2, reduce utilization, and it takes longer to get the bag in there. Although if you have a 3” opening that’s different. I have a 1.5” opening on my lids. I used to have a few 3” lids but I swapped back to 1.5. Felt it kept O2 exposure down.

After hops are in I purge maybe 5 times and ideally leave it with as much head pressure as the PRV can handle.

After 4 days at 60-63 I’ll slowly step down to about 42. I’ve found this is as low as I can go and still maintain positive head pressure without having to keep Co2 hooked up and go through a bunch of it. It’s low enough to get most of the hop particulate to settle so you shouldn’t clog a transfer. This might be an issue for you if you can’t remove hops first but I’d bet if you rotate the racking arm vertical and pull a bit of beer you should be able to transfer without clogging a poppet. I rarely ever get a clog. 1 in 20 maybe.

It's my friends beers that turn dark, mine stay the same colour until the keg kicks. Flavor does definitely drop off slightly.

I have the 7g brewmaster bucket so unfortunately can't dump off yeast. Would love to have this function. I think at least for the first dry hop I'll do as you suggest with the exception of I will put my hops in a hop spider which drops in through the 3" opening. I brewed a session IPA a few weeks ago and put the hops in loose, never again, transfer was an absolute disaster even with a cold crash. I couldn't rotate the racking arm as the yeast settled around it and wouldn't turn.

I had an experiment ready to go where I made a floating dip tube like in the Fermzilla. Only did one dry run with water. It did work but I decided when filling the fermenter to abandon it for now until further testing. This would enable me to dry hop loose. I do a few more trial runs when this beer is fermented.

 

[RCope]

It's my friends beers that turn dark, mine stay the same colour until the keg kicks. Flavor does definitely drop off slightly.

I have the 7g brewmaster bucket so unfortunately can't dump off yeast. Would love to have this function. I think at least for the first dry hop I'll do as you suggest with the exception of I will put my hops in a hop spider which drops in through the 3" opening. I brewed a session IPA a few weeks ago and put the hops in loose, never again, transfer was an absolute disaster even with a cold crash. I couldn't rotate the racking arm as the yeast settled around it and wouldn't turn.

I had an experiment ready to go where I made a floating dip tube like in the Fermzilla. Only did one dry run with water. It did work but I decided when filling the fermenter to abandon it for now until further testing. This would enable me to dry hop loose. I do a few more trial runs when this beer is fermented.

So my process with the same equipment (no domed lid): racking arm just short of horizontal (no trub/hops intrusion), no more than 5oz of dry hop (6 is pushing it), CO2 flush while dry hopping post-fermentation (simply hook up CO2 to the blow off and flush with low flow CO2 during the dumping in of hops), use the same hook-up for cold crash and low pressure closed transfer into purged keg. But I do a two staged transfer to the fermentor to minimize the hot break settling which would bring the level of undesirable stuff closer to the dip tube: first transfer from boil kettle to 6 gallon bucket with spigot, 2 or 3 hours in the ferm chamber (chest freezer) to ferm temp, then transfer into the brew bucket with yeast then oxygenate. Learned that from the LODO site. More than 30 NEIPA's, never had a clog, never noticed any oxidation.

 

[doogie]

Don’t worry the pellets won’t degrade while they’re in the keg before you transfer beer onto them.

I beg to differ on this. I tried several methods of remote dropping hops held in my fermenter in order to dry hop without oxygen exposure, I had issues with the hops dropping due to the expansion of the hops due to the humidity in the fermentation vessel. They expanded and lost all scent in the 2 weeks of fermentation. I use your method to purge my keg, but I no longer add dry hops early due to the humidity issues.