Questions from a new brewer

[cardfan]

I have a couple of questions before I brew my first batch. There is so much conflicting information out there and I have been snowed in and have been reading way too much. I went ahead a took the plunge and got a kegging system with my equipment. I have an IPA extract kit that I got for my first attempt; I like the style and have heard its a pretty easy beer to start with. The directions call for 7-10 days to ferment and 5-7 days to dry hop. This brings me to my first question. Can I ferment and move to my keg to dry hop? If so, can I dry hop it for 5-7 days in the kegerator with CO2 hooked up to it? I thought it would be easier to only move the beer once instead of moving it from fermentation to a secondary and then to a keg. I really am not that concerned about how long the process takes; more about making something right. It seems like if I dry hop in the keg that I could potentially be drinking it around 2 weeks and some change. That just seems way to fast to me. Also I didnt know if it would make sense to bottle some of the first batch to just to see the difference. Any guidance is appreciated. Again, it would be nice to turn it as fast a possible, but I am way more concerned about doing it right. Thanks in advance.

 

[Rockn_M]

What I have done is dry hop in my fermenter after fermentation is complete. You can also dry hop in the keg but I would put the hops in something that won't allow the particles to be sucked up by the dip tube. This way you won’t get old hops in your beer or clog your keg dip tube. This is a pain because you will have to go in and unclog each time.

It really is about what is easiest for you and after a while how you get the best results.

 

[freisste]

Dry hop in primary.

Or you COULD dry hop in the keg as you describe, but you MUST use a mesh bag to contain the hops (and that MUST BE SUSPENDED). Not suspending the hop bag or not using a hop bag runs the risk of clogging the keg dip tube.

Really ANY dry hopping in the keg runs some risk, although I have heard of people doing it.

 

[cardfan]

I had also considered dry hopping in the primary but thought I might gain a week moving it to the keg for this. I have a sure screen for the dip tube plus I was going to use a bag to put the hops in too. I just wasn't sure if dry hopping was less effective in a cold keg vs a room temp one. Thanks.

 

[freisste]

I would say it is slower, but you can rack to the keg, dry hop and start to put CO2 into it while I is still warm. Then start cooling.

 

[IPA-Hole]

This is what I use -

http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Dry-Hopper_p_155.html

Zach is a vendor here on HBT and makes a great product!

(See thread here)

 

[cardfan]

Thanks IPA-hole. I came across this earlier today and thought it looked interesting. Since you have obviously used this do you leave your hops in for the duration of the keg or pull them off? If you leave them in all the time, do you put the hops in and then take it straight to the fridge and put it on CO2?

 

[IPA-Hole]

Well, I remove the hops when I'm done with the secondary. Over the years I have accumulated a lot of kegs - enough so that I have kegs as primaries, secondaries and of course serving. Just kind of worked out that way. The primary and secondary kegs have shortened dip tubes for obvious reasons.