Thinking of trying something new, to me

[redrocker652002]

So I have gone thru a few of my kegs and I have one that will hold pressure and will fit in my fermenting fridge. I am thinking, with this next brew of trying to do a fermentation in a keg where I can hold a bit of pressure and keep the O2 out. I was thinking of putting a magnet in my hop bag and removing the magnet from the outside when it is time to dry hop, then, when kegging into my serving keg, doing an actual closed transfer with CO2. What, if anything, should I know before I do this? Or, my other option is to wait until I do a lager or pils where there are no dry hops and just keep it in the serving keg all the way thru fermentation. Thoughts or input? I think I will need a spuning valve as I don't have one to keep the keg under pressure, but I will need a blowoff tube for sure as the kegs probably don't have enough head space. First go around was going to be a hose hooked to the gas out and into a gallon container with StarSan in it.

 

[mac_1103]

I will need a blowoff tube for sure as the kegs probably don't have enough head space. First go around was going to be a hose hooked to the gas out and into a gallon container with StarSan in it.

That works, but I would think that having the krausen rise above the dry hop bag is going to be a problem. That may or may not happen depending on the recipe and yeast. So I would think about doing a smaller batch so there's more head space. Or maybe put the dry hops into a second keg. Of course that means you'd have to do two closed transfers.

 

[wdavis2003]

You can do a blow off tube into starsan the first couple of days then switch to a spunding valve and set the psi accordingly. There's something different about the quality of carbonation when using a spunding valve that I think you'll really enjoy.

You do need to make sure your keg will fit in the fermentation fridge WITH the spunding valve on. Depending on the type you get, it will rise 2-3" or so from the top of the keg.

I would also not brew a full 5 gallon batch. Make it 4.5g so you won't have any issues with krausen and your dry hop bag should be fine. I have a 3 gallon keg that I've used for 2.5g batch ferments.

Another recommendation I have is using floating dip tube with a filter on the end that will help if you want to serve from the same keg or transfer to another keg and leave the trub behind. I use a flotit 2.0(?) Can't remember exactly but it works great.

 

[Grizwold1]

Or maybe put the dry hops into a second keg. Of course that means you'd have to do two closed transfers.

This is what I do. Daisy chain 2 kegs, put dry hops in first keg and purge them with fermentation gas, then when it's time, transfer from the fermentation keg to the dry hop keg. When dry hop finished transfer into the purged serve keg. As wdavis2003 said, I make 4.5 gal. batches and a floating dip tube in the fermenting keg.

 

[Bramling Cross]

The best dry hop solution that I've found is a 6-gal keg fitted with one of these. It allows me to run my fermentation in my standard fermenter (an SSBrewtek Brewbucket). This means that I get the benefits of having a full-sized batch and blow off protection/anti-suckback protection. Better, I can reuse my yeast from the fermenter. This makes brewing an IPA a lot more cost-effective. You're not dead-ending your yeast and you can run dry hopped beer out of the PRV in your serving keg, if you want.

To make the 6-gal keg rig work, you simply fill the 6-gal keg with Saniclean/Iodophor then purge it. Here's the weakness: you open the 6-gal keg briefly, dump in your loose pellet hops and 1g of ascorbic acid, then re-purge the vessel with CO2 several times. I don't make NEIPAs, but this works great for WCIPAs, lagers, and UK ales. At this point you fill the 6-gal keg with your crashed beer, then toss it in the fridge for 24-72 hours with 10lb of pressure on it. With that done, you simply force transfer into a 5-gal serving keg with finings and an additional 1g of ascorbic acid. Carbonate it and expect clear dry hopped beer w/in a week.

The Electric Brewery keg filter terrified me when I first got it, but it really works. I routinely throw a 1/4lb of hops at it and it works as advertised. I'll be damned if I know how, but it does. It's amazing.

As an added bonus, you get to enjoy an additional .5 gallon of intensely dry-hopped beer from your 6-gal keg while you wait for the 5-gal keg to mature. The left-overs in the 6-gal keg will also help you to figure out the ideal time to get the beer off the hops--for me, that's 48hrs at 40F falling to 34F. I'll sometimes think the 36hr dregs in the 6-gal keg were ideal, I've never thought much of the 72hr dregs.

That's what I know about that. I hope you found it useful.