will a hop filter stay sanitary?

[Yabo72]

I have all the equipment necessary to make a hop "filter" similar to the famous Randall the enamel animal from Dogfish. I grow my own hops and have brewed an under hopped pale ale so I want to enhance the hoppiness with this technique. I grow Williamette, Cascade and BC Goldings and brewed the pale ale with all Cascade. I will probably fill the filter with more Cascades but am not sure about sanitation. Is it ok to leave the hops in the filter since the ale is kegged in my kegerator. Will they develop off flavors if it takes a little while to drink it all? Do I need to change the hops out or clean the filter? Also will most of the hops lose their bittering after a gallon or two dispensed. If so, it might not even be worth it for the amount of my fresh whole hops that have been vaccum sealed.
Any thoughts?
thanks

 

[batty]

Are you filtering the beer through the filter into the keg or through the filter just prior to drinking? Just throw them in the keg!

If you're filtering the beer through the hops just prior to drinking i wouldn't really worry about contamination - though the hops will stale somewhat quickly if they're just left out. If you're not using it make sure they're sealed and in the freezer - any beer left on the hops will definitely be susceptible to contamination if the filter is re-used at a later date. could make the beer taste funny if it's filtered through hops that were beer-y and left out for a few days.

If you're throwing a party or something and plan to dispense large quantities of beer through this filter in a night it would probably be a good idea, but re-using multiple days wouldn't go over well imo.

Have you dry-hopped this pale? I think this would make the most sense if you want to up the hop perception on the brew as a whole. Lots of folks seem to throw hops in the keg to good effect. can look this up here on other threads to get a sense of what others do. of course, if it's bittering you're after (as opposed to hop smell/perception) you would have to add hop extract or possibly make a hop tea, as filter/dry-hop will only add to hop smell. again these are things you should check out full threads on before making a decision. cheers and good luck!

 

[Yabo72]

I was planning on filtering this from the keg and then dispense. I didn't know if there were enough alpha acids (natural preservatives) to keep the beer from infection. Also, wouldn't the same principle of staleness and infection apply if I dry hopped the keg since this was not intended for a short term party.? Since bittering is my goal it sounds like hop extract may be my only option along with re-evaluating my recipe.

 

[user 40839]

Also, if you're using it as a randall, it's recommended you dispense into a pitcher, since the beer is going to come out a lot foamier than usual. (I haven't randalized any of my beer, but have one (almost) built, so going off the reports on the Maltose Falcons how-to)