Dry hop matter blocking keg liquid post ...

[slash22000]

Long story short, I dry hopped a brew with about 40g of pellet hops. I left it for 5 days, cold crashed at 0ºC for 48 hours, siphoned into the keg this afternoon and force carbonated.

Somewhere along the line something has gone awry because I have hop matter clogging my "out" post to the point it's almost completely stopped, a tiny trickle of liquid escapes but that's about it. Never happened to me before, not sure exactly what I did wrong (damn siphons, seriously, bloody nightmare), but here we are. Is there anything I can do at this late stage to fix it?

I do have a spare keg sitting empty at the moment, should I consider cutting a few centimetres off the second dip tube and replacing the one clogging in the keg (assuming I keep everything covered with Starsan etc)? I've heard people use filters on their dip tubes to block hop matter but I doubt that helps me at the moment (though I'd be interested in the idea for the next beer). Will the problem just resolve itself over time (again, never happened before)?

Any and all advice is most appreciated.

 

[Amber Fluid]

You could give it a quick burst of C02 down the beer out post. Best to ensure you use a beer disconnect though to avoid it getting stuck.
I wouldn't cut the dip tube, too much faffing about, just bend it slightly if you want to go down this path instead.

 

[bookworm1707]

Conner breware in Perth sell the dip tube screen. Cheap but add stuff to your order for postage purposes.

I dry hopped with plugs, bad move, was blocking every second pour.

I had to squeeze the screen a little to make it grip the tube, then sanitised the crap out of everything as I pulled the tube put the hand in the keg and put the screen on.

Has not blocked since then. Has not even slowed.

Can use the screens in normal silicone hose as well for things like plate chillers.

Very happy with it, no affiliation etc etc

 

[bruce86]

Just know the screens dont work on hop pellets DUH! made that mistake now im fighting blocked pick up and i have already tranferred it to another keg once.

 

[GalBrew]

Been there done that! Do NOT cut your dip tube, you will regret it later. Unfortunately I found out the hard way that pellet hops are milled to different sizes before being compacted into pellets. Some brands will stay in a hop bag while others (the majority) will not and end up clogging your keg. On the bright side it's easy to clean your keg, on the down side your beer is probably stuffed. The only way you might save it is to let the hop matter drop out and syphon the clear stuff to a clean keg. I ended up tipping my beer and now dry hop only with flowers. The only pellet hops that I have dry hopped with that stay in the hop bag are the little silver hop pouches from Brewcraft. They did not clog up my keg as they are still quite coarse when the pellet breaks up, but they are very expensive compared to our site sponsors for example.

 

[seemax]

Had the same experience, 150g cube hopped... even after a decent time in primary and CC I still managed to get hops in the keg. After several beer out post cleans... I gave up and just settled on a very slow pour. Mind you the hop flavour is awesome....

 

[Bribie G]

If you degas your beer, remove dip tube and open keg, drop a NEW kitchen small scrubby stainless steel curly thing - boil it first in water - into your keg and let it sink to the dip in the bottom and replace the cleaned out dip tube, your beer should be fine after a CO2 flush of the headspace. Might be an idea to remove the beer post and check that it's not blocked up, and also check the QD. Clingwrap the top of the open keg while doing stuff.

Edit: senior moment, the top of the post will have been removed to get to the dip tube already of course.

 

[QldKev]

When transferring from the fermenter to the keg I always use a filter on the hose. Just one of these cheap Bunnings ones. I rather have to stop and clean the hose/filter than the pickup tube.

In this case I would just use your transfer hose and transfer it from the full keg to en empty one using the above filter.

 

[jkeske]

Been there done that! Do NOT cut your dip tube, you will regret it later. Unfortunately I found out the hard way that pellet hops are milled to different sizes before being compacted into pellets. Some brands will stay in a hop bag while others (the majority) will not and end up clogging your keg. On the bright side it's easy to clean your keg, on the down side your beer is probably stuffed. The only way you might save it is to let the hop matter drop out and syphon the clear stuff to a clean keg. I ended up tipping my beer and now dry hop only with flowers. The only pellet hops that I have dry hopped with that stay in the hop bag are the little silver hop pouches from Brewcraft. They did not clog up my keg as they are still quite coarse when the pellet breaks up, but they are very expensive compared to our site sponsors for example.

What do you regret about cutting the dip tube? I have done this on several of my kegs and been happy with the results. I've never had issues with clogging or picking up yeast sediment since I have done this.

 

[slash22000]

If you degas your beer, remove dip tube and open keg, drop a NEW kitchen small scrubby stainless steel curly thing - boil it first in water - into your keg and let it sink to the dip in the bottom and replace the cleaned out dip tube, your beer should be fine after a CO2 flush of the headspace. Might be an idea to remove the beer post and check that it's not blocked up, and also check the QD. Clingwrap the top of the open keg while doing stuff.

I presume this works because the suction will stick the .. thing .. to the bottom of the dip tube, filtering particulate? That's a great idea.

When transferring from the fermenter to the keg I always use a filter on the hose. Just one of these cheap Bunnings ones. I rather have to stop and clean the hose/filter than the pickup tube.

In this case I would just use your transfer hose and transfer it from the full keg to en empty one using the above filter.

Another great idea. I've looked into in-line beer filters but they cost an extraordinary amount of money. Never thought about buying a cheap one to use while transferring. I will absolutely do this in the future.

 

[hidara]

When transferring from the fermenter to the keg I always use a filter on the hose. Just one of these cheap Bunnings ones. I rather have to stop and clean the hose/filter than the pickup tube.

In this case I would just use your transfer hose and transfer it from the full keg to en empty one using the above filter.

Cheers for the idea. Picked up a similar food grade filter and getting ready to test it on 150g dry hopped Elvis Juice

https://www.roadtechmarine.com.au/inline-strainers-fine-13mm-1-2-barb-hose-fitting/p/TCE330

 

[hidara]

When transferring from the fermenter to the keg I always use a filter on the hose. Just one of these cheap Bunnings ones. I rather have to stop and clean the hose/filter than the pickup tube.

In this case I would just use your transfer hose and transfer it from the full keg to en empty one using the above filter.

Cheers for the idea. Picked up a similar food grade filter and getting ready to test it on 150g dry hopped Elvis Juice

https://www.roadtechmarine.com.au/inline-strainers-fine-13mm-1-2-barb-hose-fitting/p/TCE330

 

[Dan Pratt]

if you get hop matter into your keg simply remove the poppets from the post and the disconnect.......flow right through!!

 

[Lionman]

if you get hop matter into your keg simply remove the poppets from the post and the disconnect.......flow right through!!

Be careful if you do this!

Make sure you depressurise the keg before disconnecting the beer line, or it will squirt all over the place.