Dry Hopping Kegs!

[wes1977]

What are people's thoughts, is it worth it..... If so, how much hops and how long should you leave them in?

 

[mstrelan]

I did some Googling on this and decided the best way to find out is to just do it. Will let you know in a week or two how it goes.

 

[Danwood]

If you are using pellets, use a very fine mesh enclosure and be absolutely sure they are enclosed.

You can be a bit more relaxed with whole cone hops, but they still need to be in a mesh bag/SS strainer.

Pellets will cause a green, soupy mess if not properly contained, whole cones will completely plug your dip tube.

Be aware, if you are adding hops to an already carbed keg, it will foam up...and foam up QUICK. So get them in and seal up the keg. Burping the keg will probably result in foam from the PRV...if it's a full keg.

Ed- Sorry, quantities...try 28g total dry hop for 4 days to start. You can mix up types/weights/times once you've tried it a few times. 28g would be an ok start point for a milder APA / ESB for example.
If you are confident of finishing a 19l keg soonish (under a week,say) you could try just leaving them in.
Jut make sure they're in there at least 2 days before you start drinking it.

 

[blotto]

I use two of those large 70mm tea ball things and put 10-12g of hops per ball, dangle them in my keg for 3 - 7 days and bobs your uncle! Hoppy days!

 

[Danscraftbeer]

I do it often. Usually around 2-3g per litre. In a hop sock that's basically the size of a foot sock. Pre boil the bag to sterilize and with a stainless steel weight in it. You want the pellets to sink and be loose. Often just left it in the keg until finished but now I string it with flavourless dental floss. The lid locks down and seels holding the dental floss ready to pull the hops out after 5 days/ a week at room temperature or refrigerated either way. Just a note: The most spectacular results I got was with fresh picked wet hops. 200g in a big sock left in the keg until empty. Yum Yum!

 

[rude]

2 hop plugs in a ss ball till the end

 

[Batz]

I have often used the tea balls with pellets. I just drop them in and leave them. I usually find one enough for me.

Batz

 

[wes1977]

Does it have a big impact on the beer or are you better off just using more dry hops?

 

[Blind Dog]

SS teaball (if it concerns you, just check the closing clip is also SS, some are plated and the plating is prone to being etched away in beer) tied off with unflavoured dental floss or sewing thread. I generally aim for between 2g/L and 6g/L so often use 2 balls To me the biggest benefit of keg hopping is that you can taste the final, carbed, cold beer before deciding what hops to add, if any.

You can still pick up grassy, vegetal notes if you leave them in too long, but I've found this to be less of an issue with keg hopping than dry hopping in the FV, but it still pays to keep an eye on it

 

[mstrelan]

It's been over two weeks now since I tried this. TL;DR it's delicious.

The beer is a single hop Mosaic IPA from a Craft Brewer fresh wort kit. After fermenting and cold crashing I filled a Stainless Steel Keg Hop Filter with 90 grams of Mosaic pellets. I placed the hop filter in the bottom of a keg and transferred the beer to it. I don't really trust the lid on the filter too much, so instead of force carbing it with vigorous shaking I just cranked the pressure up to 30 PSI and left it for a few days.

After a week or so I was getting worried that the hops had been in there too long. I tried to take out the hop filter with a sanitised pair of tongs but I couldn't grab on to it. Yes I know you can use dental floss. Maybe I lost some hop aroma from opening the keg, but nothing detrimental.

Two weeks on I tried some last night and it was incredible. It is definitely a hop monster but there was nothing unpleasant about it, no grassy tastes that others have reported. I would probably do it again, but probably use floss this time so I can easily remove it if I feel it's necessary.

 

[fdsaasdf]

It's been over two weeks now since I tried this. TL;DR it's delicious.

The beer is a single hop Mosaic IPA from a Craft Brewer fresh wort kit.

I have keg hopped a few times and the result has been pleasing but I only do it when trying to turn around beers in a hurry. However I'm not sure you've picked a good test subject there with 90gms and that very hoppy FWK - what I mean is, with that recipe and volume of hops it is going to be a hop monster no matter which technique you've used

Word of warning: you do not want the hop matter to be drawn up the dip tube into your taps, unless you feel like pulling the taps and lines out for cleaning...

 

[sixfignig]

Do teaballs adequately contain hop pellet particles? When they dissolve they're fairly fine....

 

[Yob]

I use bits of cut up stocking, tied off top and bottom with dental floss, its a very fine mesh that contains most particulate..

If you are doing it when the keg is full and tying off with dental floss (depending on how much length you give the sock of course) it's only in contact while the beer is near the top, as you drink it, it just becomes suspended above the beer, no need to remove.

the most Ive keg hopped was about 4g/l for about a week on a big old IIPA.. much more than that and it can become a bit of a worry if you are trying to remove the bag as it doesn't want to squeeze back out of the lid space and I worry about the nylon splitting or the tie at the base coming undone... not the end of the world of course but still enough of a concern to do things about, as in, if you wanted more than 3g/l, consider 2 bags so you can remove one at a time.

 

[Eagleburger]

I only tried it once and got grass(think it was saaz). What hops are least likely to give me grass?

I got galaxy, cascade, challenger, saaz, POR, tet, styrian goldings and citra on hand.

 

[tj2204]

Two weeks on I tried some last night and it was incredible. It is definitely a hop monster but there was nothing unpleasant about it, no grassy tastes that others have reported. I would probably do it again, but probably use floss this time so I can easily remove it if I feel it's necessary.

I leave my keg hops in until they blow, just with a zip tied paint strainer bag.

No off flavours so far.

 

[Yob]

I only tried it once and got grass(think it was saaz). What hops are least likely to give me grass?

I got galaxy, cascade, challenger, saaz, POR, tet, styrian goldings and citra on hand.

More likely with nobles, but not restricted to, I'd go easy with galaxy and the ilk too.. Can do no harm with citra, Mosaic etc in my experience.
Ya kinda just gotta give it a bash and monitor it, your flavour perception is unique and what is pungent and delightful to me may well be toxic and unbearable to you

 

[Dan Pratt]

I have started to dry hop in the keg, transferring the beer after 5-6 days of primary into the keg, but only dry hopping for 1 day!

The dip tube has been shortened to allow for 80grams of hops which loses just under 1 litre of wort,

The 1 day method is all based on contact time with the wort. I clean/ sanitize keg, fill with Co2, purging O2, open and add hops and fill with beer, close and add co2 and purge leaving 100kpa of pressure. After 2 hours I flip the keg and every hour i flip the keg. this creates the hops to travel through the wort getting more contact time. this goes on for an entire arvo/evening. I put the keg in for a cold crash over night and leave for 1-2days and then transfer under pressure to serving

Usually the hops go in the the FV, drop to the base, rise to the surface, expand and start dropping out over a 2day period and settling on the base of the FV ( thats what i have found ) and the results are good, but not excellent.

I'm only onto the second beer with the method but the first IPA is much more pronounced and resinous flavours imparted were much higher. If the aroma becomes excellent Im sure to create an entire thread.

 

[Eagleburger]

Thanks for the info. Gonna do an amber ale next week that needs four weeks to do.... what ever it does.