Hop Rocket as a Randal

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WeaselEstateBrewery

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Got a few Qs for HR Randal use. A search didn't find these specific questions:
- how many grams of hops do you use for a full keg?
- do you use the fast flow adapter?
- does the initial batch of hops last the entire keg without getting grassy or losing aroma?

I only used it once as a Randal; I hooked it up the the Blichmann beer gun and transferred to another keg.

Thanks,
Steve "powered by Blichmann"
 
I think the hops will be stuffed before the keg runs out but...
The longer the time between serves, the longer an amount of beer has the opportunity for the hop oils, lupulin etc to go into solution. The quicker you serve, the less time these things have to enter into the solution. So it is likely to be quite variable in 'flavour' at any rate.

To answer your questions specifically.
-as many as you can fit into the HR without compacting it. You need to use whole cones/flowers and if using plugs they will expand a lot and compact themselves. You're better off packing it with loose whole hop cones.
- No. That wastes space that could be occupied by hops! It IMO is better used when using it as a hop back.
- Yes they can lose aroma (depends on flow rates and contact time etc as disscussed at the start). Grassiness depends upon the hop variety etc.

Just my opinions, others may have different experiences and opinions.
 
A little OT, I guess but almost in topic..

I have wondered about exactly what Malted talks about with the beer remaining in the 'randal' what ever you choose to use? Small filter housing or what ever... is it chilled?

I am assuming that most home serving scenarios with a Randal are used for the night, then taken out of commission?? OR is there a way to make a randal serve you a hop 'filtered' beer over the life of the keg? eg: By running it in you keezer or re-filling the hops with fresh etc?

I now realise some peoples kegs last them months, due to their drinking habits and some members chew through them in days [COUGH]... Mine last about 1-2 weeks depending.

Anyway, great OP Q and will await some educated responses from randal users!

:icon_cheers:
 
Good responses so far. I think malted's responses verify that my use of the beer gun is a good method to trap the aromas fresh. I think I have under used flowers too; only used 60g and that barely registered. Will double it (or more).
 
I've recently bought a Hop Rocket, I'm going to use it as a hop back, a randal and as a SN torpedo at some stage. In a randal situation, I think you need to consider what's going on akin to dry hopping a fermenter. I reckon a randal is ideal in a party type situation where the keg is going to go pretty fast. You don't want to be leaving it sit a week between pints, the hops are going to loose their freshness and just add grassy notes. These Blichmann units are quite big, I'm going to be thinking long and hard as to how to plumb it up to get all the beer out of it.
 
FWIW, mountain goat brewery use a huge randal on their bar. Generally stuffed w hops flowers. I'm not sure, but I don't think they change the flowers; & that setup will normally run for a few weeks. The hop flavour & aroma is awesome!!
I wz thinking, once beer's running thru it, there's nowhere for the oils to go other than sit in the beer (ie: they're not gonna evaporate) & there's no O2 to deteriorate the hops constituents.
And it sits up on the bar, so no refrigeration.

I'm v new to this, so just my 2c.
 
Only used mine as a hop back but they are easy over a litre, wouldn't want that sitting out at room temp for long periods. Would only consider it in a party situation.
 
Well I have had the rocket acting as a randal with flowers for a few days now and it still has great aroma. The beer previously was lacking oomph, and the rocket is fixing it fine.

Will keep the flowers in there until the keg runs out unless there adverse side effects start to develop.
 
WeaselEstateBrewery said:
Well I have had the rocket acting as a randal with flowers for a few days now and it still has great aroma. The beer previously was lacking oomph, and the rocket is fixing it fine.

Will keep the flowers in there until the keg runs out unless there adverse side effects start to develop.
Make sure you report back with the findings WEB.
 
Agreed and keep a log on when the flowers where hooked up.

Just a tired thought, because it's being used as a Randal i doubt it would get grassie etc, well only the beer hop rocket itself would get the chance and Lets face it, most homebrewers drink at least a litre of beer over 3 or four days.....
 
BUMP!!

Can anyone add anything to this discussion?

I have recently bought a hop rocket and I'm thinking of using it in a few scenarios.

1 - Use it as a hop back and strain boiled wort through it into the fermenter. Got my head around this one.

2 - As a randall. What type of hops flowers are people using? Low to mid alfa acid hops? Something like Hallertau/Wakatu to Cascade 4 -7% AA or something more potent like Galaxy. I'm not even sure if AA% matters in this scenario as there is no boiling taking place to release the acids.

3 - Dry hoping keg to keg. Sort of like a randall but doing a whole keg at once. I'm thinking of doing this to a beer I recently brewed to add more flavor. Anyone tried this?

I'm planning on trying out 2 and 3 over the weekend.

Cheers,
 
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