Hopping In A Randall

[remi]

My new hop randall will arrive this week. Despite extensive searching here and elsewhere i've found it hard to answer a couple of specific questions- such as:

Is there a limit to how long hops can sit in a randall?

For a given amount of hops, is there an amount of beer that flows over them after which the hop aroma starts to dissipate?

Does the time the hops are in contact with the beer contribute more to the gradual loss of aroma, or is it more to do with the amount of beer that flows through the hops? (eg- if you are away for a week, the hops in the randall will spend a week in contact with the volume of beer in the randall itself- creating a tasty first pint when you return home!)

As an example- i have a keg of APA, which i would like to serve through the randall. Let's say that it takes 1 month to drink the keg (allowing for periods of being away over xmas etc). I have 80g of fresh cascade flowers. Am i better off to fill the randall with all of the hops from the start, and only discard them once the keg is finished- or use 20g of flowers at a time, and change them each week over the 4 weeks.

Appreciate people's thoughts...

remi

 

[schooey]

I have found that sustained periods of time in solution will lead to the hops throwing vegetal or grassy flavours; more or less the same as leaving hops in dry hop too long. Most micros that run a Randall will change the flowers once a week or so (depending how popular the beer is, if they're emptying a keg a day, they may do it daily). I have had a hop ball of fresh flowers in a keg that was still drinking well at a fortnight, but smelt and tasted a bit like lawn clippings at 4 weeks.

As for the other questions, sure the longer the beer is in contact with the flowers, the more flavour it will take on, but only up to a saturation point. It may only slightly more noticeable in difference from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours. A lot will depend on the alpha acid of the hops, the age of the hops, how well they have been treated in their travels and the quality of them when they were first packed.

As for the amount you put in, only you can be the judge of that my friend; it's your taste buds you're trying to please, not mine. Start with a little and work your way up. Do the same for the time frame; change them when you think the flavour is shifting.

Like many things in brewing, using a Randall is very much up to interpretation of your taste and trial and error. The fun is in the trying! :beer:

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I reckon it's gonna depend a bit on where you keep the randal.

In your fridge, they might be ok for more than a week... Outside the fridge, well I reckon most times i've had beers poured through randals that were "last week's" flowers, they taste like shit.

Randals are all about shoving in super duper fresh hop flavours/aromas. For me, you fill your randall with fresh hops on the night of your party, you and your guests get an amazing experience for that evening. Then you disconnect it, chuck out the hops and only fill it next time you want to use it.

If you leave it there for days... What's the difference between randal beer and beer thats just dry hopped? Anything other than same day fresh renders the whole concept pointless IMO.

 

[remi]

thanks for your replies,

the randall willl sit inside the chest freezer...might not use all the hops in one go then- don't have a big enough party planned in the next few weeks to blow all the hops in one go!

remi

 

[michael_or]

The Alc content of your beer will change the extraction of the hop compounds as well.
I find the higher the strength of beer, the less "contact" time needed to get the results I like.

ie. An IPA may take on more aroma, faster, than an APA.