Hops In Kegs

[sluggerdog]

I have a brew that I am less then satisfied with which is already in the keg, I was wondering if anyone has had any experiance with throwing a plug into a keg and let it do it's stuff while you continue to drink it?

It's a lager made with halleratu hops, I have some halleratu plugs here so was thinking of chucking one in a hop bag and straight into the keg.

How do you think this would go? Would it wreck the brew or maybe help the flavour a little?

if it would help, how long do you think it would take before I noticed anything different with the brew?

Cheers :beer:

 

[Darren]

I have a brew that I am less then satisfied with which is already in the keg, I was wondering if anyone has had any experiance with throwing a plug into a keg and let it do it's stuff while you continue to drink it?

It's a lager made with halleratu hops, I have some halleratu plugs here so was thinking of chucking one in a hop bag and straight into the keg.

How do you think this would go? Would it wreck the brew or maybe help the flavour a little?

if it would help, how long do you think it would take before I noticed anything different with the brew?

Cheers :beer:

[post="90074"][/post]​

Slugger, A couple of drops of isohop would probably be better (if you can get it).
Will give the beer some bitterness (which you won't get from a plug). Also no chance of getting hops/hopbag stuck up the "out" tube.
cheers
Darren

 

[Malnourished]

I dry-hop in the keg (with the hops in a bag) regularly. It works great. I've never had a clogging issue, even at the end of the keg, but if you're worried you could tie it to a bit of fishing line (or similar) and attach that to the lid.

The other thing to note is that it takes significantly longer to pick up all the hop flavour at fridge temps. It usually takes at least 3 weeks or so to really extract all the hoppy goodness at 10C in my experience.

 

[sluggerdog]

Thansk guys.

Malnourished - So if I wanted to drink the keg in 2 weeks time should I maybe take it out of the fridge with the hop bag in it and then put it back in the fridge in 2 weeks time?

Would that do the trick?

Thanks

 

[Malnourished]

Malnourished - So if I wanted to drink the keg in 2 weeks time should I maybe take it out of the fridge with the hop bag in it and then put it back in the fridge in 2 weeks time?

Would that do the trick?

[post="90095"][/post]​

I reckon you could do it either way really. I'm sure you'd notice a fair change in two weeks (depending on how much hops you're using) in the fridge, but it would probably be more marked out of the fridge. I guess it depends on how warm your "out of the fridge" area is - I'm a little wary of dry-hopping at too warm a temperature (say 24+C.)

 

[sluggerdog]

Thanks, I might just keep it in the fridge just to be on the safe side, it would probably get over 24C in the middle of the day

 

[Ross]

Thanks, I might just keep it in the fridge just to be on the safe side, it would probably get over 24C in the middle of the day

[post="90099"][/post]​

Sluggerdog,

Add the hops to a mug of freshly boiled water - not true dry hopping but will give you a much quicker effect... Or if you have one of those coffee plungers - add the hops, leave 20 mins, then strain & add just the liquid to your brew...

 

[sluggerdog]

Thanks, I might just keep it in the fridge just to be on the safe side, it would probably get over 24C in the middle of the day

[post="90099"][/post]​

Sluggerdog,

Add the hops to a mug of freshly boiled water - not true dry hopping but will give you a much quicker effect... Or if you have one of those coffee plungers - add the hops, leave 20 mins, then strain & add just the liquid to your brew...

[post="90105"][/post]​

Too Late...

Thanks anyway ross however I just decided to break up the plug, wack it in the bag and dump it in, it's the keg I want to take to your place for the xmas swap so this is why the rush is on. If it doesn't work out looks like I'm be bring commercial beer to al homebrew meeting becuase I only have 1 3 gallon keg of beer total.

Fingers Crossed Hey

 

[Doc]

Hey Slugger,

Did you put something else in the bag with the hop plug to weigh it down ? I'd imagine it would just float on top of the beer otherwise.

Beers,
Doc

 

[sluggerdog]

Doc, nope I didn't even think about this. BUGGER I'd say it will float and do jack-all.

Too late now i'd say, cannot really dig my hand in there and fish it out...?

 

[Malnourished]

Doc, nope I didn't even think about this. BUGGER I'd say it will float and do jack-all.

[post="90127"][/post]​

Relax... all will be fine. The hops will soak up beer and weigh the bag down. It'll float, but the hop mass will be mostly submerged.

 

[Darren]

Doc, nope I didn't even think about this. BUGGER I'd say it will float and do jack-all.

[post="90127"][/post]​

Relax... all will be fine. The hops will soak up beer and weigh the bag down. It'll float, but the hop mass will be mostly submerged.

[post="90204"][/post]​

I agrre, realx, for the first 5 miniutes the hop bag will float. Once it becomes soaked the hops and bag will sink. Sanitation of the bag is something that you should pay attention to.
cheers
Darren

 

[Darren]

Thanks, I might just keep it in the fridge just to be on the safe side, it would probably get over 24C in the middle of the day

[post="90099"][/post]​

Sluggerdog,

Add the hops to a mug of freshly boiled water - not true dry hopping but will give you a much quicker effect... Or if you have one of those coffee plungers - add the hops, leave 20 mins, then strain & add just the liquid to your brew...

[post="90105"][/post]​

Ross,
Being the brew "guru" I would have expected better advice from you. Where did you get it from?
Have you tried that method yourself? Is there any data to support your claim?
Looks like Bull ***** to me!
cheers
Darren

 

[Malnourished]

Have you tried that method yourself? Is there any data to support your claim?
Looks like Bull ***** to me!

[post="90224"][/post]​

Yeah I'm a bit dubious about it myself. I tried it once with pretty ordinary results - I just can't see why you'd bother when adding the hops themselves to the beer is both easier and better (though obviously dry-hop character isn't desirable in all styles.) Anyway there's a timely discussion of just this method here: http://hbd.org/discus/messages/1/33680.html?1131778481

Noonan (New Brewing Lager Beer) recommends preparing a hop tea from unfermented wort, not water, (IIRC) because the pH of wort is more appropriate for extracting what you want from the hops.

 

[Darren]

Have you tried that method yourself? Is there any data to support your claim?
Looks like Bull ***** to me!

[post="90224"][/post]​

Yeah I'm a bit dubious about it myself. I tried it once with pretty ordinary results - I just can't see why you'd bother when adding the hops themselves to the beer is both easier and better (though obviously dry-hop character isn't desirable in all styles.) Anyway there's a timely discussion of just this method here: http://hbd.org/discus/messages/1/33680.html?1131778481

Noonan (New Brewing Lager Beer) recommends preparing a hop tea from unfermented wort, not water, (IIRC) because the pH of wort is more appropriate for extracting what you want from the hops.

[post="90230"][/post]​

MN,
That is correct. If you try to extract hop with hot water all you get is the grassy flavours and some chlorophyll. Tastes nothing like hops.
Acid dissolves acid.
been there.....
cheers
Darren

 

[Ross]

Looks like Bull ***** to me!
cheers
Darren

[post="90224"][/post]​

Well you should know

 

[Ross]

Thanks, I might just keep it in the fridge just to be on the safe side, it would probably get over 24C in the middle of the day

[post="90099"][/post]​

Sluggerdog,

Add the hops to a mug of freshly boiled water - not true dry hopping but will give you a much quicker effect... Or if you have one of those coffee plungers - add the hops, leave 20 mins, then strain & add just the liquid to your brew...

[post="90105"][/post]​

Ross,
Being the brew "guru" I would have expected better advice from you. Where did you get it from?
Have you tried that method yourself? Is there any data to support your claim?
Looks like Bull ***** to me!
cheers
Darren

[post="90224"][/post]​

Yes Darren, i have tried it & it works ok, otherwise I wouldn't have recommended it.
Also, a lot of experienced brewers on this forum use this method with very satisfactory results.
For the record, my preference (as quoted many times) is to dry hop, unsteeped, into the secondary.

cheers Ross

 

[Darren]

Hands up all the experienced brewers who have used this method successfully!

 

[T.D.]

So those dreaded "grassy" flavours are just as likely to appear from a hop tea than with dry hopping??? I am talking about hop pellets by the way. The general concensus seems to be that dry hopping is better than a hop tea. But I thought one of the few benefits a hop tea has over dry hopping is that it didn't produce grassy flavours. Can somebody verify/dispute this from experience? I will be making an IPA soon using Challenger and Goldings pellets and I figured I would try adding a hop tea to secondary, instead of dry hopping, so I avoid those grassy flavours.

p.s. sorry for the slight "off-topic-ness" of this post.

 

[Ross]

Hands up all the experienced brewers who have used this method successfully!

[post="90263"][/post]​

Try the search feature Darren - happy reading