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Author Topic: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?  (Read 16454 times)

Offline denny

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #15 on: October 28, 2017, 09:53:14 am »
I find keg hopping gives me more flavor and aroma for a longer time.

Denny - do you leave the hops in the keg until the keg kicks? What is the longest you've done this? My kegs last a few months ...

Same here.  Average time for hops in the keg is 2-3 months.
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Offline ultravista

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2017, 10:33:02 am »
Good to know Denny ;D.

For me, laziness is the sole reason the hops stay in the keg.

Offline denny

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2017, 10:51:06 am »
Good to know Denny ;D.

For me, laziness is the sole reason the hops stay in the keg.

yeah, there's that, too!
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline blatz

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2017, 08:04:44 am »
I have a couple of kegs dedicated to dryhopping.  I use a Surescreen on the diptube, purge the dryhop keg, hook CO2 up at 2PSI to the liquid out while opening the bail to dump in the dryhops.  I let that run for a little bit.

Then I push beer into the dryhop keg from the fermenter.  dryhop for however many days I want, cold crash under CO2 and then push the beer from the dryhopped keg into a fresh, purged serving keg.

works well for me.
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Offline brewinhard

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #19 on: October 30, 2017, 11:24:23 am »
I have a couple of kegs dedicated to dryhopping.  I use a Surescreen on the diptube, purge the dryhop keg, hook CO2 up at 2PSI to the liquid out while opening the bail to dump in the dryhops.  I let that run for a little bit.

Then I push beer into the dryhop keg from the fermenter.  dryhop for however many days I want, cold crash under CO2 and then push the beer from the dryhopped keg into a fresh, purged serving keg.

works well for me.

Those sure screens don't clog up on you Paul? Are you using pellets or whole hops?

Offline blatz

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #20 on: October 30, 2017, 11:47:12 am »
I have a couple of kegs dedicated to dryhopping.  I use a Surescreen on the diptube, purge the dryhop keg, hook CO2 up at 2PSI to the liquid out while opening the bail to dump in the dryhops.  I let that run for a little bit.

Then I push beer into the dryhop keg from the fermenter.  dryhop for however many days I want, cold crash under CO2 and then push the beer from the dryhopped keg into a fresh, purged serving keg.

works well for me.

Those sure screens don't clog up on you Paul? Are you using pellets or whole hops?

surprisingly, no.  *knocks on wood* I was nervous about it the first time or two, but Ive been doing this method for about 3 years or more and haven't had a problem.  The fail safe would be to gently lay the keg to its side, slightly elevate the bottom and rack out of the gas dip tube.

edit - forgot to mention I use only Pellets.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2017, 11:49:18 am by blatz »
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Offline denny

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #21 on: October 30, 2017, 01:26:19 pm »
I have a couple of kegs dedicated to dryhopping.  I use a Surescreen on the diptube, purge the dryhop keg, hook CO2 up at 2PSI to the liquid out while opening the bail to dump in the dryhops.  I let that run for a little bit.

Then I push beer into the dryhop keg from the fermenter.  dryhop for however many days I want, cold crash under CO2 and then push the beer from the dryhopped keg into a fresh, purged serving keg.

works well for me.

Those sure screens don't clog up on you Paul? Are you using pellets or whole hops?

surprisingly, no.  *knocks on wood* I was nervous about it the first time or two, but Ive been doing this method for about 3 years or more and haven't had a problem.  The fail safe would be to gently lay the keg to its side, slightly elevate the bottom and rack out of the gas dip tube.

edit - forgot to mention I use only Pellets.

I've used both pellets and whole with Sure Screeens without problems.
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Offline zwiller

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #22 on: October 30, 2017, 03:16:21 pm »
What's it like to clean a keg that DH was done in?  This cannot be easy. 
Sam
Sandusky, OH

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #23 on: October 30, 2017, 03:53:05 pm »
What's it like to clean a keg that DH was done in?  This cannot be easy. 


Dry hop in a zip tied 5 gallon paint strainer bag, pretty damn easy.   :)
Jon H.

Offline brewsumore

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #24 on: October 30, 2017, 08:22:11 pm »
What's it like to clean a keg that DH was done in?  This cannot be easy. 


Dry hop in a zip tied 5 gallon paint strainer bag, pretty damn easy.   :)

Jon, I was wondering how you keg hop your IPAs with 5 oz of hops!  I see you have a method that works!

I use a nylon mesh drawstring bag, different size depending on how many ounces of pellet hops.  I use the corny lids that have a welded tab with a hole on the underside, and tie off the bag so that it will hang free once beer is drained below 1/3 - 1/2 full in the keg.

I normally don't exceed 3.5 oz of hops.  If I double dry hop, first addition goes into the fermenter.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2017, 08:28:51 pm by brewsumore »

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #25 on: October 31, 2017, 05:52:44 am »
What's it like to clean a keg that DH was done in?  This cannot be easy. 


Dry hop in a zip tied 5 gallon paint strainer bag, pretty damn easy.   :)

Jon, I was wondering how you keg hop your IPAs with 5 oz of hops!  I see you have a method that works!

I use a nylon mesh drawstring bag, different size depending on how many ounces of pellet hops.  I use the corny lids that have a welded tab with a hole on the underside, and tie off the bag so that it will hang free once beer is drained below 1/3 - 1/2 full in the keg.

I normally don't exceed 3.5 oz of hops.  If I double dry hop, first addition goes into the fermenter.

Well, now that I switched kegs over to the Clear Beer Draft Systems (which draw from the top), I use two 5 gallon paint strainer bags, one inside the other, and weighted down with marbles to sit on the bottom of the keg. I double bag for extra filter capacity. With the beer being drawn from the top now, I like to keep the hops as far away as possible from the draw point as I can. Before, I had batches that would occasionally pick up some harsh hop character because the bag settled down by the dip tube and some fine particulate got sucked into the tube. With this new setup, there's none of that. Aside from that, I'm spunding now and given its ability to thoroughly purge the O2 from a keg, there's very little drop off in hop aromas as compared to before.

Edit for grammar (OCD).
« Last Edit: October 31, 2017, 06:43:36 am by HoosierBrew »
Jon H.

Offline narcout

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #26 on: October 31, 2017, 09:49:58 am »
Well, now that I switched kegs over to the Clear Beer Draft Systems (which draw from the top), I use two 5 gallon paint strainer bags, one inside the other, and weighted down with marbles to sit on the bottom of the keg.

How do you like the clear draft floats? 

I just ordered one yesterday and plan to keg an APA with it this weekend (dry hopped this one in the fermentor though).
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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #27 on: October 31, 2017, 09:55:51 am »
Well, now that I switched kegs over to the Clear Beer Draft Systems (which draw from the top), I use two 5 gallon paint strainer bags, one inside the other, and weighted down with marbles to sit on the bottom of the keg.

How do you like the clear draft floats? 

I just ordered one yesterday and plan to keg an APA with it this weekend (dry hopped this one in the fermentor though).


They work as advertised, no issues. Money really well spent IMO. Very easy to install, works reliably. Crash a couple days after the spund and the beer is surprisingly clear. Big fan.
Jon H.

Offline denny

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #28 on: October 31, 2017, 10:00:22 am »
What's it like to clean a keg that DH was done in?  This cannot be easy.

Rinse it out, hit it with some Craftmeister, that's it.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline Stevie

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Re: Dry hopping in the keg questions ?
« Reply #29 on: October 31, 2017, 10:10:18 am »
What's it like to clean a keg that DH was done in?  This cannot be easy.

Rinse it out, hit it with some Craftmeister, that's it.
Just don’t let it sit dry for a long time. Stuck on hop crud sucks to get off. I miss the days I could reach the bottom of a keg with a scrub pad.