I’m thinking about doing this and just wondering peoples’ techniques and experiences? I know some people leave it in the entire life of the keg and some people take it out. Just wondering what people do, and if you experience any of flavors, vegetal? And how the flavor is different from normal dry hopping?
Thanks
I routinely dry hop in the keg. Now that I’m controlling oxygen exposure by doing closed rackings to the keg, I leave the hops in until the keg kicks and don’t get grassy flavors. The reason why I hop in the keg is that the aromas are stronger.
I use http://www.clearbeerdraughtsystem.com/ so I’m able to throw the hops in the keg without a bag. I have never gotten that grassy taste people quote.
I used to use a bag to hop in the keg but I recent bought one of those cylindrical hop containers. I just tie a piece of plain dental floss to the top of the bag/container and put on the lid letting the other end of the floss t hang outside. Works great. I’ve got an IPA dry hopping right now.
So seems like most people are leaving the hops in the entire keg life. Any opinions on the taste/aroma difference between “ normal “ dry hopping and keg dry hopping?
The dry hopping is probably the biggest contributor to oxygen now. After racking, I put the bagged hops in and purge the headspace several times. Anyway, my IPAs are pretty stable over 3 months.
I use a 11.5" 400 Micron Stainless Corny Keg Dry Hop Filter. I just tie a piece of plain dental floss to the top of the filter lid and secure the floss to the underside of the lid, the well for the purge valve, with a small stainless steel hose clamp.
I do not recommend routing the floss over/under the lid seal to the outside of the keg. Doing this resulted in poor seals, with and without keg lube.
I have two of these filters and don’t over fill either one. A few ounces of hops expand like a mother trucker, and I suspect, lead to inefficient extraction if not agitated and allowed to expand/compress.
The hops stay in the keg for the duration unless I need the filter for something else. Not a heavy consumer, I have left the hops in the keg for 4+ months with no vegetal off-flavors (to my pallet).
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.