Has anyone here ever tried using a surescreen over the racking arm of a Blichmann conical? I’ve recently been enjoying dryhopping directly in the conical, but have been using hopbags, since there are warnings all over the place about not using whole hops in the conical without a bag.
Anyone?
I haven’t tried but I’ll be interested to learn what if any feedback you get from this question. I have a 14.6gal Blichmann that I’ll be fermenting an AIPA in the next few weeks. I was debating dry-hopping in the conical with muslin bags. Do you still harvest your yeast when you dry hop? If so, I assume you drop the yeast prior to dry-hopping…right?
funny you should ask ron - I have always been a keg-hopper, so this technique is new to me (only tried twice thus far).
I collected my yeast after dryhopping - I figured most of the yeast had flocced already and when I racked to kegs, I would collect - I did not think there would be much hop oil on the yeast underneath the top layer which is where I collect from anyhow. but you bring up a great point - I will have to do that next time!
Are you at all concerned about the thread count on the muslin? I dryhop strictly with whole, and I always figured particles would get through pretty easily with muslin, so I have kept to nylon. Nothing worse than having a stuck racking runoff.
Hey Paul, I dry hopped a few times in the conical (pellets & woman’s nylon) but I found by the time I got to the 2nd keg it had lost some of the dry hops aroma. I now dry hop exclusively in the keg (pellets & woman’s nylon). A week before the keg is to go into the Kegerator it gets dry hopped. Then I just leave them in the keg until it blows. YMMV. Cheers!!!
hmmm… thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations. I’m at a loss right now - I have always been a firm believer in keghopping until she blows as well. but lately, I have been developing a greenness, sort of vegetal type aroma after about 4-6 weeks on tap (usually the second keg 
). I currently have one on tap that has this subtle note (Simcoe + Columbus) .
Thus I was experimenting with going back to only in the fermenter.
I guess if it fades on the first keg, I can always add hops
I am extrapolating based on my personal experience, but I am guessing hamiltont’s issues were more of a result of the amount of time between dry hopping and drinking, rather than a problem with dry hopping in the conical itself. I’d be inclined to dry hop in the conical, and then for the 2nd keg, throw some hops in a nylon sack 2 weeks before tapping.
that is a good point. I am one week in on my Green Flash IPA 1st keg (the other IPA I referenced kicked last friday) , and the hop aroma is insane. Will see how if goes by the time keg 1 is killed and keg 2 in on - worst case, I’ll throw some more in and have learned my lesson.
I think I’ll try dropping the yeast first, then dry hop in women’s nylon at 68F for 7-10 days then keg. I think the tighter weave of nylon would be a “better safe then sorry” technique, although I’m concerned about the dissolution of oils into the beer through the nylon. Thoughts?
Tell me you mean the hops and not you! 
ron - i often use women’s nylons, but I also have 3 of the hopbags NB sells which are a bit wider weave (I think) and never noticed an appreciable difference between them.
I tend to brew ahead so the kegs may be around for a while before they go on tap. Then I’ll dry hop 7-10 days before the keg goes into the kegerator. If I am going straight from the conical to the kegerator then yes, dry hopping in the conical works fine and the results are basically the same. Cheers!!!
too funny…
Well Denny…I can’t say that I’ve ever dry hopped in any fashion while using women’s nylons… 
It would be good to come up with a containment that would allow the hops to float more freely yet keep them from clogging the conical drain tube. Possibly a stainless steel brillo-like pad covering the outlet tube?
Ummm, ron, did you read my original post?:
;D
My bad… ;D
According to Denny…he uses a Bazooka T on his outlet tube that keeps whole hops strained without clogging in his kettle. Based on that, it should work in a conical. I wouldn’t want to risk it without trying it on a smaller scale, but I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work.
Perhaps I might email John.
Maybe I will try it. The worst thing I can foresee happening is that I’ll have to rack with my cane the 'old fashioned way".
Great idea! John should be able to shed some light on this topic.
email sent - will see what he says.
I think your biggest difficulty might be keeping the sure screen on the pickup. If you use some sort of clamp, make sure it’s good and sanitized. I’d be tempted to boil both the sure screen and the clamp.