Oh great and Powerful AHA(z)
If I put a couple oz of hop pellets in a fine mesh bag in my keg am I going to regret it when it comes time to serve the beer?
i.e. will there be little bits of hop gunk floating around in the beer and possibly clogging up the dip tube? I am hoping not, other wise I have to lay hands on some whole leaf hops toot sweet.
i have not had any problems with it.
+1. I use the end of a piece of nylon women’s hose weighted down with marbles. The mesh is fine enough to contain pretty much everything. I’ve never had the dip tube clog either.
I always dry hop in the keg. Pellets only. I leave in until through dispensing. I have never had a problem with debris except when I used Sherwin-Williams one quart paint straining bags. The weave would slip and let out debris. I was unhappy. And, no off flavors for the amount of time in.
I’ve done them in a stainless teaball without having any problems.
The only time I’ve dry hopped with pellets I put them in the muslin socks and tucked them behind the out tube. The result was delicious but hazy IPA. Lot’s of hop debris.
Never have that issue with whole hops and I like using the muslin bags.
I dry hop with pellets exclusively and I am lackadaisical about my racking precision. I always end up with some hop material in the keg and it settles out while carbing. First pint or two may have some floaties, but I drink it anyhow.
I agree with what has been posted - I only dry hop with fine-mesh nylon bags that can be sterilized and re-used. The fine-mesh is important and these are not cheese cloth which can expand and have bigger holes. Allows the flavors through, but not the hops. I do get some floaties on initial pours, but I also get a little yeast trub, too - it’s all part of the process ;D I never have gone back to whole leaf and usually dry hop with 3-6+ oz. of pellets - kegs usually never last more than 2 months max, never an issue leaving them in the whole time. Never have sunk or weighted the bags either, even though I know that they float - I just transfer through the bag into the keg and leave it floating in there. Probably a little better usage to have them sunk to the draw tube, but if I felt like it needed that, I would have done that. Just for reference, I live in San Diego and am a huge hop head! Local brews that I strive to be close in taste/hoppiness for my IPAs: Societe Pupil, Alpine Nelson, Stone Enjoy By - FYI these are hop bombs if you have not had the chance to try. Cheers!
Thanks for all the replies everyone!
I’ve keg hopped before but never with pellets and the one time I got significant carryover of hop pellet material into the keg I spent a very frustrating evening releasing the pressure, pulling the out post, cleaning it, putting it back together, pouring half a pint, having it clog again…
repeat until finally I had my housemate with the smallest arms reach into the keg and rubber band a bit of tea ball and muslin over the end of the out tube.
Steve, you probably tasted some of that batch, it was the ‘session’ IPA I brought to GBA XMAS party two years ago. This one is Also for that party this year so flashbacks…
thanks again!
Sorry, don’t remember. I was a bit tanked that night. Ledford had that quaffable Balcones barrel Imperial Stout.
Just used one of these for the first time…
Had to cut about a 1/2 inch off the dip tube, and used about an ounce of pellet hops…worked like a champ, all the pours were clear. Had nothing but hop sledge left after last pour from keg. The flavor and aroma from the hops was fantastic, this is how I’ll dry hop from now on.
Link please?
Shiny, new, metal, beer related, = must have
Thanks! I have one of these… http://www.midwestsupplies.com/racking-cane-steel-mesh-filter.html, but yours looks much finer. Must buy.
Bookmarking that
Sorry, gotta up the ante. I still use weighted fine mesh bags in a secondary or keg because they are cheap (and work), but I bought one of these lately to play around with :
http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Dry-Hopper_p_155.html
Way bigger diameter for hops to circulate and give off their goodness. Gonna report back soon on its effectiveness, but I love the design.
Another vote here for the small size nylon fine-mesh bags with pellet hops, which I use all the time with no problems or hop debris. Cinch the drawstrings tight kept closed with a good knot and there’s no leakage. Low-tech, inexpensive, decent flow-through, easy to clean and sanitize, and small footprint so low beer displacement. I tie them off with teflon tape through the lid seal, or to the welded tab with a hole I have on the bottom of one of my keg lids.
I must say that the Stainless Brewing dry hopper is some real eye candy, and I see that the lid sits high enough in the keg that it is retrieved not via a tie off string, but with a sanitized metal hook that snags it easily enough.
This +1 many times. The secret is not to move the keg, and everything settles down just fine.
Fill fine mesh bag (not muslin bag) with hops and a weight (stainless nuts, tri-clamp, etc).
Tie mesh bag to a fishing bobber with a bit of fishing line (unused bobber/line).
Drop into keg.
Pull when necessary.