Dry hopping in the keg

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lovebrewin

lovebrewin

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Just looking for a few ideas to beef up the hop of my beer that I have just kegged as its a bit bland!! Just need a few ideas as to how you experienced keggers go about dry hopping in the keg....

Cheers guys!!!
 
I do it constantly. my kegs are my cold crash, dry hop, carbonator, and secondary all in one. I put them in these little fine meshed bags sold at the home brew store and throw them in as I siphon my beer in. Works like a charm. I leave them in until the keg kicks. Delicious!
 
Do ya just throw the mesh bag with the hops straight in mate or do ya suspend it with dental floss or sum ****?? I was thinking I might just turf it in!!
 
I suspend mine with some teflon tape in the keg. People have reported dip tube clogs if you let the bag fall to the bottom.
 
I suspend the bag with unwaxed, unflavored dental floss. I usually dry hop for a week or so while the beer is still at basement temps just before I put it on tap, but I've also dry hopped after it's been chilled and tapped.
 
I too had a bland tasting IPA. I bought a SS herb ball at LHBS and just dropped it in the keg. The next day we had a party and the IPA was a big hit
 
If its that bland Id got he hop tea route in addition to the keg hopping.

My buddy recently had an underwhelming batch of Pale Ale which he keg hopped to "fix" it helped a lot but it was still missing back end hop flavor.
 
BigRedHopHead said:
I suspend mine with some teflon tape in the keg. People have reported dip tube clogs if you let the bag fall to the bottom.
Click to expand...

I literally just toss it in and rack on top of it, no weights no string/floss. Works like a charm. NEVER had a problem. so simple, why try to complicate it?
 
Definitely some food for thought!! Thanks for your input ppl greatly appreciated......
 
Old_E said:
I literally just toss it in and rack on top of it, no weights no string/floss. Works like a charm. NEVER had a problem. so simple, why try to complicate it?
Click to expand...

Making a simple process complicated is what makes it homebrewing.

I use a nylon bag, S.S. weights, and suspend from the drawstring held against he corny lid with a magnet on each side. That was all the complication I had time for last week.
 
LLBeanJ said:
I suspend the bag with unwaxed, unflavored dental floss. I usually dry hop for a week or so while the beer is still at basement temps just before I put it on tap, but I've also dry hopped after it's been chilled and tapped.
Click to expand...

Do you let the floss hang outside the cover or attach it?

I've been just chucking in a bag full of hops but finding that if I don't drink the keg within a 3-4 week period its getting too grassy for my liking.
 
If you don't want to mess with dry hopping in a keg due to possible clogs you can always just make hop tea. I've done this, put a few cups of water on the stove to 150- 170 degrees, throw your hops in. Let it hang out for whatever time you like (I usually do 4 hours) and then strain the hops out. Boom, intense hop tea and toss it into your keg. It's not the same as dry hopping, I would say you get more flavor and bitter and less aroma.
 
I suspend mine as well, generally with fishing line.

I have before just tossed the mesh ball in with the hops in it and never experienced clogs. However I drank that beer slow enough that towards the bottom half of the keg it got a big of a vegetal flavor to it. That's why I suspend them now, so that the contact time with the beer isn't as long. I generally suspend it down half way or so. But many people drink their beer in a more timely manner than I do.
 
I clamp the bag strings to the relief valve on the inside of the lid. Had a leak once using fishing line.
 
KegWrangler said:
Making a simple process complicated is what makes it homebrewing.

I use a nylon bag, S.S. weights, and suspend from the drawstring held against he corny lid with a magnet on each side. That was all the complication I had time for last week.
Click to expand...

Yeah.....what he said.
 
this is a slightly off topic but here's a question for people who naturally carbonate and dry hop in the keg. Do you toss the hops in the keg when you rack from your fermentation vessel into your keg, or do you wait until your brew is carbonated then open the keg and dry hop? I assume it wouldn't matter either way, just wondering if one way is more popular and why.
 
I used to suspend using teflon tape, but now I just throw it in. Never had a clog or issues with vegetal flavors, but I don't use any of the hops that tend to give that character. I use nylon paint strainer bags.

AintLifeGrand said:
this is a slightly off topic but here's a question for people who naturally carbonate and dry hop in the keg. Do you toss the hops in the keg when you rack from your fermentation vessel into your keg, or do you wait until your brew is carbonated then open the keg and dry hop? I assume it wouldn't matter either way, just wondering if one way is more popular and why.
Click to expand...

I rack from fermenter to a keg with the dry hops in the bottom. I then let it sit at ferm temps for 4-7 days, then chill and carb. I've tried fixing beers by adding dry hops to the already chilled/carbed keg, but found that the lower temps prevented me from getting nearly as much flavor and aroma, even after letting it sit for extended lengths of time. As always, YMMV.
 
Old_E said:
I literally just toss it in and rack on top of it, no weights no string/floss. Works like a charm. NEVER had a problem. so simple, why try to complicate it?
Click to expand...

That is fine for you. But if you research this topic you will find people who reported problems with the diptube clogging. All I am saying is that suspending the bag is 100% guaranteed not to clog the dip tube. Tying a knot around the bag takes 5 seconds, spraying the tape with Star San take 5 seconds. Oh! WOW! that extra step was soooo complicated! and took forever :rolleyes:
 
BigRedHopHead said:
That is fine for you. But if you research this topic you will find people who reported problems with the diptube clogging. All I am saying is that suspending the bag is 100% guaranteed not to clog the dip tube. Tying a knot around the bag takes 5 seconds, spraying the tape with Star San take 5 seconds. Oh! WOW! that extra step was soooo complicated! and took forever :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Wow. you are really bent out of shape about this. Do what you like. I could care less. Dud asked what we did then asked a follow up. I answered.

I have researched it hundreds of times in my keg and no clogging. To me that's a 99% guarantee. It fine. Really.

When you chill out, you will see its really not a big deal. Do what you like.

All the best.
 
+1 for a nylon paint strainer bag filled with hops, dropped in bottom of keg, and racked onto. Have done this with about 10 kegs so far with no grassy/vegetal/blocking issues.
 
I plan to hang the mesh bag for my first dry hop attempt in the keg. My issue is that I only have 3 gallon kegs due to the wife not allowing me to remove the upper shelf in our basement fridge, so I split 6 gallon batches into 2 kegs of which one is sitting at basement temps until the other is finished. Would it be best to wait until the week before you plan to carbonate and throw in the fridge before dry hopping the second keg?

I no longer use a secondary, but normally wait 16-21 days before kegging to let the yeast clean up the beer in the primary. The IPA I just brewed called for Denny's Favorite 50 yeast, which kept bubbling the airlock for 11 days, which I am not use to. A lot of other yeast go gangbusters for 4-5 days and then nothing. If I start dry hopping in the keg at day 16, is that still enough time for the yeast to have cleaned up the beer in the primary? Can you consider the week dry hopping before refrigeration as secondary time? Just trying to collapse the schedule to around the same 21days if possible.
 
I'd mostly ignore the air lock to see when fermentation is done, you would be better off taking a gravity reading. That being said I've never considered dry hopping in my primary fermenter, I'm curious to see what others think.
 
I have heard of people putting a "float" on them with some dental floss.

I ahve also seen the bags just tossed in...
 
A question to those who dry hop in the keg with pellets.

Do you find the muslin hop bags to be too coarse for pellets? Would I be better off with a finer nylon bag? Thanks!
 
sniperd said:
I'd mostly ignore the air lock to see when fermentation is done, you would be better off taking a gravity reading. That being said I've never considered dry hopping in my primary fermenter, I'm curious to see what others think.
Click to expand...

I am actually dry hoping in the Keg per the thread subject. I normally don't bother to do the 3 consecutive gravity reading tests, as you can see by my normal # of days (16-21) fermentation has been long done. I am more questioning if the beer has sat on the yeast long enough to clean up the off tasting by products of fermentation if I move down to 16 days in primary and then 5 days dry hopping in the keg. Can a week dry hopping in the keg be considered to basically be the same as a week in a secondary. Is there any real difference?
 
I've never used pellets in a serving keg, but I would expect a muslin bag would allow a lot of pellet mush to escape.

I use whole cones in a muslin bag, toss it in a cold, carbed serving keg, and leave it 'til it kicks. Easier than pie, never any grassy notes - even in kegs that have taken a month to kick...

Cheers!
 
I dry hop with pellets and I use a nylon bag. Very little hop sludge, if any, gets out. I've never used a muslin bag.
 
cherokee180c said:
Can a week dry hopping in the keg be considered to basically be the same as a week in a secondary.
Click to expand...

Yes.

cherokee180c said:
Is there any real difference?
Click to expand...

Yes and no. If stored at room or basement temp for the week, then a week in the keg will be the same as a week in secondary. Put the keg in the fridge while it's dry hopping and it will take a bit longer.
 
cherokee180c said:
I plan to hang the mesh bag for my first dry hop attempt in the keg. My issue is that I only have 3 gallon kegs due to the wife not allowing me to remove the upper shelf in our basement fridge, so I split 6 gallon batches into 2 kegs of which one is sitting at basement temps until the other is finished. Would it be best to wait until the week before you plan to carbonate and throw in the fridge before dry hopping the second keg?

I no longer use a secondary, but normally wait 16-21 days before kegging to let the yeast clean up the beer in the primary. The IPA I just brewed called for Denny's Favorite 50 yeast, which kept bubbling the airlock for 11 days, which I am not use to. A lot of other yeast go gangbusters for 4-5 days and then nothing. If I start dry hopping in the keg at day 16, is that still enough time for the yeast to have cleaned up the beer in the primary? Can you consider the week dry hopping before refrigeration as secondary time? Just trying to collapse the schedule to around the same 21days if possible.
Click to expand...

I dryhop in the keg all the time. Yesterday, I kegged 10 gallons (2 kegs) and put the hops into a muslin bag and into a tea ball (I had 1.5 ounces for each keg). I just let them go in there loose. If the beer is done, and ready to keg, it's fine to keg it. 16 days is plenty of time, if the beer is made properly.


flyingfinbar said:
A question to those who dry hop in the keg with pellets.

Do you find the muslin hop bags to be too coarse for pellets? Would I be better off with a finer nylon bag? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I need a tightly woven bag for pellet hops. the "fine" mesh one sold by Northern Brewer on their website is perfect for pellet hops in the keg. I know other places have them, but if you want to look at other places, looking at the "fine" one at northernbrewer.com can show you what I mean.
 

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