So my batch was in the primary carboy for a week and now its been sitting in a secondary carboy for an additional week. I got a kegging kit for Christmas so my plan is to just use the keg to dry hop in. My question is, once I add the beer to the keg and add the hops, do I need to let them sit in the keg at room temperature before putting into the fridge? Also, do I need to wait on carbonating the keg or can I do that right away?
Dry hopping in keg and timing
- Thread starter dmbnpj
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Good question.
Couple fo things to think about in addition to dry hopping: (in case their are new brewers reading this post. You may already know why you transferred the beer to a secondary after 1 week.)
1) Was the final gravity reached after just one week in your primary? If so, did you give it any extra time to clean itself up prior to going to a secondary?
2) What goal/outcome did you want to have by transferring the beer to a secondary if you had planned on dry hopping in the keg? From reading on the forum it seems that many brewers skip the secondary unless they plan on dry hopping in the secondary.
As far as dryhopping in the keg, I weigh a hop sack down with several sanitized marbles and use unflavored dental floss to suspend the sack in the bottom 1/2 of the keg. If the beer is cold it will take longer for the effects of dry hopping to be noticed so much of the time I leave the hop sack in the cold keg for several weeks while it is carbing up. I have also left the hop sack in the keg until the keg is empty. Whether or not to do this will depend on how much dry hops you add to your keg and what level of effect are you after. I just leave it in until I get a consistent flavor I like for 2-3 days and then perhaps pull it out.
1) Was the final gravity reached after just one week in your primary? If so, did you give it any extra time to clean itself up prior to going to a secondary?
2) What goal/outcome did you want to have by transferring the beer to a secondary if you had planned on dry hopping in the keg? From reading on the forum it seems that many brewers skip the secondary unless they plan on dry hopping in the secondary.
As far as dryhopping in the keg, I weigh a hop sack down with several sanitized marbles and use unflavored dental floss to suspend the sack in the bottom 1/2 of the keg. If the beer is cold it will take longer for the effects of dry hopping to be noticed so much of the time I leave the hop sack in the cold keg for several weeks while it is carbing up. I have also left the hop sack in the keg until the keg is empty. Whether or not to do this will depend on how much dry hops you add to your keg and what level of effect are you after. I just leave it in until I get a consistent flavor I like for 2-3 days and then perhaps pull it out.
My original plan was to dry hop in the secondary but the more I thought about it I thought why not make it easier on myself and just dry hop directly in the keg. I can access the keg much better when it comes to cleaning.
This also frees up your secondary for something else.
I just leave them in there. At fridge temps, they don't seem to get "grassy", and the dryhops stay in until the keg is gone. Of course, at my house that may mean only 1-2 weeks!
In my house, it's just me drinking so kegs can last weeks if not a month or more (lame I know). So I have found that after 3 weeks of key dry hopping that the flavor changes and becomes something I don't care for. So now, I pull the hop bag at 3 weeks and then enjoy what's left of the keg.
What's great about this method is that it seems like the beer re-calibrates itself and goes from "too long dry hopped" back to "just right" after a week or so from pulling the dry hop. Ymmv of course, but that's how I generally do it. Also, like most things homebrew, no time tables are hard and fast, I use my taster to tell me when things are right or wrong.
What's great about this method is that it seems like the beer re-calibrates itself and goes from "too long dry hopped" back to "just right" after a week or so from pulling the dry hop. Ymmv of course, but that's how I generally do it. Also, like most things homebrew, no time tables are hard and fast, I use my taster to tell me when things are right or wrong.
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