Pellet dry hop in keg

[mr hoppy]

I feel a bit of dopey newbie about this but I put a beer in a keg the other weekend and put loose pellet hops in. I went to pour some of the beer last night and although the beer came up the line it didn't come out the (flow control) tap. I've since read up on the internet and found out that putting loose hops in a keg isn't a great idea as they tend to clog up the dip tube. So I've a couple of questions:

1 - to get this beer serving, do I need to degas and rack into another keg, or would I get away with using a shortened dip tube (last inch cut off) in the current keg?

2 - given that pellet hops tend to disintegrate, if I use a tea ball or some sort of hop bag, should I use leaf hops or will these things stop pellet hops clogging up the dip tube as well?

[Ciderhead]

Oh that sounds messy

Option one which I have seen is folks chop a bit off the dip tube the theory being that all the crud drops to the bottom and you don't pick it up
Then for normal service add a bit of silicone tubing so that it gets close to the bottom again. I wouldn't be a fan myself

Issue is with hops in there for long periods it's gonna go grassy

I would let the hops do their thing for your 5-7 days you need and just transfer to second keg

Going forward
Although I don't DH a tip I learnt is get some fine catgut or thread tie it to your marble weighted muslin bag and you can still seal your keg, I've also seen recent a clever idea where keg lids have little hooks/rings welded on the underside to suspend the bag.


97 sleeps till NHC Competition.

[Greg2013]

An idea i picked up from a kiwi bloke on youtube, get a few ping pong balls, sterilize them put thm in your muslin bag with your hops and tie the neck, drop the lot into your keg and they will float ready to be plucked out whenever you want.

[Ciderhead]

Very clever and weighted at the bottom?
Other option is to go fishing with a sterilised coat hanger


97 sleeps till NHC Competition.

[imark]

I use a cornie for secondary and dry hopping. Transfer to another cornie before gassing.
Of course this is because I've got several kegs thanks to the group buys on this fine forum.

[Greg2013]

Very clever and weighted at the bottom?
Other option is to go fishing with a sterilised coat hanger


97 sleeps till NHC Competition.

I believe he included a couple of sterilized marbles in the bag to float it properly though not sure.

[mr hoppy]

Thanks for the advice. Into another keg I think. At least I'd only gassed it up for a day or two before I'd copped my mistake.

[Will_D]

An idea i picked up from a kiwi bloke on youtube, get a few ping pong balls, sterilize them put thm in your muslin bag with your hops and tie the neck, drop the lot into your keg and they will float ready to be plucked out whenever you want.

Have you ever smelled ping-pong balls? They are no way FG!
They are made from a VERY weird plastic compound [celluloid]

@CH:Comment pleae!

[Greg2013]

Oh damn looks like the plastic police caught me 

[Ciderhead]

Wills right, use those soft balls you see in kids play pens, be careful though some have small holes in them!

[brenmurph]

the balls in a guinness draft can will be food grade, could we just pop a bit of clear silicone in the nozzel hole in the ball then we hav Food grade floating liathrodi for our sacks

[Ciderhead]

That would mean I would have to but a can of Guinness


96 sleeps till NHC Competition.

[Greg2013]

the balls in a guinness draft can will be food grade, could we just pop a bit of clear silicone in the nozzel hole in the ball then we have Food grade floating liathrodi for our sacks

Is this doable you think ? I am interested in this idea if it can be done.

[brenmurph]

well the ones i seen are a hdpe ball with a tiny hole in it shake the  ball out or use a small syringe and then my idea was use a  little blob of clear silicone thatll seal and u have a food grade floating ball for the dry hopping.

I agree with ciderhead the ping pong balls smell awfull wouldnt like that in my spiced schwarty

[Will_D]

I think there is no need to seal the hole. Why would liquid try to get inside the ball through a microscopic hole?

Answer: Only reason would be cyclic pressure changes ( would cause an inverse pumping process if the balls were oriented correctly/incorrectly)

Get a few and do this test:

Take 2 or 3 balls, wide mouth jar (like Kilner or a Big jamjar).

Fill jar with water, add balls, close lid or put cap on.

Invert and watch what happens!