Adding Hops to Corny Keg

[mancer62]

Over the festive season I have been enjoying my Wilko Cascade IPA which has come out really great. However I have forgot to add hops to my other IPA which awaits Kegging.
I plan to do this tomorrow....I have 50g Citra hop pellets
Would it be ok to make a hop tea (hops in a muslin bag) at about 65 degrees then leave to cool before adding to the IPA. Can I then add this to my Corny Keg along with the muslin bag containing the hop pellets/ would this work?

 

[LeeH]

Forget the tea and just put the pellets/bag in the keg. It will go cloudy for a few days but will clear perfectly given time.

I keg hop all the time now and rarely add them to the FV.

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[Ghillie]

I've added hops to a corny once before, just to try it. Didn't like the process or results all that much - but it's absolutely doable.

A sanitised nylon bag will work fine.

I also wouldn't bother with the hop tea.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Hop tea for flavour, dry hop for aroma - of course, this is a general basic rule and is wide open for contradiction.
I have read online, a US site, of suspending the hop bag from the Corny lid on a short length of thread so that, as you draw beer from the keg, the hop bag is left high and dry. This means that the hops are not sitting in the beer for the whole time the keg is being used.

 

[mancer62]

I def want citra flavour not just auroma.......so hop tea or not before adding the muslin bag?

 

[BeerCat]

I have a keg hopped beer on tap now. I really like the effect although no idea what it would do to clarity. Mine is a wheat. I had a sample after 24 hours and it was bitter and revolting but the next day it tasted great. The aroma is incredible.

 

[LeeH]

Dry hopping into the keg in my view certainly adds flavour. Not bitterness but lots of flavour and keeping the hops in for 2 months had no negative impact.

 

[Ghillie]

I have read online, a US site, of suspending the hop bag from the Corny lid on a short length of thread so that, as you draw beer from the keg, the hop bag is left high and dry.

I tried this once with 6lb nylon fishing line and the lid wouldn't seal...

I know you've stated thread, which will work, alongside unflavoured dental floss.

I thought I'd share my useless fishing line experience to help anyone else avoid disappointment!

 

[Simonh82]

I've dry hopped in the keg with good success, in fact, I would say that to begin with 100g of hops was too intense (and I'm a hop head). After a couple of weeks, the intensity had lessened just slightly to leave a lovely hoppy beer which has stayed brilliantly hoppy for months now.

I would certainly say that dry hopping adds both flavour and aroma. I would actually say the dichotomy is a false one as the vast majority of what we think of as flavour (other than bitter, sweet, salty, sour and umami) is actually the perception of aroma, that's why if you hold your nose, or have a cold food tastes bland. Anyway, hops in the keg definitely give both flavour and aroma.

Personally, I also don't think suspending the bag is necessary. I've had hops in a keg for several months without any of the supposed grassy flavours that people mention.

 

[Bigcol49]

I tried this once with 6lb nylon fishing line and the lid wouldn't seal...

Hi!
I think the bag was fastened to the inside of the Corny lid (somehow).

 

[Ghillie]

I've had hops in a keg for several months without any of the supposed grassy flavours that people mention.

This is a total bugbear of mine!

I had a 75g dry hop in a kegged IPA for it's (longer than typical) life of around 3 months. That would almost definitely result in the grassy flavours that folk love to talk about. But it just didn't.

The home brewing world is full of steadfast and absolute opinions, which more often than not, are formed without personal experience. Sadly too many folk regurgitate what they read online and LOVE a good buzzword.

Take the guys at Brulosophy for example, they're more or less re-writing the rule book when it comes to the "how it's always been" and "we've always done it that way" mantra. I just love that.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who is yet to experience this grassy thing. However, I'm sure the stories and fables regarding this mythical flavour will continue to be passed down through the generations

 

[yikkerman]

Definitely going to try this on my next brew - I had thought of doing it before but was concerned about it clouding the beer too much.

 

[IainM]

This is a total bugbear of mine!
I had a 75g dry hop in a kegged IPA for it's (longer than typical) life of around 3 months. That would almost definitely result in the grassy flavours that folk love to talk about. But it just didn't.
The home brewing world is full of steadfast and absolute opinions, which more often than not, are formed without personal experience. Sadly too many folk regurgitate what they read online.
Take the guys at Brulosophy for example, they're more or less re-writing the rule book when it comes to the "how it's always been" and "we've always done it that way" mantra.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who is yet to experience this grassy thing

I've had hops in the fv for a month without the grassy off taste, all resinous American hops with a lot of oils. I've also had grassy off flavours a couple of times with shorter dry hopping, but with saaz and British varieties that are much less resinous and more leafy. So, my experience is that traditional low %AA hops should be removed. Now I come to think about it, I believe that there is another plant, related to the hop, that has "grassy" or "weedy" notes in it's older and more traditional form, but much less so in it's newer, more pungent and aromatic incarnations.

 

[LeeH]

Who’s actually eaten grass anyhow...

 

[GerritT]

Who’s actually eaten grass anyhow...

I did, in limited quantities though. In a process of finding out what my bunnies would like or not. I know now, and they agree. But grassy taste is not something you'd want in a brew.

 

[yikkerman]

Who’s actually eaten grass anyhow...

smoked it then - maybe ???

 

[LeeH]

smoked it then - maybe ???

While working in the Netherlands but did nothing for me. Just made me laugh uncontrollably for 5 mins then gave me some serious munchies.

Went back to Heineken and Amstel.

 

[Simonh82]

Definitely going to try this on my next brew - I had thought of doing it before but was concerned about it clouding the beer too much.

It can definitely add a haze to your beer and depending on the mesh size of whatever you put them in you might get a few pints with a bit of green scum in the foam. Given time it will settle out.

This is an APA which somehow has lasted 2-3 months and is now pretty much crystal clear

 

[BeerCat]

Dry hopping certainly adds flavour as i have done it to lagers and it totally changes them.

 

[Hoddy]

In a sanitised bag, with a little weight, as much hops as you can share. Throw them in there and get that beer super hop charged!!!!