Dry hopping technique

[dan125]

I've been discussing dry hopping and how to get the most out of them with fellow forumites @Hoddy and @Leon103
One of the things that came up was how rousing the dry hops seems to be done on a commercial scale, but can be difficult to do on a HB scale.
As the fermentasaurus has a valve at the bottom we thought it may be possible to pump CO2 into the bottom to rouse the dry hops and came up with the gizmo below.
The idea is to get the beer cold and dump out as much yeast as possible before dry hopping then giving it blast of gas every so often to get the hops moving about in the beer, rather than sitting in the cone at the bottom as usual.

Coming off a standard 3/8 CO2 line, with a valve for a bit of control,
then through a one-way check valve to prevent any flow back up the pipe,
then into a 1/2in silicon tube via a barb,
and straight onto the bottling attachment that comes with the FS.

Not the best pics, but here it is set up as a dry run, but will wait till dry hopping the beer I'm making at the w/e before trying out proper
The tubes need cutting back a bit, and it could maybe do with a jubilee clip on each end of the silicon tube, but is there any glaring potential problems I've missed?
Any comments or suggestions?

 

[Hoddy]

Looks pretty good to me. The thing I’m wondering is if there could be a way to flow control the co2 so you can set a steady dribble for few hours each day. Or maybe that shut off valve you have will do it?

 

[dan125]

Looks pretty good to me. The thing I’m wondering is if there could be a way to flow control the co2 so you can set a steady dribble for few hours each day. Or maybe that shut off valve you have will do it?

I use the tap when I'm force carbing in the FS and I reckon you can get a fairly slow flow, but nowhere near slow enough to leave on for a few hours.
I was thinking I'd leave it on for long enough to give the hops a good rousing, maybe twice a day for 3 days??

 

[Hoddy]

I use the tap when I'm force carbing in the FS and I reckon you can get a fairly slow flow, but nowhere near slow enough to leave on for a few hours.
I was thinking I'd leave it on for long enough to give the hops a good rousing, maybe twice a day for 3 days??

I reckon that should be the go. Once every 12hrs over 3 days should be good.

 

[Leon103]

Looks good.

Are you doing post fermentation dry hops at 3c as discussed?

 

[dan125]

Looks good.

Are you doing post fermentation dry hops at 3c as discussed?

Yep, that's what I'm planning, to get as much yeast out as possible before the dry hops go in.
I always get an annoying small ring of yeast at the bottom of the FS that won't sink into the collection bottle though.

 

[Leon103]

Yep, that's what I'm planning, to get as much yeast out as possible before the dry hops go in.
I always get an annoying small ring of yeast at the bottom of the FS that won't sink into the collection bottle though.

That's my plan for my next brew.

 

[Hoddy]

This what I’m going to be doing to. Cold dry hopping with co2 rumbling

 

[dan125]

I've been thinking this morning that as the yeast won't be in there I can make this part of my usual carbonating regime in the FS, by using the spunding valve at the top to keep pressure in, while Co2 rumbling at the bottom.

 

[Hoddy]

I've been thinking this morning that as the yeast won't be in there I can make this part of my usual carbonating regime in the FS, by using the spunding valve at the top to keep pressure in, while Co2 rumbling at the bottom.

That ian very true. Although I've found the beer being carbonated before transfer gives me no end of issues and makes the closed transfer much harder when carbonated.

 

[dan125]

Just transfered carbed out of the FS no probs in preparation for tomorrows brewday. I only do it when the beer is really cold though, and I've found chilling the bottles before filling with the beer gun really helps if the beer is quite well carbed.

 

[dan125]

I've been thinking about the dry hopping schedule for an upcoming AIPA brew;

and what the brewers said about bio-transformation hopping in the video below that got this little project going (basically they don't bother, or just use a very small addition);

and the fact that if I don't include a Bio-tranformation addition I can re-use the yeast again;

and I've got a question:

If I include a big whirlpool addition, wouldn't there already be plenty of hop oils/compounds in the wort, ready & waiting to be bio-transformed by the yeast when it goes in an hour or two later ??

 

[Clint]

According to a recipe I got sent from brew dog they dry hop at 14c...

 

[Leon103]

According to a recipe I got sent from brew dog they dry hop at 14c...

I tried 14c for dry hop, it was a big addition but gotnmassive aroma from it. I am going to try 3c next time

 

[Leon103]

I've been thinking about the dry hopping schedule for an upcoming AIPA brew;

and what the brewers said about bio-transformation hopping in the video below that got this little project going (basically they don't bother, or just use a very small addition);

and the fact that if I don't include a Bio-tranformation addition I can re-use the yeast again;

and I've got a question:

If I include a big whirlpool addition, wouldn't there already be plenty of hop oils/compounds in the wort, ready & waiting to be bio-transformed by the yeast when it goes in an hour or two later ??

Interesting theory about the whirlpool, I have no evidence to confirm but it does make sense and therefore should work.

 

[LeeH]

I dry hopped in the keg on my last APA for the first time with great results.

I just dropped 50g in with one of those short stainless mesh tube things.

 

[dan125]

According to a recipe I got sent from brew dog they dry hop at 14c...

Yeah I've seen that in the online brewdog recipe book - never tried it though.
I wonder if they get the beer off the yeast before they dry hop??

 

[dan125]

I dry hopped in the keg on my last APA for the first time with great results.

I just dropped 50g in with one of those short stainless mesh tube things.

I've never tried this either, but keep thinking about it and will try it soon - good to hear it works well.
In AIPAs I'd like to be able to get the hoppiness in the whole batch though, so the dozen or so bottles I fill from each batch are just as good as the keg.

 

[dan125]

Interesting theory about the whirlpool, I have no evidence to confirm but it does make sense and therefore should work.

Yeah it sounds logical, but then I wonder why bio-tansformation ever became a thing, if the same could be acheived with a whirlpool addition??

 

[LeeH]

I've never tried this either, but keep thinking about it and will try it soon - good to hear it works well.
In AIPAs I'd like to be able to get the hoppiness in the whole batch though, so the dozen or so bottles I fill from each batch are just as good as the keg.

Fill from your keg with a beer gun. Works well.

Leave your keg at serving pressure and temp for 2 weeks then chill right down and bottle to eliminate any foaming.