Hop rocket T90 dry hopping to the keg?

[Druncan]

I'm looking at removing my T90 dry hopping in muslin bags from the FV stage. I only seem to get decent flavour when I wring the heck out of them. So I have just got an Angel hop rocket.

I intend to add 25g/30l T90's in a muslin bag with rice hulls in the rocket then CO2 purge and with pump (upstream) fill the keg?
Going to try the set up with water first to assess the trub level and flavour.

Just wondered if anyone else dry hops like this when keg filling?

 

[labrewski]

Interested I thought about dry hopping in keg many times just worried about blockage and so

 

[Druncan]

@labrewski, it's going to be a separate filtered container upstream from the kegs. Finally testing today as I have finished my bulk brewing. I suppose historically casks were stuffed with extra hops to protect them travelling to India, life was simpler then. Stillage and pour

 

[hoppyscotty]

Interesting. I was also thinking about using a hop rocket/missile to dry hop in the fermenter by circulating through for an hour or so in a closed and oxygen free cycle. But dry hopping as you transfer into a keg sounds like an equally, and probably easier, method. Will be interesting to see how you get on - though is one pass through the hops enough or would you want to circulate the beer through the hop rocket/missile several times to maximise the extraction from the hops?

 

[Druncan]

Quick experiment. First Gold T90's dissolve in 1 hr in 20*C water.
Also 25g FG @ 16*C in HR after 1hr on mains water gave sediment clear solution that was fookin bitter and smelt gorgeously hoppy!
Tomorrow, gonna try 100ml boiling water with 25g FG - sanitise and shorten dissolving time?
Also gonna use a 300ml length of 13mm silicone filled with air and plugged together to hold the hop bag at the top of the HR. (opposite of marbles,,,, )
I suppose it's not actually dry hopping, but T90 wet hopping?

 

[Druncan]

Should have known that it's been done before!! Dogfish Head;
https://brewminds.com/2014/07/22/randall-the-enamel-animal-jr-beer-infusions-recipes/

 

[Druncan]

Tried this 3 times so far. Having to 'throttle back' the mag pump. Too easy to get a blocked rocket with a T90 burg. It is a total flavour bomb though. I am just circulating at the 'cold crash' stage in the FV to ensure uniform flavour distribution.

Anyone else trying this?

 

[Druncan]

Arghhhhh, too many T90 hop burgs. Works fine with leaf,,,,, But I mainly have T90's. Now moved to a 'free' to me 3l airpot Dispensing measured pumps 60*C 30 mins hop tea to each keg as I keg. Smell is amazing,, Hopefully I get the hop head finish I'm seeking. Faceplant 6% IPA'is with CML NEIPA T90's. It's now conditioning.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Interesting, I'm concerned with the hop rocket that the liquid doesn't all go through the hops and a lot slides down the side. But your efforts do seem to suggest it works. I'd found that a lot of the hop pellets looked very intact after using it at the transfer from counter flow to the fermenter.
Hopefully with more grown hop cones this year I'll get a better try out.

 

[Druncan]

I tried adding rice hulls to the T90's - little improvement, but when I added them all in a muslin bag it was better and with cones much better!

 

[hoppyscotty]

I’ve had success using a hop rocket with a bag pellets and hulls as a hop back so no reason why it shouldn’t work between the fermenter and a keg. I’ve not tried experimenting with mine post fermentation as I’m not sure how to co2 purge the unit. Thill fancy the idea of circulating with the fermenter especially now I have a larger system with larger batches.

 

[Uhmigawd]

Would anyone be able to measure the o ring for the bottom cone of the blichmann hop rocket. Inner/ outer and thickness dimensions pleas. I have misplaced mine and they seem impossible to source replacements from the UK. Thanks in advance.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I’m away from home at the moment so can’t measure but I have a Blackman hop rocket and a kegland hop missile and they’re both identical so maybe you might have better success sourcing the o ring for a hop missile?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I am back home in a day or so and so can get the micrometer out for my hop missile and update you.

Do you feed in through the top and out the bottom or Vice versa? I've seen 2 ways of doing it being used, i think in through the top is best .

 

[Joetp]

Arghhhhh, too many T90 hop burgs. Works fine with leaf,,,,, But I mainly have T90's. Now moved to a 'free' to me 3l airpot Dispensing measured pumps 60*C 30 mins hop tea to each keg as I keg. Smell is amazing,, Hopefully I get the hop head finish I'm seeking. Faceplant 6% IPA'is with CML NEIPA T90's. It's now conditioning.

Did this hop tea method serve you well? I'm keen to experiment with this.

I've dry hopped in the keg multiple times by transferring on top of hops in a stainless steel hop filter and had lovely results, but often the hoppiness fades after a week or so. I'd like a method of keeping the hoppiness present for longer!

 

[hoppyscotty]

I am back home in a day or so and so can get the micrometer out for my hop missile and update you.

Do you feed in through the top and out the bottom or Vice versa? I've seen 2 ways of doing it being used, i think in through the top is best .

I’ve done it from the top but that just seemed intuitive but apparently the correct way to do it is from the bottom. Not used mine for a while but next time will do it from the bottom and at a slow rate. I think in the past I’ve tried to rush it and you reduce utilisation due to reduced contact time. Also coming in from the bottom might prevent compaction of the hops?

 

[Druncan]

A brief summary.
Hop rocket gets blocked with T90's however I pack them. Leaf is fine.
Air pot with cryo-hops seems to give best hop aroma/flavour
+ I now add totally natural solutions "Hop Burst" extract to boost when required (CML stock this)

 

[RoomWithABrew]

A brief summary.
Hop rocket gets blocked with T90's however I pack them. Leaf is fine.
Air pot with cryo-hops seems to give best hop aroma/flavour
+ I now add totally natural solutions "Hop Burst" extract to boost when required (CML stock this)

have you added any rice or oat hulls to the hops?
Also several small bags with the hop hulls mix rather than one big one was the way I went.
Do take into account the amount that the hop pellets swell, they will be very tight if you start off full.

 

[Druncan]

Hi @RoomWithABrew. Thanks, aye tried rice hulls, but several small bags is worth a try! cheers

-cryohops though expensive and limited in range, work well for me.

 

[hoppyscotty]

In a recent experiment to recirculate beer from my fermenter through a hop rocket and back into the fermenter so I dont have to dry hop the beer directly I removed the internal gubbins from the hop rocket apart from the top perforated plate (hop rocket mounted upside down on top of the fermenter, cut up a piece of mesh from a vegitable bag from the supermarket, wrapped it around the bottom perforated plate and secured in place with the seal, put a layer of rice hulls for the pellets to sit on to prevent wet broken down hop pellets clogging the mesh, then made sure there were plenty of rice hulls interspersed with the hop pellets and was good to go. Worked a treat and got good flow and tested it for a good hour with water passing through the hops (rocket was pretty packed with hops, though wasn't trying to have a fast flow, more of a trickle which is fine for dry hopping.

Not tested it in with beer yet but seems a viable method to use pellets with it.