Dry Hop question

I just realized, looking at my 4 (1 oz) bags of whole-leaf hops I plan on dumping into the keg on my black double IPA, that these bags look big and fluffy, leading me to believe there will be a fair amount of buoyancy.

A handful of marbles must have a specific weight - what approximate weight might one expect to be capable of adequately sinking a nylon stuffed with 4 ounces of whole-leaf hops?

The reason I ask is I have stainless steel ball bearings I plan on using in place of marbles, each weighing in at 67g - how many of these would be approximately equal to one of your "handfulls" of marbles?

1 ounce per ounce would be more than enough.

Tom - Why don't you carbonate right away after racking to a keg? I was taught that any air left in the keg after racking can cause oxygen contamination. In fact, I lost one by not carbonating right away. I'm interested in dry hopping in the keg. I suspect whole leaf hops will leave less residue/hop matter that will get sucked up the dip tube. Up to this point in my brewing career, my experience has been that the most flavorful pour has always been the first. And the clearest poor has always been near the end of the keg. I've never had success with using marbles to weigh down a hop bag in a secondary. I've used a 30" sanitized stainless steel BBQ skewer that simply pushes and holds the hop bag at the bottom until finished. I leave the skewer in the carboy. I suppose I could do the same thing in a keg.

I don't carbonate, but I do purge.  So, oxygen is not a problem.

I don't carbonate until I'm done with dry-hop additions.  Many of the hoppy beers that I make have multiple dry-hop additions...eg. Pliny (elder and younger).  Try a few ounces of hops to a carbonated beer....you'll see why I don't carbonate until I'm done doing that.  You'll end up with a gallon of foam on the floor before you can get the keg lid sealed.

Yes, I'm sure a bbq skewer would work just fine. 

Ah. I don't dry hop very often. That might change, however. I'm looking at getting a conical fermenter.

I've given up my lust for conicals.  Too pricey for the functionality you get. 

I've got a good system using plastic primaries and corny kegs.  I can easily primary 4 different beers at a time, then move to kegs for storage, aging, dry-hopping, and secondary fermentations (brett, etc).

-tch

tom_hampton said:

I don't carbonate, but I do purge.  So, oxygen is not a problem.

I don't carbonate until I'm done with dry-hop additions.  Many of the hoppy beers that I make have multiple dry-hop additions...eg. Pliny (elder and younger).  Try a few ounces of hops to a carbonated beer....you'll see why I don't carbonate until I'm done doing that.  You'll end up with a gallon of foam on the floor before you can get the keg lid sealed.

Yes, I'm sure a bbq skewer would work just fine.

Click to expand...

After your dry-hop additions do you remove the bags before carbonation or just leave them in the keg?


Thanks,

Mike

Depends on my mood.  Vinnie says that the hop character begins to subside after 14 days, so he removes them.  I'm not sure my taste buds are good enough to discern that subtlety.  If I'm feeling retentive about it, then I will remove them....but, If I'm feeling lazy they just stay in the keg. 

tom_hampton said:

I don't carbonate, but I do purge.  So, oxygen is not a problem.

I don't carbonate until I'm done with dry-hop additions.  Many of the hoppy beers that I make have multiple dry-hop additions...eg. Pliny (elder and younger).  Try a few ounces of hops to a carbonated beer....you'll see why I don't carbonate until I'm done doing that.  You'll end up with a gallon of foam on the floor before you can get the keg lid sealed.

Yes, I'm sure a bbq skewer would work just fine.

Click to expand...

Good thing I just read your comments on hops & carbonation!

I just kegged  a brew this afternoon and started it carbonating with an SS airstone using a carbonation lid. 

I had planned to have my first attempt at dry hopping in the keg using a knee high sock / pellets / dental floss  once the carbonation was complete  - probably tomorrow. 

Guess I'll wait and try it on my next batch instead  .....  but before carbonating!

A timely warning!

Brian.