So I made a DIPA that was dry hopped, I chose to dry hop in the secondary and let it sit for 2 weeks there rather than in the keg, I only had pellets and I forgot to put them in a bag… So… smart me, I then put gelatin in the secondary after 2 weeks, wait three days and think… ok time to keg.
That was 2 months ago. now here I am tapping the keg, and nothing… no beer comes out, I quickly find out that my dip tube and spring are clogged with hops (I thought I left them in the secondary)… so I release the gas, pull the drip tube, clean it out, put the keg back together, attach the gas (@20psi) attached a picnic tap and I get like a tablespoon of beer and it clogs… I have done this 11 times tonight… each time I remove what seems like a little less than a pellet of hops.
So… any ideas here, I am thinking of just getting the racking cane and putting our everything but the last two inches into a another keg… I know next time… mesh bags for dry hop and bags, but what should I do about there here and now? If someone has an idea, I am listening…
TIA
MFED
Attach the the gas to the liquid post… Its a 9/16" wrench… You will do this a few times… I have a few more ideas too… see if this simplifies your journey…
Sneezles61
Me still have a keg in kegurator with same issue. For 3 months now. Me out of idea as well. I do use sankey. Kegs. Only sulution. Remove spear. And risk for infection. So any good idea might help.
I went through the same ordeal once. I just swapped a liquid QD onto the CO2 line, released some pressure and blew the hops back into the keg. Same results thought. It clogged right back up. I ended up doing what you are thinking and racked it into another keg.
Now I put hops in spice balls to dry hop in a keg. They look like a large tea ball. They keep the hops out of your dip tube and make clean up a little easier when the keg kicks.
Been there. Racking carbonated beer to another keg will probably oxidize the beer. What i did is pull the dip tube up reached in and put a sanitzed 1 gallan strainer bag over it and shoved it back down in.
Thats a good Idea… I was going to suggest, just leave off the liquid post, set the CO2 level high and hook it up… Put a towel over the open tube… it will spray beer all over… but should remove the hops… You’ll push out a couple pints in this process.
Sneezles61
@brew_cat, I can do that, but does that system clog still (like the bag folding on itself… or was the bag tight against the tube? How did you attach the bag to the dip tube? (because I can only think of putting the bag (and my hand though the top to connect it, because I do not think the strainer bag will fit though the dip tube hole… and my hand will not be sanitized…)
@hd4mark I had an ide last night of adding a J shaped piece of tubing to the dip tube, to have the opening be about an inch above the bottom… but I have not figured out how to do that yet.
Yes i opened it up stuck a clean hand in and attached with a rubber band. Gently and quickly. Enough space above the beer didn’t submerge my hand into the beer. Probably no more chance of oxidatioin than opening a keg and tossing in bagged hops.
It was a while ago but I don’t remember any oxidation. Being an IPA I would have tried to consume it quickly since they do lose some of the hoppiness after time. I was careful racking it also.
I have one keg that I used a pin lock dip tube in a ball lock keg. Since they are shorter I just stuck on a piece of vinyl tubing to get it down farther. I’m sure you could make some kind of J shaped attachment but cutting a little off is easy. Just remove it and use a tubing cutter for plumbing. Get a good one because they are SS and tough.
I’ve often wondered about that “clear beer” gizmo that Williams brewing supply (?) offers… Its mostly tubing and has a floaty that keeps it just below the surface all the way to the bottom… If it does as it sez, it would be great for free range hops in the keg…
I can imagine, holding a frosty, quart sized mug, filled with a golden nectar… hop aroma wafting from the frothy goodness… (alarm clock goes off now)
Sneezles61
Well, so I don’t leave you all in suspense… I racked it into another keg, re-tapped in and went on with my drinking life… it all seemed fine… it turned into beer.
