Keg Hopping - Uh Oh!!!

[BlackDuck]

SOOOOOoooooo....I keg hopped my Galaxy Pale Ale today. This is the first time keg hopping. I bought one of those stainless steel super fine mesh keg hopping tubes to do it in. I tied it off with dental floss so it could be retrieved after my planned four day keg hop time frame.

I ran into a little problem...for some reason, I could not get the keg to get a good seal. I previously pressure tested it, so I know it can hold a good seal. I tried and tried and tried. I adjusted the top over and over, repressurized over and over and still could not get it to seal. Just a slow leak around the o-ring, which was lubed with keg lube. Well, as I was trying again, the dental floss broke and down to the bottom of the keg went the hop thingy. And all of a sudden, I had a good seal, pressurized and no leak. Seams like the dental floss was the culprit of it not sealing.

My question now is....how do I go about fishing the hop thingy out in four days. I'm thinking of sanitizing some grill tongs and trying that. There's no way that I'm the first one that this has happened to, so anyone have any ideas on how to get it out?

[Dawg LB Steve]

Get a clothes hanger, undo it and make a smaller loop, sanitize and hook it.

[Inkleg]

Just leave it till the keg kicks. That's what I always do and have never had any off favors. My Pliny that scored 44 was bottled from a keg that still had hops in it from 4 months prior. So unless you just want your hopper back, leave it.

[Brewbirds]

HMMM a Galaxy Pale Ale with Galaxy Hops stuck in the keg HMMM were you planning on having this ready for your deck warming party? Has your wife sent the invitations for the deck warming party out yet? May I have her phone number and the name of her favorite perfume or chocolate please?

[BlackDuck]

Yea. It will be ready for the new deck. They haven't started yet. I'm guessing in the next week they should start. I'll have to ask about the invitations!!!

My original plan was to let the keg sit at basement temps for four days, remove the hops, then into the fridge on gas. If I decide to leave them in, should I just put it into the fridge now and gas it up?

You know, I could always remove it when the keg is about half gone. It would be easy to hook it then.


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[Whamolagan]

I would just leave it, throw it in the fridge and gas it up and get that deck built. I would wait til the keg kicks before retrieving the hop tube. Why take the chance of oxygenating a perfectly good beer. If you need it quickly, I am sure if I left right now, the beer would be ready to drink by the time I get there. I could bring a tri-tip for the BBQ on the new deck, your decision.

[Kealia]

I'm voting for leaving it in, too. When I keg hop I always leave them in and I go through kegs slowly. I've not had any issues either.

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[BlackDuck]

Thanks for the insight guys. Time to go put it in the fridge and on the gas.

Whamo.....your more than welcome, and so is the tri-tip!!!


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[Beer-lord]

That happened to me with some glass marbles in the bag and I left it at the bottom. Near the end the beer came out slower but it was no problem.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Is it the cold that stops the "vegetal" flavors then? I was under the impression the longer a dry hop was left in the fermenter that it has the tendency to pick up grassy and vegetation flavors. Difference between the warm and cold dry hop time in the beer????

[Beer-lord]

I have some hops in the keg of my Simply Amarillo and most times I leave it in until it kicks and I do see the flavor changes over time but I can't say it's every given a grassy taste. I guess it could be due to the low temps.

[mashani]

Is it the cold that stops the "vegetal" flavors then? I was under the impression the longer a dry hop was left in the fermenter that it has the tendency to pick up grassy and vegetation flavors. Difference between the warm and cold dry hop time in the beer????

I think its a hop specific thing. The only beers I've ever got such flavors from had an extended dry hop of Saaz. I sometimes commando as much as 2oz of whatever late boil hops I use that end up in my fermenter for 2+ weeks, and never get off flavors from doing that.

PH, time, and temperature affect what compounds are extracted from hops and at what rate. Somewhere on this or the old forum I posted a chart that I found on the Intrawebz that came from some $10,000 commercial brewing book that showed hop oils/compounds extracted and amounts vs. time/temperature/ph. I don't know where it is anymore, but if I find it again I'll post it here. But yes temperature does matter.

[Kealia]

Yep, I can't cite references at this point either but temp makes a big difference. It's why dry hopping is done warm - to extract the compounds quickly.

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