Beer Forum

Hey folks
Just wondering if anyone has tried using a hopback while kegging instead of dryhopping. I recently brewed a black rye IPA (1bbl)and dryhopped with 12ozs. I got impatient and decided to keg after only 4 days of the dryhopping. Well I took a corny and stuffed all 12ozs in there then ran 1/2 the beer through it as I kegged. The other half kegged as usual. HUGE difference. The aroma is much better and more floral. I will definitely be trying this again. Maybe some of you hopheads will chime in.

cheers

Welcome to the Madhouse bent!
You can't tell us you have a 1 barrel system without pics!
I like your dry hopping method. Do you use a pump to move the beer through the hopback?
I usually dry hop in the keg but sometimes the contact time is too long by the time I get to tapping the second keg.

Well the pics will be awhile(need new cam). I mash in a 55gal plastic drum. Boil in three sankes. Ferment in 55gal plastic. Poor mans 1bbl system.
Pushed the beer with co2 so it wouldnt oxidize.
I usually dryhop in keg also.

Hopbacks are typically used with hot wort flowing over the hops right? So if I understand correctly you kind of used your keg as a "Randall"? Didn't the beer get only seconds of contact time with the hops as it was transferred to another keg? Interesting idea and I would be curious to see how your results differ from actual dry hopping and/or true hop backing. Please clarify if I misunderstood the process.

Heres my theory. If you dry hop, the hops go in the tank at the end of the ferm. and just sit there. If there is no circulation of any kind than how well does a whole bunch of hops stuffed in a bag really help? To me it's all about surface area. I figure that running the finished beer through a hopback would save some time. I ran the beer @ no more than 5 PSI with co2 from corny's to a sanke.
Well try it and see.
I would not compare this to a randall because that is a continuous flow through hops and what I am doing is a single slow run of extraction and straight to keg.

Just had bout 6 of them so don't mind my rambling.
cheers
Bent

The answer to your problem isn't to use a hopback, it is to stop bagging the hops you are dry hopping with.

brewinhard wrote:Hopbacks are typically used with hot wort flowing over the hops right? So if I understand correctly you kind of used your keg as a "Randall"? Didn't the beer get only seconds of contact time with the hops as it was transferred to another keg? Interesting idea and I would be curious to see how your results differ from actual dry hopping and/or true hop backing. Please clarify if I misunderstood the process.

Isn't that what SN does with Torpedo IPA?

scotchpine wrote:

brewinhard wrote:Hopbacks are typically used with hot wort flowing over the hops right? So if I understand correctly you kind of used your keg as a "Randall"? Didn't the beer get only seconds of contact time with the hops as it was transferred to another keg? Interesting idea and I would be curious to see how your results differ from actual dry hopping and/or true hop backing. Please clarify if I misunderstood the process.

Isn't that what SN does with Torpedo IPA?

In a way, but the beer's temp is pretty low (I believe athe 40's) and it continously recirculated through hops, not just once as above.

Chris is right, if hops are bagged they are not being totally utilized and in complete surface contact with the wort minimizing their potential. "Freeball" those sucka's right in your fermenter!