dry hopping in keg...oops?

[bredmakr]

I just racked to the keg and without thinking I threw in some hop pellets to dry hop it up a bit. Afterwards I started wondering if I should have placed them inside a mesh bag or something. Has anyone done this before? Is this going to clog my beer line? I'm having some friends over this weekend and want to serve them some of my beer. Is it going to be ok?

[Mesa Maltworks]

The problem (if it occurs) won't be clogging your beer line, but rather clogging the keg valve. Putting pellet hops in a hop bag is pointless... the are finely ground before being extruded into pellets and most will run right through the mesh. Hop bags are designed to contain leaf hops. These are what you should use if hopping in kegs.

Eric

[bredmakr]

I tested the keg last night and sure enough the valve clogged. Fortunately it was not fully carbonated and I racked it off into a hops free keg.

[fitz]

You can dry hop in a keg with pellets. Get a very fine nylon mesh bag(finer than a hop bag)
I have placed pellet hops in a section of panty hose for dry hopping or boil. Don't use colored hose(completely different story)

[Mesa Maltworks]

You can tell the hose story... you won't hear us laugh ! Besides the typical mistake stories get boring after awhile, I need a new one !

Eric

[fitz]

Didn't I tell you all about the pantyhose pale ale?
I thought I already did. I finally got a chance to brew. Working on the house kind of puts brewing lower on the priority list. I know, but if Momma is happy, then the world is a better place. Anyhow, since I got the chance, I decided to make a double batch, and My club was the perfect place. Big kitchen plenty of room, and utensils. The only problem was that one of the hop bags got lost in transport. I had everything started before I noticed. 5 miles to the house 8 miles to the brew store, or one block to the grocery store. Well, hop bags are nylon, and so are pantyhose. The problem was, the only ones they had were black. In boiling, the wort turned black too. Probably not a bad thing for a stout, but as a pale ale, it didn't look too good. Anyhow, I figured I would let it ride and see where this would carry. I mean even with the dye the water had to be better than the European countries that make great beer. To make a long story short, the yeast did its job, and took the dye out when it fell to the bottom the beer was saved, and actually quite tasty. Pantyhose Pale Ale

[Mesa Maltworks]

Cool story ! I wonder what the dye was made from that rendered it insoluable? (typical techie question!).

Eric

[fitz]

Don't have a clue what it was made out of, but I figured it had to be at least partially edible. Why else would they use it in pantyhose. I mean the law suits could be endless!