Dry hopping with a yeast doser

[ziggy13]

Hey everyone, I have a small yeast doser, approximately 6 gallons or so. Works perfectly for dosing a 500 gram pack of dried yeast into a 7 bbl fermenter using co2 to force it in. My question is, could I use the same device to force in 5 or 6 lbs of dry hops rather than having to take the PRV off the top of a fermenter? Our fermenters do not currently have dry hop ports.

Any draw backs to trying this method?

[beerguy1]

R u using pellets or whole hops

[ziggy13]

We use pellets only at the moment

[beerme]

junction hop doser

It depends on how big the outlet is. also give the hops time to hydrate or they will expand in the line and get stuck.

I built an in line hop doser from an old keg:

replaced the spear with a 4" triclamp ferrule and made a cap with a 1/2" ball valve for air vent/ co2 venting.

put a 1.5" triclamp ferrule on one side at the bottom for the outlet.
on the opposite side for an inlet i put a 1" triclamp with a 90 degree elbow inside the keg so that when you pump liquid it will rotate like a whirlpool.

I use it to dose hops into beer as i transfer to ageing tank.
When fermentation is complete, i chill the beer to about 10C for a few days to encourage yeast to settle out. the beer coming out of the racking arm has some yeast in suspension but not a lot. I don't go colder because i want to let the beer sit on the hops a few days at a warmer temperature before crash chilling.


after sanitizing the doser i place my dry hops in and hook up a co2 line to one of the outlets.
I open the top ball valve and purge the keg with co2.
I connect a line from the outlet to the ageing tank and purge the air out of this line.

I prime my pump with sanitizer and put the hoses in a bucket of sanitizer to recirculate and sanitize it. This also purges air from the lines.
I connect the hose from the racking arm of the tank i am transferring to the pump, keeping the sanitizer in the line and lifting the outlet hose to push air out as i close the triclamp.

i connect the outlet hose to a tee with a valve on the side and to the hop doser.

When the racking valve is opened i let the beer push the sanitizer out through the tee without opening the hop doser valve, which also prevents air pickup.

When beer comes, i close the outlet and open the hop doser to let the beer into the keg, opening the vent to let the gas out. When it is half full i stop and let it rest 20-30 minutes to dissolve the hop pellets (vent valve closed).

After resting, i let it fill the rest of the keg and then open the outlet to let the beer flow into the conditioning tank.

The beer coming in mixes with the hop slurry well and blends hop slurry in as it flows into the conditioning tank. I let it flow with gravity for the first bit so that it covers the bottom of the tank before slowly pumping in to avoid splashing.



If you dry hop in the fermenter you can do a similar thing after removing yeast but come out the racking arm and back in the bottom.

I got the idea from a talk at last years cbc by sam adams where they do a similar thing but on a much larger scale.

[dubfitz]

It depends on how big the outlet is. also give the hops time to hydrate or they will expand in the line and get stuck.

I built an in line hop doser from an old keg:

replaced the spear with a 4" triclamp ferrule and made a cap with a 1/2" ball valve for air vent/ co2 venting.

put a 1.5" triclamp ferrule on one side at the bottom for the outlet.
on the opposite side for an inlet i put a 1" triclamp with a 90 degree elbow inside the keg so that when you pump liquid it will rotate like a whirlpool.

I use it to dose hops into beer as i transfer to ageing tank.
When fermentation is complete, i chill the beer to about 10C for a few days to encourage yeast to settle out. the beer coming out of the racking arm has some yeast in suspension but not a lot. I don't go colder because i want to let the beer sit on the hops a few days at a warmer temperature before crash chilling.


after sanitizing the doser i place my dry hops in and hook up a co2 line to one of the outlets.
I open the top ball valve and purge the keg with co2.
I connect a line from the outlet to the ageing tank and purge the air out of this line.

I prime my pump with sanitizer and put the hoses in a bucket of sanitizer to recirculate and sanitize it. This also purges air from the lines.
I connect the hose from the racking arm of the tank i am transferring to the pump, keeping the sanitizer in the line and lifting the outlet hose to push air out as i close the triclamp.

i connect the outlet hose to a tee with a valve on the side and to the hop doser.

When the racking valve is opened i let the beer push the sanitizer out through the tee without opening the hop doser valve, which also prevents air pickup.

When beer comes, i close the outlet and open the hop doser to let the beer into the keg, opening the vent to let the gas out. When it is half full i stop and let it rest 20-30 minutes to dissolve the hop pellets (vent valve closed).

After resting, i let it fill the rest of the keg and then open the outlet to let the beer flow into the conditioning tank.

The beer coming in mixes with the hop slurry well and blends hop slurry in as it flows into the conditioning tank. I let it flow with gravity for the first bit so that it covers the bottom of the tank before slowly pumping in to avoid splashing.



If you dry hop in the fermenter you can do a similar thing after removing yeast but come out the racking arm and back in the bottom.

I got the idea from a talk at last years cbc by sam adams where they do a similar thing but on a much larger scale.

Thanks for the information, a few pics of this setup would be greatly appreciated when u get a spare minute.

[ziggy13]

Yes, thanks for the info!

My yeast doser has a 1.5" tri clamp connection, so I figure I could put in a few pounds of hops, a few gallons of water and blast it in and not have to take my PRV off, as my fermenters do not have the larger 4" ports for dry hopping.

I figure since I dump yeast and hops out through a 1.5" hose, they should go in just fine as well, if given enough co2 pressure.

[beerme]

i will get some pictures tomorrow.

the key i found was in slurrying/ hydrating the hop pellets. The first time i tried it i did not give enough time for this and they clogged the hose when i went to transfer. given more time they mix better and all goes smoothly.

[beerme]

Hop doser 1


cleaning hop doser on cask cleaning machine (sump pump with sprayball in bucket)

note 1.5" triclamp ferrule on right (outlet) and 1" triclamp on left (inlet)


interior of hop doser showing 1" 90 degree elbow on inlet to create mixing as beer comes in.
the welder did it the opposite direction i asked, but whirlpool rotation direction isn't dealbreaker, but would be nicer the other way because coriolis forces



complete unit beside cask washer showing 4" triclamp top and top vent valve



adding hops



purging with CO2, beer inlet valve and tee connected. chase final rinsewater out of hose with incoming beer. use picnic tap to bleed off water/ sanitizer until beer fills line and pushes out interface.

see next post for rest of photos...

[beerme]

hop doser 2


once the hop doser is co2 purged, beer is let into the keg through the 90degree inlet, venting gas out of the top valve. fill 1/2 full to mix hops and wait 30 min.

fill remainder of keg with beer to get it swirling and then open the line into the second tank.
The hop slurry will blend with the incoming beer and dose it into the stream going into the tank.

If you can start the transfer with gravity, ie no pump, it will splash less and have less chance to pick up any o2 that may not have been purged from ageing tank.



on the fermenter side, the beer comes out the racking arm, through the pump into hop doser and into conditioning tank.

note gas hose balance line between the 2 tanks: conditioning tank is purged and left with about 5psi. hose connects top of both tanks and is opened so pressure can balance. as conditioning tank fills gas flows into fermenter to make up for beer removed so air is not sucked in. Maintaining a slight top pressure can help reduce foaming due to CO2 breakout in line. As long as the pressure on the suction side of the pump is greater than the equilibrium co2 partial pressure, it should not foam, and will keep some natural CO2 in your beer.



at beginning of transfer, lots of green in transfer line.



At end most of hop material is gone. When the fermenter is empty, you can push remainder of beer from pump and hop doser into conditioning tank with co2.