I do the same homemade hop gun on a 1.5" TC port and it works just as well (for anyone wondering if it's possible on a smaller TC port). As you said you can definitely just use a SS spool instead of a sight glass to save a few bucks, however pellets do get caught on the butterfly valve at times as happened to you, but you'd never know if you couldn't visually see it. Sight glass is the way to go because of that. Great video!
Very cool. I assume you don't normally have the 3" butterfly valve closed (thus disabling the PRV), you closed it before you started filming and re-opened it after? Otherwise you'd be relying on your spunding valve to stop the pressure from exceeding the rating. What do you think of using a vacuum pump to evacuate all gas after adding the hops to the gadget? Maybe vacuum, pressurise with CO2, vent, then repeat once or more, depending on how close to total vacuum the pump can get? Almost certainly overkill but if we're chasing the most anaerobic process possible, why not? I do wonder if the hops would be negatively affected? The oils might start boiling off.
Real nice video and very well presented. I am doing more pressurized fermentations and transfers and was unsure how to best incorporated dry hopping . I will definitely look into some thing like this. I'll also check out some of your other videos.
I also have a Grainfather Conical, but it has only a 1.5" TC on top (the 2" on the bottom). It is a bit difficult to get hops passing the valve, but someone gave me a tip of using a 1.5 to 3" adapter. Then you have a 3" valve to make it much easier and prevent clogging, even with a 1.5" valve down below on the lid itself.
Did you sanitize the inside of the sight glass? I find sometimes sanitizer will cause the hops to stick to a bowl........did you have a problem with that in the sight glass where the hops stick to the valve or the sight glass? Cheers! Great vid!
Bradley great video by the way. After you drop your hops into the unitank and replace the PRV. what day did you add the hops during primary fermentation (first, second, third day etc.)? How long did you let it sit in the tank before dropping trub and hops out? This would be a great help? Thanks Doug
That's some serious next level stuff you got going on there Bradley! I sure do need to move on to the shiny stuff soon instead of my aging Fermentasaurus.
@@PortlyGentleman Definitely! My Fermentasaurus is up for replacement soon though due to wear and tear over the years. I'm puzzled on what to get next. A new one, a Grainfather setup with glycol, SS, wait for the Brewtools or something entirely different. I like the idea of pressure fermenting which rules out at least the Grainfather. Then there's the whole heating / chilling aspect. As it is now, I do high temp in my home office / play den / cave and low temp in the garage. Drank the last of my Yule Ale last Saturday and kegged up the Spring Ale - which is looking to be awesome!
I've tried a couple variations on this theme and in the end, by far the simplest low oxygen dry hopping method for me is to use positive CO2 pressure in reverse. I push CO2 through the gas manifold in the lid while dumping in the pellets through the 4” port. I can't imagine how a meaningful amount of room air would enter this way. The method used for purging CO2 in the sight glass won't entirely eliminate O2 either.
That will definitely work especially if you're not fermenting under pressure. If you are sometimes it's risky to open the vessel. If the beer has absorbed enough CO2 it may turn into a giant foamy debacle, ask me how I know 😂😂😂
Canning neipa. Are u adding anything?. Im making a neipa. Unitank 2.0 pressure ferm. Dry hop same way. And closed transfer to keg. Then using duofiller. Im wondering how long it will stay in cans. Or should i be addinf absorbic acid somewhere during dryhop?
Another nice video, thanks Bradley. One question though. When you open the purge valve wouldn't it draw mostly fresh CO2 from the pressurised line next to it? I'd be more inclined to disconnect the CO2 during purge so that it draws evenly from the top of the vessel.
I don't know if I fully understand your. When I opened the valve the CO2 was shut off. I also purged and relieved pressure several times. Pausing in between to make sure the oxygen would accumulate on top of the CO2 layer.
I recently bought a SS Brewtech 7 gallon unitank and while I was at it bought the parts to be able to dry hop like this. It made me start to wonder if this would work for adding fruit puree. Have you tried adding puree like this, or do you know of a better way to do it? Great setup by the way. Cheers!
Thank you very much love that beard by the way 🍻 it definitely works for adding anything into the tank! It’s also much safer you could potentially unpressurize and then have some sort of an overflow because of the offgassing.
@@PortlyGentleman i have a similar method from the same homebrew shop and noticed i got a hops still left over and it clogged my dip tube so i will be my filter next time
I do the same homemade hop gun on a 1.5" TC port and it works just as well (for anyone wondering if it's possible on a smaller TC port).
As you said you can definitely just use a SS spool instead of a sight glass to save a few bucks, however pellets do get caught on the butterfly valve at times as happened to you, but you'd never know if you couldn't visually see it. Sight glass is the way to go because of that.
Great video!
Thanks 🍻
Awesome. I just put in the parts for this today. Can't wait to try it.
Very cool. I assume you don't normally have the 3" butterfly valve closed (thus disabling the PRV), you closed it before you started filming and re-opened it after? Otherwise you'd be relying on your spunding valve to stop the pressure from exceeding the rating.
What do you think of using a vacuum pump to evacuate all gas after adding the hops to the gadget? Maybe vacuum, pressurise with CO2, vent, then repeat once or more, depending on how close to total vacuum the pump can get? Almost certainly overkill but if we're chasing the most anaerobic process possible, why not? I do wonder if the hops would be negatively affected? The oils might start boiling off.
Real nice video and very well presented. I am doing more pressurized fermentations and transfers and was unsure how to best incorporated dry hopping . I will definitely look into some thing like this. I'll also check out some of your other videos.
Happy I could hope and thank you 🍻
Really cool.. I am thinking of something similar for the grain father conical.. but it only has a 2" Tc port on top.. Good video!👍🍻
I think you should go for it! I was only working with 3" story of my life 🤪🤪🤪
@@PortlyGentleman hahaha!!
I also have a Grainfather Conical, but it has only a 1.5" TC on top (the 2" on the bottom). It is a bit difficult to get hops passing the valve, but someone gave me a tip of using a 1.5 to 3" adapter. Then you have a 3" valve to make it much easier and prevent clogging, even with a 1.5" valve down below on the lid itself.
@@nexthops that's actually what I was thinking of, minus the valve on the gf lid. I was thinking just the adapter then the valve.
Did you sanitize the inside of the sight glass? I find sometimes sanitizer will cause the hops to stick to a bowl........did you have a problem with that in the sight glass where the hops stick to the valve or the sight glass? Cheers! Great vid!
I typically sanitize it and then let it dry
@@PortlyGentleman Thanks, that makes a ton of sense!! Cheers!
Bradley great video by the way. After you drop your hops into the unitank and replace the PRV. what day did you add the hops during primary fermentation (first, second, third day etc.)? How long did you let it sit in the tank before dropping trub and hops out? This would be a great help?
Thanks
Doug
That's some serious next level stuff you got going on there Bradley! I sure do need to move on to the shiny stuff soon instead of my aging Fermentasaurus.
It surely is shiny and fun to play with. l
Let's be real you can make awesome beer in a five gallon bucket!
@@PortlyGentleman Definitely! My Fermentasaurus is up for replacement soon though due to wear and tear over the years. I'm puzzled on what to get next. A new one, a Grainfather setup with glycol, SS, wait for the Brewtools or something entirely different. I like the idea of pressure fermenting which rules out at least the Grainfather. Then there's the whole heating / chilling aspect. As it is now, I do high temp in my home office / play den / cave and low temp in the garage.
Drank the last of my Yule Ale last Saturday and kegged up the Spring Ale - which is looking to be awesome!
I've tried a couple variations on this theme and in the end, by far the simplest low oxygen dry hopping method for me is to use positive CO2 pressure in reverse. I push CO2 through the gas manifold in the lid while dumping in the pellets through the 4” port. I can't imagine how a meaningful amount of room air would enter this way. The method used for purging CO2 in the sight glass won't entirely eliminate O2 either.
That will definitely work especially if you're not fermenting under pressure. If you are sometimes it's risky to open the vessel. If the beer has absorbed enough CO2 it may turn into a giant foamy debacle, ask me how I know 😂😂😂
Canning neipa. Are u adding anything?. Im making a neipa. Unitank 2.0 pressure ferm. Dry hop same way. And closed transfer to keg. Then using duofiller. Im wondering how long it will stay in cans. Or should i be addinf absorbic acid somewhere during dryhop?
This method will work on all them that's for sure
Awesome :-) When I spoke to SS brew tech about my sight glass, they said not to go above 15Psi. Keep the coming bradley :-)
Good to know I've often wondered about the maximum operating pressure of them !
Ones such as
www.amazon.com/dp/B075JBJQ1Y
Claim to be 150 psi capable. Is that true? Maybe 🤷♂️
I wouldn't chance a hundred and fifty psi but you never know ,.
Another nice video, thanks Bradley. One question though. When you open the purge valve wouldn't it draw mostly fresh CO2 from the pressurised line next to it? I'd be more inclined to disconnect the CO2 during purge so that it draws evenly from the top of the vessel.
I don't know if I fully understand your. When I opened the valve the CO2 was shut off. I also purged and relieved pressure several times. Pausing in between to make sure the oxygen would accumulate on top of the CO2 layer.
@@PortlyGentleman sorry I missed the fact that the CO2 was shut off when you purged. All good!
I recently bought a SS Brewtech 7 gallon unitank and while I was at it bought the parts to be able to dry hop like this. It made me start to wonder if this would work for adding fruit puree. Have you tried adding puree like this, or do you know of a better way to do it? Great setup by the way. Cheers!
Thank you very much love that beard by the way 🍻 it definitely works for adding anything into the tank! It’s also much safer you could potentially unpressurize and then have some sort of an overflow because of the offgassing.
Really cool Bradley! Good stuff man! Sláinte
Thank you very very much 🍻
always remember to sanitize the bag of hops
I think your link to the cap w/ gas port and relieve valve is broken? Can you relink/share that?
how do you get the hops out? if you leave them in there do you use a filter when you transfer the beer?
I have a filter, I also found that cold crashing seems to work pretty well.
@@PortlyGentleman i have a similar method from the same homebrew shop and noticed i got a hops still left over and it clogged my dip tube so i will be my filter next time
That was cool to see.
Thank you it's definitely fun to do 🍻
Where did you get the top cap the with PRV and ball lock valve?
I got it from NorcalBrewing solutions
@@PortlyGentleman Thanks so much!
Of course 🍻
This looks like building a robot, to some of us who still use plastic buckets heheheh. Nice piece of gear tho.
When I first said about piecing it together it was kind of daunting. LOL I wish it was a robot 🍻