Dry hop cylinder

[Blackmuse]

So I recently saw this on Amazon and thought it would make a neat dry hop container (maybe even to use for large end of boil hop additions).
I ordered it and was really impressed with what came out of the box. This thing is a monster tea steeper! It is all Stainless Steel and is solidly made. Nice fine holes. It looks as if it will hold 5-6 oz of pellets.


So here's what I did with it:




I'll post back with its performance once I keg this batch and clean the steeper out.

Here's a link to he item on Amazon. http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00MVA1DSA

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

good find, put it in my cart awaiting your feedback, thanks

 

[GernBlanston]

Blackmuse, Does the cylinder sink to the end of the chain, or float on top?

Also, what is the diameter of the lid at its widest point? Will it fit into a standard corny keg opening?

 

[Blackmuse]

Blackmuse, Does the cylinder sink to the end of the chain, or float on top?

Also, what is the diameter of the lid at its widest point? Will it fit into a standard corny keg opening?

The cylinder is heavy enough to sink on it's own. That is what I loved so much about it! Right now mine is dangling down in a Big Belgian IPA rather than floating on top as my mesh bag did last time.

Measurements: Since mine is dangling in the fermentor, I couldn't take a measurement of my own but the company states that it is 3 x 3 x 3.2 inches. I believe this would fit a corny keg opening as those tend to be
3 1/8 x 3 3/4.
My keg is currently on tap but I plan on picking up another one sometime in the next 2 weeks and this batch will be going in so I should be able to get back to you with a definite answer.

 

[GernBlanston]

Right now mine is dangling down .

You bragging?

 

[Blackmuse]

Right now mine is dangling down .

You bragging?

Definitely!
LOL

 

[Blackmuse]

Results are in - sort of.... Here's a pic of what came out of my fermentor:



So those hops (2 oz) that only took up about HALF the steeper expanded quite a bit. Now, the lid was still on this thing when I drained the secondary into the priming tank so there wasn't a mess or anything but since I had to spoon this stuff out of the steeper, I am assuming I didn't utilize much of the hops? What do you all think?

I'll be trying the beer in about a week but I won't be able to say for certain how great the dry hop effect was since this is only the second time I have ever dry hopped a beer...

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I bought one and used it in my keg to just sit there all the time, works good for that because it doesn't let any hop matter through but might be low on the hop flavor for dry hoping for the same reason

 

[GernBlanston]

That thing looks packed pretty tight. Hard to say, but it would seem that the contact with the beer would be minimized. Those holes are quite small, and unless the volume of hops was loose and floating in the cylinder during the dry hop, and the beer was able to flow in and out to transfer flavors and aroma to the body of the beer, you probably didn't achieve the potential you could have, with a loose dry hop.

The taste though is the key. Does the beer have the hop character you thought it would?

 

[Blackmuse]

Nah, I don't think it does have the hop character I was expecting. I guess I'll have to go back to using a bag... The hook at the top of the bucket is nice for a hop bag with a weight in it so I will go that route I guess. Now what to do with a giant tea steeper?

 

[TheGecko]

Make some kombucha!

 

[GernBlanston]

Make some kombucha!

With only the broad, simplified, understanding of the kombucha process, I am curious how you would use the cylinder. Do you hop kombucha? Or would you use it some other way?

 

[UgliestLemming]

Just to steep a bunch of tea in so that you can easily make a large quantity. I steep 6 tea bags at a time for two tea batches to make the base for kombucha, or I have to use my little steeper way more if I'm doing a loose leaf. I try to get ~1 to 1.5 gal