Searched a few old threads that aren’t open for replies... I plan to ferment a NEIPA in my conical for 14 days with a minimal (2-3oz) DH during fermentation. Due to cold-crashing limitations in the conical, i want to put a big DH in a purged keg and closed pressure transfer into it with a floating dip tube (technically a secondary I guess). After a few days at room temp, I’ll put that keg in my garage fridge for a thorough and 35F cold crash for 48-72hrs. Then I’ll transfer to a serving keg using closed pressure transfer. My question is this... since I have the floating dip tube in the DH keg, I’m going to put the hops in commando. Will there be enough exposure if I let them just sit on the bottom for 2 days? Or should I flip/move/jostle the keg a few times per day to make sure hops are getting maximum exposure? Or am I overthinking it and it doesn’t really matter?
Flip, roll, agitate and sing to em I say. Does your floating dip tube have a screen ? If not, you are going to lose A LOT of beer once it gets down to the hop debris at the bottom. For reference, I did a 10oz dry hop in a DH keg (with a filtered dip tube) after a big cold crash. The hop sludge from that was about about three quarts - and that's with filtering and a bit of pressure. I don't think a cold crash is going to give you a compact hop cake at the bottom of your keg. I found a stainless steel siphon filter at my LHBS. Put it in the keg, run the dip tube down it, through a drilled bung, and boom you can go commando with hops and not clog at all.
Is there a reason that you need to cold crash the beer? My biggest issue with dry hopping in a corny keg is that you will lose beer to hop absorption and with an NEIPA that's an amount I would consider significant given the size of the dry hop. I ferment and dry hop in my primary so I can brew enough to make up for the lost volume and get a full keg of beer. To more directly answer your question, I put hops in commando and have not had an issue getting flavor from them without agitation. I'll echo @thebriansmaude in that you'll want a screen on your floating dip tube if you do not already have one. Hop particles pose a significant risk of closing either the dip tube or the poppets upon transfer/serving. I bought a Clear Beer Draft System with the screen on the floating dip tube and use it in my fermenter and have never had an issue with it clogging.
