I am preparing a heavily dry hopped beer. So far I have added my home grown yeast on brewing day with multiple hops. I have dry hopped twice again, and am at the final dry hop 5 days before bottling. I emptied the collection ball once with no problem, but when I tried to empty it again it was clogged with hops and yeast. Put on a empty collection ball and opened it but after 4 days still not unclogged (thought the gravity and pressure would loosen). Any suggestions without having to obtain a large sanitized object to poke holes in the clog from above. The clog is actually in the bottom of the fermenter where the collection drains into the ball.
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1Hence why heavy dry hopping is often done in a secondary fermentation vessel. If you have to dry hop in primary or the conical vessel then I recommend using a nylon containment bag - even if it is a large one! – barking.pete Sep 6 '17 at 7:43
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I have decided you are correct. I use the conical fermenter to avoid contamination, but ended up having to open it 5 times in fermentation. Sad thing is, I have nylon bags in my brew drawer. Thanks, Pete, I live and learn. – Rory Sep 7 '17 at 11:38
Maybe swirling the conical if it's small enough?
Aside from that really the only way is to attach a gas fitting to the collection valve in place of the bulb and shoot some cO2 up there to burb the hop trub up from the bottom.
answered Sep 6 '17 at 13:17
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thanks, I finally did get it loose, but have decided the best answer is not to clog the collection ball in the first place. Mine was just a newbie mistake. – Rory Sep 7 '17 at 11:40
