anyone used a hop ball(dry hopping)

[bangers]

I usually rack my beer into secondary fermenter/gerry can,drop my required amont of hops into it and leave it for about 3 to 4 days then rack into my keg.I've seen on Craftbrewer's site they have a product called a hop ball,just wanted to know the following ,is this just used to dry hop when using a keg to save racking into a secondary keg or does this sit inside the keg while in use to produce extra hop flavours and if so what are the benifets of using such an item or is it just another gizmo?

[Biernut]

Yep I cut off a piece of cotton stockingnette boil it in a pot for 10 minutes put a knot in one end, fill it with 10gr. of pellets of your choice tie a knot in the other end, throw in racking keg for 7 days, filter into the serving keg, gas er up and Robert's your fathers brother.

Cheers.

[drsmurto]

I have several hopballs (aka tea balls) that i use to dry hop in the keg or secondary.

If i use it in secondary i can then rack into the keg and leave the dry hops behind.

If i dry hop in the keg then its stuck there till the keg runs dry!

I used to use stockings but bought 6 tea balls recently so use them. The only downfall with the tea balls is the little clip isnt stainless steel and starts to rust. Doesnt bother me, i figure i could always use a bit more iron in the diet......

[lethaldog]

I use the hop balls and find them very good, only thing to watch is the amount you put in the cos of expansion