OnTap Magazine

I t goes by a few different names: Randall the Enamel Animal, the Randalizer, or indeed, the Organoleptic Hop Transducer Module. Whatever you want to call it, it offers a host of experimentation opportunities to a brewer with a level of geeky coolness which can’t be beaten. Designed by Sam Calagione of Delaware-based Dogfish Head Brewery back in 2002, the Randall was designed to infuse hops into your chosen brew during the pour to create a new dimension of hop aroma and flavour in the beer. The Randall was subsequently modified into a two-chamber system to try and overcome the biggest problem with this contraption – foaming. However, with a few tricks, you can actually build your own single- chamber system and overcome the foaming issue. The major advantage of the Randall is the ability to infuse any flavour you want – whether that’s from hops, spices or fruit – into a beer without having to commit a whole batch to the experiment. The added advantage is getting the freshest possible flavour infusion, plus you don’t have to worry about contamination as you might when adding herbs and spices during secondary fermentation. The genuine Randall is available to buy from Dogfish Head, but it costs around R3500 before shipping and any import costs. You can make your own very simply, and with minimal tooling and expertise, for around R400. The basic principle is to use a water filter housing and replace the water filter cartridge with a custom filter cartridge. The beer flows from a keg into the filter housing, infusing with ingredients as it fills up the housing around the outside of the filter cartridge. The infused beer then filters through the filter cartridge and flows back out of the housing and to the tap. To get more contact time for infusing, the filter cartridge should have inlet holes as far from the housing inlet as possible. HOW TO: BUILD YOUR OWN ORGANOLEPTIC HOP TRANSDUCER MODULE ROB CASS HOMEBRU ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2018 | 55