Bouncer MD Hack Pack – A Product Review Including Tenacious Badger Hops

You want to get a hold of the Bouncer MD Hack Pack with Tenacious Badger Hops!  This pack was so much fun to play around with!  The guys at Bouncer Beer Filters have come up with a new use of the Bouncer MD, allowing you to randall in new flavors.  To help showcase this, they hooked up with Tenacious Badger Hops.  I have gone through and done a video review that you can find here.  Here are my thoughts about this latest product!

So, opening up the Bouncer MD Hack Pack, it is well laid out with some pictures to help you get an idea of what you need to do.  My kit included the Mac Daddy Bouncer Filter, with the smaller mesh screen add-on and the two different size tube adapters, three different packs of Tenacious Badger Hops, two koozies, and some silicon tubing.  It looks great in the box, and is a nice presentation for a homebrewing gift.  For the Tenacious Badger Hops, I received the following:

• Columbia – An all purpose hop with pungent aromatics of pineapple, lemon, citrus with a clean, crisp profile.
• Cascade – A popular American aroma / flavoring hop with relatively low bittering values. Flavors include floral, citrus, spicy and grapefruit. Ideal for dry hopping.
• Chinook – A workhorse hop popular with brewers for it’s spicy, piney, citrus, grapefruit and resiny notes.

 

 

 

 

 

The Testing of the Bouncer MD Hack Pack

The Bouncer MD Hack Pack was super easy to hook up to the tap of my kegerator with the silicon tubing, and  I was able to do it one handed while filming.  I would suggest to keep around a small bowl or towels, as there may be some drips when done.  For the trial, I did dial back my the flow control just  a touch on my Perlick 650SS.  I used my Zombie Com Level 8 pale ale for this review.  Think along the lines of Zombie Dust made with Comet hops.  It has a citrusy taste, but like a grapefruit rind, and the beer has a bit of a dank followup.  I then hooked up the Bouncer MD, and used the Columbia Hops for this review.  I only filled the filter unit about half way, as this gives for some good circulation around the hop pellets.   I filled The first glass off the randalling did have a smoother mouth feel and more of a crisp citrus taste added in.  You could literally smell the difference.  After a few minutes of the Bouncer MD sitting with the Columbia hops, I poured another beer for myself in a mason jar….I know, old school and I was on my way to a good night.  The flavor was more pronounced.   When holding it up to the light, I saw that no extra hops particles made it into my clear beer!  That is a great thing.  Later, when I opened up the Bouncer MD, I saw there was some fine hops matter on the screen, so the blue mesh screen does the job!

 

 

This is a super easy way to randall your beer and end up with a really nice treat.  A few days later, I hooked up the Bouncer MD again, and put the tubing on both sides.  This way, I could have the tubing reach the bottom of my growler for a smoother, less foamy pour.  I did get some foam, but I was very happy with the results when I brought a growler of the regular and randalled to a family dinner.

Pro Tips:

• Have some towels or a bowl nearby.  There will be some dripping after you turn off the tap.
• If you can, fill up the Bouncer MD, then wait a few minutes for your pour.  This will give you maximum hop usage from your randalling.  Even better, don’t just do a glass, fill a pitcher or growler!
• When filling a growler, put some tubing on the out end of the Bouncer MD….this will allow you to reach further into the growler and minimize the foaming.
• If you can control your flow from the tap, turn it down a bit.

Pros of the Bouncer MD Hack Pack

• Super easy to use.
• Way cheaper than most other randalling hook-ups for your kegerator.  Plus, the Bouncer MD can be used for filtering out the sediment when kegging or bottling as well!
• Tenacious Badger Hops are great.
• Tons of possibilities for add-ons to your homebrew.  I can’t wait to try other things like coffee beans, Whoppers malt balls, fresh fruit, and more!
• Cleaning is a snap.  This is such a crucial thing with all things homebrew related.
• No hops particles made it into my finished beer.  I started clear due to filtering with the Bouncer MD while kegging, and ended with clear beer after randalling using the Hack Pack.

Cons of the Bouncer MD Hack Pack

• Hops haven’t been stored in a cold place.  I spoke with Tim at Bouncer about this….and that is a drawback.  They have been working to keep fresh hops for you.  Put yours in the fridge or freezer as soon as you get them.  This will keep them in the best shape possible.
• Some loss of beer.  A little foam, some drips….but then again, these are always drawbacks with any homebrew bottling or kegging, so no real worries.
• You can’t realistically randall in more than one thing at a time .  I have a few ideas of how to do this, and will be hacking that in future experiments.  Stay tuned.

Conclusion On The Bouncer MD Hack Pack

For the cost of this randalling unit, you can’t beat it.  Plus the idea that you can use the Bouncer MD as a regular filter in the brewing process too.  The inclusion of both screens and multiple tube connectors makes this a very versatile unit.  I have been super happy with the Bouncer in the past, and now I have another way to use it!  Well done Bouncer!  I still have two more Tenacious Badger Hops to try.  The Cascade will go into my Zombie Citradome Level 8, a similar brew to the one used in this review, but with all Citra hops.  The Chinook will be tried out with a darker beer to see how that goes!  I can’t wait to chat with the guys from Tenacious Badger as well!