drying hops?
drying hops?
Just wondering - I have a hops plant growing out the back, why do i need to dry the flowers? why cant i just throw some in the boil up? Is there some sort of chemical process in the drying? In the wealth of knowledge out there in this forum... does any one know?
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Re: drying hops?
You do not have to dry them. The process is known as "wet hopping". As far as I understand it you gain efficiency but increase the grassy and unwanted parts of the hops going into the brew.Hip Hops wrote:Just wondering - I have a hops plant growing out the back, why do i need to dry the flowers? why cant i just throw some in the boil up? Is there some sort of chemical process in the drying? In the wealth of knowledge out there in this forum... does any one know?
Not true, if they are vacuum sealed they actually last longer...Chris wrote:Plus they don't last as long if you plan to store them.
I saw an experiment on this somwhere, they put hop pellets up against fresh flowers which came from the same vines, had the same AA and were packed the same way on the same day (or so they say). They stored them in the fridge or freezer for 6 months and then tested the AA degredation and found the pellets lost slightly more than the flowers.
I think it was a German study.... if anyone finds it let me know so I can bookmark it
Hop Gardening
Drying
Drying can be done in a good dehydrator, custom made hop dryer, well vented oven, or they can be air dried. If you use heat, the temperature should not exceed 140 degrees F. Cooler temperatures take longer but a higher quality hop is obtained. Under dry weather conditions, I suggest taking a screen off of your house and setting it up in a wind protected area, elevated on each end.
Spread the hops as shallow as possible and fluff daily so moist inner cones are brought to the outside of the pile. If weather is dry and the pile is not too thick they will dry in about three days.
A high moisture content in the cones will adversely affect storability and recipe formulation. The hops are dry when the inner stem of the cone (strig) is brittle and breaks rather than bends. The strig takes much longer to dry than the bracts, so be patient. Pack the hops in an air tight container and store in a freezer until used.
w00t!
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Trough Lolly
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I have PoR, Goldings and Chinook plants out back....Drying is easily done by spreading the flowers over a large flyscreen and leaving it in the under house workshop for 24 hours. They are ready when they don't feel spongy and don't spring back into shape if you gently squeeze a flower.
They go into a ziplock bag, air manually purged and left in the freezer for use within 3-6 months of bagging - and they're bluddy bewdiful!!!
Cheers,
TL
They go into a ziplock bag, air manually purged and left in the freezer for use within 3-6 months of bagging - and they're bluddy bewdiful!!!
Cheers,
TL
Really?Kevnlis wrote:Not true, if they are vacuum sealed they actually last longer...Chris wrote:Plus they don't last as long if you plan to store them.
I saw an experiment on this somwhere, they put hop pellets up against fresh flowers which came from the same vines, had the same AA and were packed the same way on the same day (or so they say). They stored them in the fridge or freezer for 6 months and then tested the AA degredation and found the pellets lost slightly more than the flowers.
I think it was a German study.... if anyone finds it let me know so I can bookmark it
Dig it out. I'd be very interested to see it.
A beer in the hand is worth two in George Bush...
"They say beer will make me dumb. It are go good with pizza"
Psychostick
"They say beer will make me dumb. It are go good with pizza"
Psychostick
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Trough Lolly
- Posts: 1647
- Joined: Friday Feb 16, 2007 3:36 pm
- Location: Southern Canberra
- Contact:
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Trough Lolly
- Posts: 1647
- Joined: Friday Feb 16, 2007 3:36 pm
- Location: Southern Canberra
- Contact:
Source: Hop Storage: How to Get - and keep - Your Hops' Optimum value by Mark GaretzHop Storage
For optimum preservation of hops' valued qualities, they should be stored as cold as possible (30 to -5 degrees F, or -1 to -21 degrees C) and away from air. The compression of hops into bales, pellets, and plugs helps protect all but the surface layers from air. Even so, air penetrates and causes some oxidation. Cold temperatures slow the oxidation process. Because some hop varieties don't store as well as others, at some point in the season hop brokers take all remaining unsold bales of poor-storing hops and turn them into pellets. Not only do pellets keep out a lot of oxygen, their compact form allows them to be easily vacuum packed to further slow the deterioration.
The reason pellets are so prevalent in the home brewing trade is that they deteriorate more slowly than whole hops when stored in less than ideal conditions. Microbrewers like them for two additional reasons: they are easy to remove from the wort if the brewery uses a whirlpool separator, and they take up much less storage space, making it much more practical to keep them cold.
Although compression of whole hops slows the oxidation because it is harder for the oxygen to get at the hops, when the bale is broken up to be portioned into homebrew-sized quantities the compression is lost and air can get at the hops much more easily. Because of the compression, plugs are a good compromise between pellets and whole hops.
((Emphasis added by me))
Cheers,
TL
It would greatly depend on where the hops come from and how they are handled anyway. I think it is a stretch to say any form is better than another as you do not know what has been done with the hops before and after they left the factory/supplier/retailer. I do believe pellets probably last longer, but does the amount of processing and handling cause them to be at a lower AA before they reach you?