great hops dryer? - cheap, effective, collapsible

wrench · 01-25-2012, 12:29 AM

I stumbled across something like this on eBay when looking for a cheap inline exhaust fan. It's incredible how much we home brewers have in common with hydroponic and indoor gardeners

when it comes to equipment. I'm pretty sure I know what this was designed to dry, but I'm also pretty sure it would make a heck of a hops dryer - especially if you pointed a fan at it to increase air flow. What I like best is that it's collapsible so it will hardly take up any room the 11 months out of the year when I don't have a use for it. So much better than the DIY oast I was planning to make. I don't know if anyone out there is already using these for hops, but I thought I would share.

day_trippr · 01-25-2012, 01:08 AM

Howdy neighbor!

Let us know how well that thing works for you next fall...

Cheers!

TheDudeLebowski · 01-25-2012, 02:57 AM

Plenty of posts on here copying the Good Eats dehydrator.

Good Eats Dehydrator Thread

I used similar to these and had good results with a box fan.

Air Filters

I think as long as you get direct airflow and the hops don't bounce around to shred them apart blowing the lupulin out it should work. Doesn't have to be too complex.

Oh yea. I'm just down the road from you guys too :-)

wrench · 01-25-2012, 12:51 PM

Yeah, I've seen all the posts about DIY oasts and the furnace filter dryers. And I'm all for making what I can't afford to buy in support of my hobby. This just struck me as a very elegant solution, and quite affordable.

**beerloaf** · 01-25-2012, 02:54 PM

I had a couple of spare screen doors lying around in the garage so I hosed them down and let them dry and then put them in a spare room sitting on top of 2 chairs with a window fan pointed up underneath and worked like a charm. Took me about 2-3 days to dry and decrease hop weight down to 25-30% compared original wet weight.

beerloaf