Hop Tea Experiment

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wobdee

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This is what I'm thinking after researching here about hop aroma and flavor. I'm going to brew a Pale Ale with hop additions at FWH, FO then when it's time to keg ill brew up a hop tea with about 1/2 oz hops inside a mason jar at about 170 degrees for 15-30 min, then strain the tea into the keg before racking from fermenter.

Just want to see if this will turn out as good as dry hopping and maybe save a little on hops. Anyone try this or have any tips?
 
[ame]http://youtu.be/G4QyrJ1E8VI[/ame]

Check this video out. It is a good instructional on hop teas.
 
I will be racking from secondary where i made a tea from 1.5 oz of centennial for a higher g IPA... tonight hopefully. I'll let you know.
 
Interesting video, but I think he should of added the tea after fermentation was complete to keep all the hoppy goodness in the brew.
 
I will be racking from secondary where i made a tea from 1.5 oz of centennial for a higher g IPA... tonight hopefully. I'll let you know.

How did you make your tea? And how do you calculate how much hops to use?
 
Well-

OG 1.067
FG 1.013

FWH- 90 minute boil 2 oz of Cascade
16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, and 9 minutes each had .25 oz of Citra
FO (30 minute steep) 3 ounces Belma

18 days in primary (used San Diego Super... very, very fast yeast)

Steeped 1.5 ounces of centennial at between 165-180 for around 45 minutes in probably (around 2 cups of liquid)

Pressed tea in Aero Press http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm (likely my issue)

dry hopped with amarillo and simcoe for 7 days.

cold crashing now.

fragrant- very fragrant- lots of flavor (grassy, just a little, I will attribute to the Aero Press). Jumbled. I have a feeling this will be a very fine beer... In two weeks or more. not my best, but far from my worst. Jury still out on the tea. I am going to make a pretty big hoppy red number on monday that I am going to tea it up on (pun intended) again , but with a hop schedule I have used prior for better judgement.

To be continued...
 
Well-

OG 1.067
FG 1.013

FWH- 90 minute boil 2 oz of Cascade
16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, and 9 minutes each had .25 oz of Citra
FO (30 minute steep) 3 ounces Belma

18 days in primary (used San Diego Super... very, very fast yeast)

Steeped 1.5 ounces of centennial at between 165-180 for around 45 minutes in probably (around 2 cups of liquid)

Pressed tea in Aero Press http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm (likely my issue)

dry hopped with amarillo and simcoe for 7 days.

cold crashing now.

fragrant- very fragrant- lots of flavor (grassy, just a little, I will attribute to the Aero Press). Jumbled. I have a feeling this will be a very fine beer... In two weeks or more. not my best, but far from my worst. Jury still out on the tea. I am going to make a pretty big hoppy red number on monday that I am going to tea it up on (pun intended) again , but with a hop schedule I have used prior for better judgement.

To be continued...

How often have you used the Aero press? Looks interesting. Have you ever compared hop tea to dry hop only or do you combine them all the time?

Some people say you can get the same character as dry hopping with a hop tea but only needing 1/3 the hops.
 
So I did something similar to this in my last batch and it came out amazing. I made a 10 gallon batch of Jamil's Scottish 80 schilling as I wanted to make both a scottish ale and a cascadian dark ale from the same batch. What I did was make a 2 gallon batch with 8 oz of DME (Pre boil gravity of 1.014) and 6 oz each of Cascade and Willamette hops. I boiled for 30 mins to extract some bitterness but also to keep some of the aroma compounds around. I then just covered the pot and let it chill in a cold water bath with the lid on to keep all the hoppy goodness in, plus with DME you don't have to worry about SMM production. It ends up looking like pea soup once all the hop pellets expand and soak up the wort.

After I chilled the main 10 gallon batch, I took a 5 gallon nylon paint strainer and placed it over my fermenting bucket and poured the "hop tea" into it, hop pellet gunk and all. I then squeezed the paint strainer to extract all the remaining wort trapped in the mass of hops. Then I simply racked half the batch onto it and oxygenated and pitched like normal.

It was really easy and I got a lot of hop flavor and aroma from it without any harsh bitterness. Doing this process with a malty scottish ale resulted in a really well balanced beer that is really drinkable while still having a ton of hop flavor and aroma.

It's just one of the many ways to go. I will be entering this beer in the local cascadian dark ale competition soon so I will let you guys know what the judges said.
 
How often have you used the Aero press? Looks interesting. Have you ever compared hop tea to dry hop only or do you combine them all the time?

Some people say you can get the same character as dry hopping with a hop tea but only needing 1/3 the hops.

First Time- Have read much regarding utilizing a french press for hope teas. I was using pellets so wanted more of a filter. The Aero Press may be too aggressive with extraction (got grassy- a little). I'm going to let this beer sit for a week and taste it again. I'll follow up.
 
Try using beer. The lower pH will extract less grass flavor. Maybe the alcohol will help your efficiency too.

I used to add 1 cup of beer to a French Press with 1 oz of leaf hop. Then add boiling RO water until the temperature reaches 170 °F. Let it cool and then add it to the beer a day or two before bottling.
 
Try using beer. The lower pH will extract less grass flavor. Maybe the alcohol will help your efficiency too.

I used to add 1 cup of beer to a French Press with 1 oz of leaf hop. Then add boiling RO water until the temperature reaches 170 °F. Let it cool and then add it to the beer a day or two before bottling.

Could I just heat the beer to 170 & add the hops? Any harm to heating the beer vs. adding warm water to the beer?
 
Heating the beer should work. That would be more acidic than diluting it with RO water. The only problem might be boiling off the alcohol.

I now use a slightly different procedure. It’s a half oz of leaf hops,1/2 mL of 85% phosphoric acid and a shot of vodka in a French Press. Add enough 170F filtered water to cover the hops (about two cups). Set the plunger just enough to keep the hops submerged.

I figure that you want a beer-like pH around 4 and enough alcohol to solubilize the hop oils.

Bear in mind that this method, while similar to dry hop, is way more efficient. Use about 1/4 of the hops you would use for dry hop. I found that a full oz was a little harsh so I cut it in half.

Slainté
 
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