Hops kombucha

I used a blueberry juice instead of the mango. Tried a sip right after I mixed it. Looks like it should be tasty in a couple weeks. Will keep updates

Hops aren't for me, because I can't stand the bitter taste. Apparently only 20% of the population can taste the bitterness, just like about 20% have some degree of color-blindness.
It's just genetics.

GregP507 said:

Hops aren't for me, because I can't stand the bitter taste. Apparently only 20% of the population can taste the bitterness, just like about 20% have some degree of color-blindness.
It's just genetics.

Click to expand...

Not all hops are used for bittering. Lots are used for aroma and can accentuate the taste. I personally like hopped brews. I try to balance it out because some brews might be sweet.

GregP507 said:

Hops aren't for me, because I can't stand the bitter taste. Apparently only 20% of the population can taste the bitterness, just like about 20% have some degree of color-blindness.
It's just genetics.

Click to expand...

Bitterness from hops is extracted when they are boiled, and the longer they are boiled the more bitterness you get. If you add hops during the last day or two of fermentation before bottling (at room temperature), you don't get any bitterness, just hop flavor and aroma. The flavors and aromas can be fruity, earthy, piney, floral etc...

For kombucha I have very little interest in boiling any hops into mine since sour + bitter = gross, but sour + fruity hop flavor & aroma = awesome.

So are you saying that you're part of a 20% that picks up on bitterness that no one else would pick up? Pretty curious about this as I've read a lot about hops and never heard anything like that.

anteater8 said:

Bitterness from hops is extracted when they are boiled, and the longer they are boiled the more bitterness you get. If you add hops during the last day or two of fermentation before bottling (at room temperature), you don't get any bitterness, just hop flavor and aroma. The flavors and aromas can be fruity, earthy, piney, floral etc...

For kombucha I have very little interest in boiling any hops into mine since sour + bitter = gross, but sour + fruity hop flavor & aroma = awesome.

So are you saying that you're part of a 20% that picks up on bitterness that no one else would pick up? Pretty curious about this as I've read a lot about hops and never heard anything like that.

Click to expand...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster

I remember reading about this a few years ago. The test consisted of placing a piece of paper on your tongue with a bitter-tasting chemical on it, similar to that of hops. Only about 20% of the population could taste it.

sub

I know this is an old thread, but I am interested to know if anyone on here is continuing to brew and experiment with hops in Kombucha?

I'm going to start brewing Kombucha and a hoppy Kombucha (or rather many) is definetely on my list of things to do after perfecting the standard brew. I'll update you on how it goes when I get around to it!

Any updates from anyone? I think I'm going to try some of the things mentioned here pretty soon.

Tyler B said:

Any updates from anyone? I think I'm going to try some of the things mentioned here pretty soon.

Click to expand...

I have made a few batches of hopped Kombucha this year and it was delicious! The hop flavours and bitterness surprisly go well with the tartness of Kombucha.

I have been quite busy so have not had a chance to make any recently though.

I was adding the hop pellets straight into the bottles and leaving to carbonate in 2F as normal. I then pop them in the fridge and strain the hops when I pour a drink.

I was using galaxy hop pellets and roughly 2g - 3g in 450ml bottles. It was really hard to measure accurately as the scale were not good with small quantities.

I got delicious grapefruit flavour & aroma. In fact some of them tasted like grapefruit juice. I had one which had delicious passionfruit smell but mostly it had the grapefruit flavours.

I also tried mixing hops & fruit which worked really well. Blackberry & Galaxy Hops was a favourite.

In the future when I have more fridge storage space I will try bulk flavouring with hops in a vessel and then strain and bottle.

I would also like to try hop tea in addition to the dry hopping to see how that goes and would love to try making a malt & Hop Kombucha. Perhaps I might start with just steeping some crystal grains before trying liquid malt.... but these are all things to try down the track. Firstly I want to get back into making hopped Kombucha and further experiment with different techniques, quantities and hop varieties.

Feel free to ask any questions. I’m also keen to hear how you go and the results. I would have expected much more people on the forums trying this.

Anyone want to try steeping some crystal grains and adding to 2F and let me know how it goes? Or perhaps someone has already tried this?

Thanks for the reply and all of the information. I think first I'll try dryhopping with some of the citrusy hops.

At some point I'd like to make a kombucha beer. Not exactly sure how I'd do that though. Maybe brew a batch as normal, ferment with beer yeast, then throw a scoby and some starter liquid in. Perhaps a little extra sugar then? Let it sit for a few weeks and see how that changes over time.

I actually just brewed a simple, lightly hopped blonde ale and I have a batch of kombucha that are both ready for fruit... Maybe I'll take a little of each and mix them together.

I am just making my first batch of experimental hoppy kombucha. The video that i watched said to add the hops after removing the kombucha from the SCOBY jar, and then let it sit for a couple of days. It was really smelling like hops, so I might have put in too much for the half gallon batch.
Anyway, to night I strained it twice, and then added a little sugar and some frozen orange juice concentrate and put it in bottles for the second ferment.
It is pretty bitter, but hoping that it turns out drinkable once it has carbonated for a few days.

So….. today, I tried my first bottle of the hoppy kombucha, and it is actually pretty good now that it has sat in the second ferment, and then rested a week in the fridge.
I can still taste and smell the hops; but the flavor reminds me of an overly bitter grapefruit juice. I think that i like it, and will make this again, maybe less hops next time, and also try some mango or maybe pineapple in the flavoring.

Also, my little hop rhizomes have started to grow, so I am happy about that and hoping that maybe I will have at least a few blossoms by this fall.

As a homebrewer of both beer and kombucha I have also been on a quest for a decent hopped kombucha. In addition to adding hops to the already fermented kombucha and steeping before straining them out and bottling, I have been making a fruit infused hop syrup and adding some to each bottle. This way I can adjust the amount of hop flavor to my preference and the sugar in the syrup provides food for the yeast to carbonate the bottles.

Here is my recipe: from my kombucha blog: Grapefruit Hopadelic Kombucha Recipe | Great Kombucha

Ingredients:
1 fresh grapefruit, red preferred; Pink or white also work
1 cup water
1 cup white table sugar
1/4 oz hop leaves or pellets. For pellets this is about 1 tablespoon

Instructions:
Prepare flavor syrup: Peel grapefruit and coarsely chop peel and pits. Combine with sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat on medium until the mixture begins to simmer and simmer for 15 minutes. Add hops and simmer for 5 minutes. When cool, strain into a heat resistant glass measuring cup–I used a strainer and cheesecloth to remove most of the solid material. You should have about 1/2 cup of flavored syrup which will be dark green.

Flavor: Evenly divide hoppy grapefruit syrup between bottles. About 2 Tbsp tsp per bottle.

Fill bottles: Transfer kombucha into fermentation bottles, leaving about 1 inch empty space at the top.

Give it a try and let me know how you like it!