Harvesting Hops

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weerdo

weerdo

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I just got handed a bunch of cascade hops... leaves vines and all. Don't know what is usable and not. I am currently plucking all the cones. They are all different sizes and different stages of maturity but have already been cut. Also, many of the hops are starting to brown.

Any feedback on what is usable appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim
 
starting to brown is okay, really brown and falling apart is bad. This is what I do and it works okay others may have a better idea. I cut all of the cones off of the plant and put them in a regular paper bag making sure that it is no more then 1/3 full. fold the top of the bag over and put it somewhere dry and slightly warm, living room floor, bedroom whatever. Several times a day open the bag and mix it well THIS IS IMPORTANT. I lost about 3 lbs of Mt. Hood hops cause I got lazy and stopped mixing them. after a few days the hops will feel dry and start to open a little then shove them all in a ziplock bag, squeeze out all the air and chuck them in a freezer.
 
InfiniteThought said:
starting to brown is okay, really brown and falling apart is bad. This is what I do and it works okay others may have a better idea. I cut all of the cones off of the plant and put them in a regular paper bag making sure that it is no more then 1/3 full. fold the top of the bag over and put it somewhere dry and slightly warm, living room floor, bedroom whatever. Several times a day open the bag and mix it well THIS IS IMPORTANT. I lost about 3 lbs of Mt. Hood hops cause I got lazy and stopped mixing them. after a few days the hops will feel dry and start to open a little then shove them all in a ziplock bag, squeeze out all the air and chuck them in a freezer.
Click to expand...

I agree with what was said here. I used a roll of screen door mesh, you could use the mesh part out of a window if you want to, place them on there and in one of the mentioned places above and let it sit. Mine dried out pretty quick and I just used some in a batch a few days ago. Good Luck
 
Or you can use the hops wet in conjunction with dried hops or pellets.

Fresh/wet hop ales are my absolute favorite. Great examples include Deschutes Fresh Hop Mirror Pond, Great Divide Fresh Hop Ale, Port High Tide, or Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere (my favorite).
 
dry them on a window screen with a fan for a few days (3-5). If they are dry, the stem will break instead of bending. Then you can get an accurate weight that's comparable to other hopping methods.

You can use them wet too if used right away, but it becomes tricky to know how much to add with all of the extra water weight.
 
Thanks for all the info. I am going to use some of the wet hops toddy hop an IPA that I have going and dry the rest on a screen with a fan. I am going to use the fresh hops in one carboy and pellets in the other to compare.
 
Commercial hops are dried to about 8 - 10% moisture content. I dry mine to between 10 and 15%, since I don't want to over dry and lose too much hop oil content. I built a hop drier, that heats to 125 F, and get the required dryness in 10 - 12 hours.

I measure moisture content by weighing 10 grams of the dried hops, putting them in a 200 F oven for 30 minutes, cooling and reweighing. The percent moisture is calculated this way:

original wet weight - dry weight = Moisture content.

% moisture = moisture content/dry weight X 100

For example, 10 g wet hops dries to 9 grams = 1 gram moisture

1 gram x 100/ 9 grams dry hops = 11% moisture.

I was surprised how much moisture was retained in hops that looked and felt dry, but had as much as 35% moisture left in them. Drying to a consistent moisture content makes bittering calculations easier, from lot to lot.
 
AiredAle said:
Commercial hops are dried to about 8 - 10% moisture content. I dry mine to between 10 and 15%, since I don't want to over dry and lose too much hop oil content. I built a hop drier, that heats to 125 F, and get the required dryness in 10 - 12 hours.

I measure moisture content by weighing 10 grams of the dried hops, putting them in a 200 F oven for 30 minutes, cooling and reweighing. The percent moisture is calculated this way:

original wet weight - dry weight = Moisture content.

% moisture = moisture content/dry weight X 100

For example, 10 g wet hops dries to 9 grams = 1 gram moisture

1 gram x 100/ 9 grams dry hops = 11% moisture.

I was surprised how much moisture was retained in hops that looked and felt dry, but had as much as 35% moisture left in them. Drying to a consistent moisture content makes bittering calculations easier, from lot to lot.
Click to expand...

Do you have a thread for this build? I think that I need to build myself one of these as next year I am going to have 30 plants to harvest and I don't want any to go to waste.
 
No thread but I can post some pictures of the drier that are pretty self explanitory. I'd do so in the next day or so.
 
I've put some pictures and a description of my hop drier in the DIY Equipment section of the forum. D I Y Hop drier - parts one and two.
 
I used a spare screen door I had laying around. Put that on 2 chairs and a fan underneath. Dried out hops in a few days. I harvested and dried a bunch that way. I then placed them in a vacuum freezer bag and used a food saver to suck all the air out. Now they are all resting in the freezer.

beerloaf
 

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