Drying

Just-picked hops are roughly 80 percent water; if left alone they spoil rapidly. For proper storage most of the water is removed by drying. A good drying method is to lie the hops on a card or screen in an attic. Just a few hours during the heat of summer or a few hours more in cooler weather is enough to dry the hops. Use a before and after weighing (and trial and error) to try to achieve about 7-10 percent residual moisture after drying.

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uwmgdman said:

I saw on a Good Eats episode Alton was making beef jerky. To dry the jerky he placed the strips on non-fiberglass furnace filters 3 or 4 thick and bungeed them onto a box fan. He would put the fan somewhere dry and let it run, occasionally rotating the furnace filters. Later that day, the jerky was dry and ready for inhaling.....err......eating.

I'm growing hops for the first time this year and think this will be a great way to dry the hops. Any reason I shouldn't try this approach?

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