Thoughts on this Method of Bottle Conditioning/Hopping?

[Bucky_Brewer]

I'm sure there are probably guys already doing this, but I searched through the forums and other sources, and I haven't found any mention of this particular method of bottle conditioning/hopping before, so I thought I would toss it out there.

One of my biggest motivations with this is the fact that many of the more delicate flavors and aromas of hops get bound to the yeast cells and end up settling out during yeast flocculation, which is truly unfortunate.

So I've been reading about guys "bottle hopping" with interest, but it seems that most of the guys are just dropping hop pellets into their bottles and accepting the resulting greenish sediment and/or floaties later, which didn't really sound that appealing to me, you know.

And then I started thinking about how most guys boil their priming sugar before mixing it into your beer, anyway, so why not boil some hops at the same time that we boil our priming sugar and add that to the beer right before bottling? Seems to me a person could kill two birds with one stone: bottle condition and flavor/aroma hop at the same time.

Basically a person would: 1) brew a batch of beer, but only use a bittering hop regimen, saving flavor and/or aroma hop regimens for later; 2) allow the beer to ferment and the yeast to flocculate; 3) siphon the beer to a bottling bucket, leaving behind as much of the flocculated yeast as possible; 4) brew up a liter or so of "sweet hop tea" (see below); 5) add the sweet hop tea to the beer and stir; 6) bottle and wait.

Sweet Hop Tea: 1) calculate and weigh-out priming sugar required; 2) bring, say, a liter of water to a boil; 3) add flavor/aroma hops, either loose or in a bag; 4) boil hops for a period of time, either covered with a lid to retain more aroma or without a lid to release some of the aroma and focus more on hop flavor; 5) add priming sugar at the end of the boil and stir; 6) turn off the heat and either strain loose hops or remove hops bag.

Seems to me that there would be a lot of room for experimentation with covered-versus-uncovered boiling, how long to boil the hops, etc., and very little of the flavors and aromas achieved with this method would be lost due to being flocculated-out with the yeast, so there's a bit more control there, as well.

I'm already planning this for my next batch of beer, but it will take me six weeks to see how it turns out, so until then, I thought I would go ahead and see if anybody's heard of this before, if anybody has a link to somebody using this method, and/or what people's thoughts are on it.

 

[smAllGrain]

Nothing to add. Just bumping the thread. Very interested to see if this works. I hate that I dont get the hop aroma/flavor I want from my IPA's. Last I heard I needed to add hops to a keg to get those results. Dropping cash on a keg setup is not an option so I hope this works.

Cheers

 

[MatterOne]

If you want more flavor/aroma, you don't want to be boiling your hops because you'll boil off the oils that give you those things.

That's why people do hop stands and dry hopping.

 

[smAllGrain]

That would make sense. Looking forward to the results

 

[MatterOne]

Are you making any adjustments to your water? I've found that to make a big impact on the perception of hops in my brews.

Also, if you dry hop after fermentation is complete, you won't lose much to flocculation. You can even dry hop after cold crashing if you want.

 

[duboman]

You really need to dry hop for the good flavor and aroma you're looking for as well as a lot if late hop additions and hop stands. For my pales and IPA's I use a minimum of 3oz up to around 5 or 6 for dry hopping 5-7 days.

I also do basically one charge of hops at 60 minutes for bittering and the rest go in from 10-15 minutes and then flame out/hop stand


Sent from the Commune

 

[Bucky_Brewer]

If you want more flavor/aroma, you don't want to be boiling your hops because you'll boil off the oils that give you those things.

That's why people do hop stands and dry hopping.

I'm thinking if a person was leaning more toward aroma, they could do a minimum boil of the hops, but with the lid on, so as to keep the aroma from evaporating. Maybe that way, more aroma could be extracted from the hops, compared to adding them to cold beer and simply allowing them to steep for awhile.

Are you making any adjustments to your water? I've found that to make a big impact on the perception of hops in my brews.

Also, if you dry hop after fermentation is complete, you won't lose much to flocculation. You can even dry hop after cold crashing if you want.

So far, I have only adjusted my water to achieve saccharification. But you're suggesting doing adjustments after saccharification? That might be interesting to see what it does to the hops.

As far as dry-hopping for aroma is concerned, yeah, less would be lost by adding them post-flocculation. But I'm also thinking about what's being lost, flavor-wise, during flocculation. What if I could do both flavor-hopping and aroma-hopping after flocculation and have more control over it by playing with how the hops are boiled.

You really need to dry hop for the good flavor and aroma you're looking for as well as a lot if late hop additions and hop stands. For my pales and IPA's I use a minimum of 3oz up to around 5 or 6 for dry hopping 5-7 days.

I also do basically one charge of hops at 60 minutes for bittering and the rest go in from 10-15 minutes and then flame out/hop stand


Sent from the Commune

I haven't dry-hopped, post-flocculation, because I was concerned about the hops particles coming back to haunt me later. Are you hopping in a bag to deal with the particles?

 

[youreanimpulse]

Hop particles will settle to the bottom if dry hopping using pellets, no need to worry. Hop teas are definitely in use out there, but just like most other kinds of tea you'll get better flavor and aroma by not boiling. Try a 10-15 min stand in 160-180 degree water in a sealed container. Then strain out hops and add sugar solution. When I did this for my Galaxy Wheat you could smell the aroma on the other end of the house at bottling. It definitely helped capture some more flavor/aroma in the bottle. Also regarding water adjustments, most folks suggest upping gypsum additions to accentuate hop character.

 

[chato]

Hop teas are definitely in use out there, but just like most other kinds of tea you'll get better flavor and aroma by not boiling. Try a 10-15 min stand in 160-180 degree water in a sealed container. Then strain out hops and add sugar solution. When I did this for my Galaxy Wheat you could smell the aroma on the other end of the house at bottling. It definitely helped capture some more flavor/aroma in the bottle.

I've been thinking of using just this technique. I saw a write up on using a French press coffee maker to make a hop tea and then adding that to the bottling bucket. I don't have a French press so I'm thinking I'll boil some additional water in another pan while boiling the priming sugar. I'll boil it for 15 minutes to sanitize the water and boil out the O2, then let the temp drop to 180 or so, then add two ounces of the same hops I dry hopped with and cap in a mason jar. Let that sit and cool while the priming mixture cools, then strain the hop tea through a fine mesh bag and combine the tea and priming solution together and pour it all into the bottling bucket while racking from the fermenter. I'm guessing this would add a huge dry hop type of hop aroma.

 

[youreanimpulse]

Yup, that's basically exactly what I did. It was awesome.

 

[Bucky_Brewer]

Hop particles will settle to the bottom if dry hopping using pellets, no need to worry. Hop teas are definitely in use out there, but just like most other kinds of tea you'll get better flavor and aroma by not boiling. Try a 10-15 min stand in 160-180 degree water in a sealed container. Then strain out hops and add sugar solution. When I did this for my Galaxy Wheat you could smell the aroma on the other end of the house at bottling. It definitely helped capture some more flavor/aroma in the bottle. Also regarding water adjustments, most folks suggest upping gypsum additions to accentuate hop character.

Cool. Yeah, keeping the hops under the boiling point would probably be a good way to go. And then the sealed jar would probably help with the extraction process as the air above the liquid cools and creates a vacuum. REALLY cool. Thanks.

 

[chato]

Yup, that's basically exactly what I did. It was awesome.

Couple questions for you on this technique:

- How much hops did you use?
- Pellet or whole?
- Pellet hops seem to swell up a LOT and absorb a lot of water. How much water did you add the hops to?
- How did you strain the hops from the tea? (i.e. did you use a bag and squeeze it to get every last bit of hop juice? or did you use a French press?)

 

[youreanimpulse]

1 oz pellet hops. I poured through a fine mesh bag to strain, and I probably squeezed it (I don't remember). I just filled a mason jar with hot water and added hops when it was 180 and put the lid on. I probably left it for 20 mins before cooling it and adding it to my cooled priming sugar solution in the bottling bucket.

 

[luvhopps]

I've used this technique a couple of times on the same beer, a Black IPA, I used a half ounce of Warrior in two cups of water with three quarter cup of corn sugar, and I boiled it for five minutes. I put the hops in a fine mesh bag and hung it over the pot to drain as it cooled.
The results were definitely unique it gave the beer an almost root beer flavor. It's a technique worth looking into.

 

[Owly055]

The solution is pretty simple. Work out the proportions for quite a bit of bottling syrup in advance, and can it. Put your hops in a quart jar, fill right to the top with boiling syrup, and cap it. Once cooled, put it in the fridge, and add it to your beer when you go into cold crash. Bottle right from cold crash with the flavored syrup already in the beer.

The heat should bring all the good things out of the hops. By capping immediately, there is no way for the volatile stuff to escape. It will be trapped in the syrup just like the essence of hops is trapped in the chilled beer that comes out of a hop back through a counterflow chiller.

Isn't it great how ideas can evolve from these discussions.......... It never occurred to me before to add hops with bottling syrup, though I use bottling syrup. I like the concept, and this is how it would work into MY system. Somebody else will approach it differently.

H.W.

 

[tracyk]

This is just the information that I was looking for. I bottled up a Pale Ale about a month ago and when I went to crack one open I was slightly disappointed in the taste, as it had lost some of the aroma and flavor that was there before bottling. Will definitely give this a go the next time to see how this comes out.

 

[chato]

I think I'm going to try this on my Heady Topper clone when I bottle it next week. I may be overthinking this but here is what I'm planning for my process:

- I'll need four pans on the stove
1. to sanitize/deoxygenate water for the hop tea - boil 15 min
2. to sanitize the strainer bag - boil 15 min
3. to sanitize the mason jar - boil 15 min
4. to prepare the priming syrup - add sugar then boil 15 min

1. Turn off the sanitized water and let it cool to 170-180
2. Prop the mason jar up in the pan it was boiled in
3. Add the hops and sanitized water to the mason jar, cap it and leave it in the water bath (this is to keep the tea temp in the 120-170 range for the steep)
4. Let the tea steep for 30 minutes while I boil and cool the priming sugar
5. Place the fine mesh bag at the bottom of the bottling bucket and pour the tea through it carefully to avoid oxidation and give it a slight squeeze to get some of the juice out of the wet hops
6. Add the cooled priming syrup to the bucket
7. Rack beer from fermenter into the bucket, quick stir, then bottle

 

[Owly055]

I think I'm going to try this on my Heady Topper clone when I bottle it next week. I may be overthinking this but here is what I'm planning for my process:

- I'll need four pans on the stove
1. to sanitize/deoxygenate water for the hop tea - boil 15 min
2. to sanitize the strainer bag - boil 15 min
3. to sanitize the mason jar - boil 15 min
4. to prepare the priming syrup - add sugar then boil 15 min

1. Turn off the sanitized water and let it cool to 170-180
2. Prop the mason jar up in the pan it was boiled in
3. Add the hops and sanitized water to the mason jar, cap it and leave it in the water bath (this is to keep the tea temp in the 120-170 range for the steep)
4. Let the tea steep for 30 minutes while I boil and cool the priming sugar
5. Place the fine mesh bag at the bottom of the bottling bucket and pour the tea through it carefully to avoid oxidation and give it a slight squeeze to get some of the juice out of the wet hops
6. Add the cooled priming syrup to the bucket
7. Rack beer from fermenter into the bucket, quick stir, then bottle

I think you are making it more complicated than it needs to be..... Boil one pot of water, sanitize your jar and bag in it, add your sugar, drop the hops & bag in the jar, and pour the hot water over the works (now cooled to 180 or so), cap it, and forget about it until time to bottle. Your jar and bag are clean, so there's no reason not to sanitize everything in the same water is there? Leave it sit for a day or two, and fish the bag out with a sterilized set of tongs, fork, etc..., or just hold it back with the jar lid when you pour the works into the bottling bucket.
Why make a simple process like making hop tea complicated?

H.W.

 

[chato]

Your jar and bag are clean, so there's no reason not to sanitize everything in the same water is there? Why make a simple process like making hop tea complicated?

I might be able to boil the jar and bag together, but the hop bags tend to get discolored and probably leave some taste to the sanitizing water, so not sure I'd want to add the sugar to it. As to complicating a simple process, LOL, that's just me.... Also, I've got a lot on the line in this batch. 16.5 oz of hops I'll be risking to try a procedure I've never done before.

 

[Owly055]

I might be able to boil the jar and bag together, but the hop bags tend to get discolored and probably leave some taste to the sanitizing water, so not sure I'd want to add the sugar to it. As to complicating a simple process, LOL, that's just me.... Also, I've got a lot on the line in this batch. 16.5 oz of hops I'll be risking to try a procedure I've never done before.

I look forward to hearing about the outcome...... I've decided to do the same thing on my current brew...........

H.W.