Well...that was gross.

I tried an idea I read on here and I obviously didn't do something right. The idea was to learn more about hops. First get a generic, tasteless beer;uncap it; add a hop variety; recap it and in a month try it. I used Bud light and Pabst. I couldn't find a crappy beer without a screw top cap. I sanitized the tops of the bottles, unscrewed the caps and added three - six pellets of a hop variety (I did 9 different types from left over hops in the freezer), shake the bottle a little to get it to foam up and push out the O2 then recap it. Everything in the Bud light bottles tasted about the same (Simcoe, Centennial, Cascade, Fuggles and UKGs). Just vegetablely, no real aroma. The Pabst turned out slightly better ( Citra, Amarillo, Horizon, Willamette) but still kind of vegetabley. Anyone ever try this? Seemed like a great idea instead of having to brew a ton of SMASH recipes.

 

In my experience you extract much more grassy and vegetal flavors at cold temperatures with dry hopping. Try "dry hopping" the bottles for a few days at room temperature, then toss them in the fridge.

 

Gigo.

 

A month is a really long time, which is probably why you got those vegetable flavors. Try it in 3-5 days of room temperature storage.

 

I tried dry hopping a beer that was already cold and carbed one time. I used cascade. It tasted like cold melon and clouded up the beer. Did you dry hop cold or warm? 6 pellets seems like a lot. I think 2 pellets would be plenty.

 

You are on to something here. I could buy cheap beer, put a few hop pellets in it and make it quaff-able? Hmmm.

 

I kept them at room temp for a month then in the fridge for a couple of days. I will try it again for maybe 3-5 days like stat said and less pellets like grathan said. Buying crappy beer is like buying porn. I feel like I have to have a hoody and dark shades on.

 

Did the same thing with 10 types of hops and a case of BL. ~2-3 pellets per bottle for ~5 days at room temp before cold crashing for 2 days. Results were really nice. Got a lot of good aroma (less so-flavor of course) from all the hops. Made for a cool group tasting

BL dry-hopped with citra is actually pretty tasty. Its like a slightly alcoholic citrus seltzer.

 

I get your "I wonder if..." thinking there Mass.

I think I'd like to take a loaf of white bread, add wheat germ and bran to make it into whole grain bread!

 

lmfao!!!

 

Yeah 6 pellets is a lot. I'd say try 2 next time

 

It shows you're thinking. A week ago, I saw a supplier selling leeeeettttlle containers of SCF-extracted hop oils, "to add IBUs". Well, for over a year I have used 70% EtOH(drinking alcohol) to extract same oils, much more easily. You will have to filter out the vegetation, somehow, or let it settle. I 'prepare' my 70%, but you may be able to purchase 95% thru state liquor store. Bacardi used to make 75% rum, a bit expensive, but doable. The extract keeps well in freezer. Good luck.