contamination from hops?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
Messages
20
Reaction score
8
Should I be concerned about wild yeasty stuff in my fresh hops? I have some that I was planning to add (dry hop) to my next batch. The last time I used some fresh hops, I soaked them in alcohol (vodka) before pitching them in.
 
Short answer: No.

Long answer: As you read more into the topic and gain more experience, you’ll find that contamination from hops is generally not a thing. As in 99.9% of the time.

Hops were used as a beer preservative in “pre-starsan” times for a reason.

I have dry hopped with whole cone hops many times. Never once had a contamination. I would suggest, actually drying your dry hops before “dry hopping”. Fresh hops often (Inevitably) have a some bugs in them. Those could harbor nasty bacteria. But they will 100% vacate the hops once you dry them. Fresh hops are best for the boil and whirlpool, IMHO.

Relax. Don’t worry. Have a home brew. Add whole cone hops to your beer with reckless abandon, but for the love of all that is holy, don’t ever mix hops and vodka again. 😜
 
Last edited:
Short answer: No.

Long answer: As you read more into the topic and gain more experience, you’ll find that contamination from hops is generally not a thing. As in 99.9% of the time.

Hops were used as a beer preservative in “pre-starsan” times for a reason.

I have dry hopped with whole cone hops many times. Never once had a contamination. I would suggest, actually drying your dry hops before “dry hopping”. Fresh hops often (Inevitably) have a some bugs in them. Those could harbor nasty bacteria. But they will 100% vacate the hops once you dry them. Fresh hops are best for the boil and whirlpool, IMHO.

Relax. Don’t worry. Have a home brew. Add whole cone hops to your beer with reckless abandon, but for the love of all that is holy, don’t ever mix hops and vodka again. 😜
Do you bottle?
If yes, how many times have you used fresh hops on the cold side?
 
I have not bottled in a few years. Never added fresh hops on the cold side. That said, I always add my dry hop addition before bottling or kegging.

Either way, the number of small bugs, (beetles, aphids, spiders, black/green unidentified) I’ve seen crawling around in the bottom of my hop collection bucket, gives me pause in adding fresh/wet hops on the cold side.

Just my opinion.
 
Right, so to answer the OP's question, wet hops can very easily cause a contamination when added on the cold side.
 
Right, so to answer the OP's question, wet hops can very easily cause a contamination when added on the cold side.

Maybe. I wouldn’t say contamination is a certainty. It’s just not something I am personally willing to test, based on my observations. For cold side, I certainly think drying is better than soaking in vodka. If you were to pick some fresh hops today and dry them for 1-2 days, You will retain the vast majority of the good stuff.

Adding 25-50 wet oz of fresh hop as a hot whirlpool addition will give you an insane amount of hop flavor and aroma.

The dry hop addition is just bonus when we’re dealing with super fresh hops.

If the OP or you or anyone wants to add fresh hops on the cold side, by all means! As homebrewers we do what we please here. :). The more data points the better. Just be sure to report back your findings related to fresh hop dry hopping.
 
Last edited:
I bottle. I'm not worried about bugs. I can filter them out (or, since I decant off of the yeast left in a bottle, maybe I won't see them). I'll dry hop with "reckless abandon" fresh hops just off the bine in a small batch off the side of my main batch, and let you know.
 
When you add raw plant material to your fermenter, there's a 100% certainty it will be contaminated with wild microbes. There no "maybe" in this case.
 
I’ve been wondering about how to try out my hops fresh. Unfortunately it can be difficult to coordinate a brew day around the job of harvesting the hops and drying what you don’t use day of. Wet hopping while you already have a beer chillin in a fermentor sounds convenient to me but also wondering about contamination. When wet-hopping on the cold side, I think to combat the chance of contamination, wait til the beer has dropped in pH and has considerable alcohol level. I’d also bag them. Maybe keg with them. Here is a thread where some guys talk more about this topic

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/bine-to-dryhop-dry-hopping-with-wet-hops.586519/
 
Any plant material is crawling with wild yeast and bacteria. Literal "bugs" are not the issue. If kegging, you may be able to get away with contaminating your beer because cold temperature will suppress microbial growth. If bottling, it's a much bigger issue, especially if stored at room temperature. The safest practice would be to add them at flame out.

FYI commercial hops are processed with heat to eliminate microbes. Commercial beers are often filtered and/or pasteurized to provide microbial stability.
 
Any plant material is crawling with wild yeast and bacteria. Literal "bugs" are not the issue. If kegging, you may be able to get away with contaminating your beer because cold temperature will suppress microbial growth. If bottling, it's a much bigger issue, especially if stored at room temperature. The safest practice would be to add them at flame out.

FYI commercial hops are processed with heat to eliminate microbes. Commercial beers are often filtered and/or pasteurized to provide microbial stability.

How many batches have you had spoiled on account of dry hopping? I’ve had zero.

I understand where you’re coming from, but disagree completely. Commercial hops are NOT heated in a kiln to kill microbes. It’s done to quickly dry out thousands of lbs of hops. By doing this they ensure their product does not spoil and they can make room for the next variety’s harvest. Hop harvest dates vary by variety. 1 day of drying vs 3 days of dry time does make a difference to those guys. Most kilns don’t heat near hot enough kill all microbes anyway.

My point about the insects is that they harbor bacteria.

And I’m pretty sure most craft breweries don’t pasteurize. I’m happy to ping a craft brewer I know to confirm.

All that said, I stand by my statement that hops act as a natural preservative. There is plenty of literature out there to back me up. So as long as you throw enough hops in, maybe all of this infection talk is pointless.
 
How many batches have you had spoiled on account of dry hopping? I’ve had zero.
We're talking about dry hopping with wet hops. You already said you have no experience with that.

Some part of the processing of commercial hops kills the microbes; I'm not entirely sure what. Indeed it's clear that dry hopping with commercial hops is not a big contamination risk, in contrast to fresh wet hops or any other plant materials.

I’m pretty sure most craft breweries don’t pasteurize. I’m happy to ping a craft brewer I know to confirm.
If you do, make sure it's one that uses unprocessed wet hops on the cold side. Also ask about centrifuging or other methods that can remove or kill microbes.

I stand by my statement that hops act as a natural preservative. There is plenty of literature out there to back me up. So as long as you throw enough hops in, maybe all of this infection talk is pointless.
Hops inhibit gram positive bacteria. More specifically, the isomerized alpha acids (and probably some other components) are bacteriostatic against these gram positives, which include but are not limited to lactic acid bacteria.

Hops do not inhibit:
  • yeast
  • mold
  • gram negative bacteria
  • gram positive bacteria that have built up a hop tolerance
... All of which will be found on the wet hops.
Cheers

Edit: whoops, polarity issue ;)
 
Last edited:
We're talking about dry hopping with wet hops. You already said you have no experience with that.

Some part of the processing of commercial hops kills the microbes; I'm not entirely sure what. Indeed it's clear that dry hopping with commercial hops is not a big contamination risk, in contrast to fresh wet hops or any other plant materials.


If you do, make sure it's one that uses unprocessed wet hops on the cold side. Also ask about centrifuging or other methods that can remove or kill microbes.


Hops inhibit gram positive bacteria. More specifically, the isomerized alpha acids (and probably some other components) are bacteriostatic against these gram positives, which include but are not limited to lactic acid bacteria.

Hops do not inhibit:
  • yeast
  • mold
  • gram negative bacteria
  • gram positive bacteria that have built up a hop tolerance
... All of which will be found on the wet hops.
Cheers

Edit: whoops, polarity issue ;)

Interesting points. The reason why I have no experience dry hopping with fresh hops is that it always seemed like a bad idea. Seems like we’re discussing two sides of the same coin.

So I guess we can agree that dry hopping with fresh hops is either hazardous or potentially hazardous with respect to beer spoilage.

Hopefully this discussion has been useful and/or entertaining to the OP.

Cheers all!
🍻
 
Back
Top