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Danek said:
I've heard of people soaking their hops in vodka before dry-hopping with them, as a way of minimising the risk of infection. Whilst I don't think that'd be really necessary, it might be one way to reduce the spoliage you talk about if you wanted to add pot at the bottling stage.

Good call - don't know if I'll try again though. The parts are better than the sum in my experience. Nothing like a good smoke and HB on a Friday evening.
 
I agree whole-heartedly...the parts are better than the sum. I suppose being on disability for 1 year has made me a mad-scientist of sorts....way too much time on my hands!!
 
sipNswirl said:
she can't handle the smell of a brew on the stove (although enjoys drinking the finished product)...

I've never understood that... when I first started out and was brewing extract in the kitchen, I *loved* the smell of malt and hops! Still do when I clean up in the kitchen...

And to chime in, weed is best combined with beer when you have each in one hand :D
 
Have you ever put beer in a bong and then drank it afterward? It seems like (to me) that it would taste like this, but with hop flavor. Bong water is not good.:eek:
 
Aclay said:
Have you ever put beer in a bong and then drank it afterward? It seems like (to me) that it would taste like this, but with hop flavor. Bong water is not good.:eek:

It would not taste like bong water at all. THC is not water solluble. Most of the stuff mixed in with bong water is byproducts of cumbustion of organic matter.
 
I just had a "hemp brew" in amsterdam. I was really excited, hops and weed being related and all.. The beer smelled nice (and kind), but tasted rather flat (like a bland lager), and definately DIDN't get me high. I suspect "dry hemping", but I wonder what boiling would do... (probably make really spicy ice cream)

spliff and a beer, anyone?
 
EricK The Red said:
This explains how "crafty" some of us are when inventing tools of the trade. ;)

I've known stoners who couldn't change a lightbulb without written instructions, but when they need a pipe they suddenly transform into MacGyver.
 
There is some stuff called "Everclear" that you can get south of the border. Its like 160 proof and burns but very little taste. Put it in that.

Or

Mix it with cookie dough. Instant magical cookies.
 
jiffybrew said:
There is some stuff called "Everclear" that you can get south of the border. Its like 160 proof and burns but very little taste. Put it in that.

Or

Mix it with cookie dough. Instant magical cookies.

Dude you can by Everclear in almost any liquor store in the US.
 
I had some hemp beer while in Switzerland during a high school european trip. My tripmates and I bought out the bar's entire stock. It can be done, and it is FANTASTIC.
 
solbergg said:
I had some hemp beer while in Switzerland during a high school european trip. My tripmates and I bought out the bar's entire stock. It can be done, and it is FANTASTIC.

AWESOME! I'd like to know more about that beer! I bottled the batch this weekend and it tasted great. I'm anxious to try it once it's all carbed up.
 
BlindLemonLars said:
I've known stoners who couldn't change a lightbulb without written instructions, but when they need a pipe they suddenly transform into MacGyver.

ROFLOL!....:rockin:
 
john from dc said:
this is pretty much what i understand. you need fat or strong alcohol to extract anything useful. seems like it'd be possible to make a potion by steeping it in 151 or wild turkey or something, then adding that at bottling time.

possibly useful for us apartment dwellers who don't want to be too obvious. but as has been said above i'm skeptical that the resulting product would be better than its components.

Alcohol is one of the ways to make hash oil. You steep your dried herb in alcohol overnight and then strain out the vegetable matter and use heat to evaporate off the alchol. You can even use 99% rubbing alcohol since you are going evaporate it off anyway. The other way is a butane extraction. If you do either just make sure you ventilate well because alcohol and butane vapors are flammable (obviously. . . I'm sure we all know that but it doesn't hurt to CYA). I'm in OR so I can confess to being a former grower and that's what I did with all my shake and underdeveloped lower buds. You can also make some Ice hash or canna-butter.
 
sipNswirl said:
AWESOME! I'd like to know more about that beer! I bottled the batch this weekend and it tasted great. I'm anxious to try it once it's all carbed up.

I really wish I could tell you more about it, but high school was 10 years ago. The bar was attached to the hotel we were staying in at a small skiing village called Wengen up in the Jungfrau mountain range. The beer supplier was the son of the hotel owner. He had a full line of hemp products for sale, in addition to the beer. He showed up a picture of the hemp fields, I've never seen so many marijuana plants in my life. Now, I don't think the beer had any THC in it, as all it did was get us drunk. But the taste was really, really good. One of the best beers I have had in my life. So there is potential - don't give up if you don't get it right the first time!
 
Sounds interesting enough - I might try it for the novelty if someone has a good recipe and good amount to put in.

What would you call it? Puffenweizen? :p
 
Can someone elaborate on the butane extraction method. Next question is the shake you used swag, mids, or dank?
 
I dont have any personal experience with this, but you can use the stuff one of 2 ways either for flavor aroma and maybe bittering, or for the drug. My understanding is that THC is fat and alcohol soluble since i cant think of any beer that would have enough fat I'd go with strong alcohol (ethanol to be safe)maybe around 70% Abv. I've read that the drug can be extracted from all parts of the plant in alcohol but unless you want to add the flavor of what ever alcohol you use to the beer id make this extraction and add it to the boil around the same time as the bittering hops. all the alcohol should boil off. Something im not sure about is once the alcohol boils off will the THC stay in the beer or settle to the bottom with the trub since its not really water soluble, maybe someone else can answer this? to use it for flavor aroma or bittering you can most likely use it the same way as hops during the boil or dry hopping.
 
VA Brew said:
Can someone elaborate on the butane extraction method. Next question is the shake you used swag, mids, or dank?

Hey I sent you a PM. I'd rather not publish any detailed info in public because not only is it somewhat inappropriate but it's also both legally and very physically dangerous information.
 
What would you call it? Puffenweizen? :p

hahah, YES....fantastic! I'll update this thread in a couple more weeks once it has conditioned a bit longer. this is round 1 to see how the tastes match up, and so far so good. we have a bottle of everclear on the way for round 2...:cross:
 
i apologize if this thread took a turn away from the brewing aspect of this sensitive topic (to some). I was curious if it's been used in brewing...i already know you can make oil and the like....maybe if we keep up with the topic we can keep it related to brewing.
 
sipNswirl said:
i apologize if this thread took a turn away from the brewing aspect of this sensitive topic (to some). I was curious if it's been used in brewing...i already know you can make oil and the like....maybe if we keep up with the topic we can keep it related to brewing.

Yes, getting back to the original idea, I love the smell of both hops and marijuana, although I don't partake in the latter. It seems that dry hopping with it could have great effects, if you can find a reasonably cheap source.

I don't know much about THC extraction, specifically whether to maximize or minimize its content in beer. I just read a little bit about using solvents such as alcohol or butane to extract it and create honey oil.

I guess my question is, if you only want the flavor and no THC, can you only dry-hop with it, and avoid much or any THC extraction?

And secondarily, if one were so inclined to go for as much extraction as possible, would you make honey oil via butane or grain alcohol and put it in the keg, or just use a very high alcohol content liquor for extraction, let it sit, and then dump all that in the keg?
 
Most of the herbally enhanced beers I have heard of are of American origin and invariably this is using roasted hemp seeds in the mash. I don't know if anybody is commercially using the flowering tops to brew with. Although, some experimentation has led me to believe that the result of dry-hemping isn't work the expenditure. If you like a musty herbal (not aromatic in the way of the original dry smell) beer, something that tastes more like cork than kind - by all means try it.

If anybody does any experimentation with it and experiences satisfactory results, please let me know of it. But I still stand by the enjoying them side by side - because of the poor results that I had.

I wouldn't bother with adding an extract to the beer, you would be better off dropping in a vial of something :fro: if you're wanting to drink your drugs.
 
I haven't done anything of the sort myself (I have a few too many drug screenings to consider it), but I came across this a while back:

For those of you pondering and now thinking about using a little "stash" in your wash, there are a few things that should be understood before you do. First, if Marijuana was to be used unprocessed (i.e. strait from your stash without any alteration other than separation, like you would do if you were going to use it to smoke), the water solubles in the unprocessed plant would dissolves in the brew, leading to a POWERFUL off-taste.

What should be done is to soak the herb by placing it in a nylon mesh bag. Fill a large container (I was going to use the word "pot," but then I figured I might confuse a few people with the terms) with TEPID water. (the reason for TEPID water is because the dissolution rate of THC -- the active substance in marijuana that gets a person "high" -- occurs in hot water; therefore the oil from the THC glands become thinner and may be released from heavier gland, by which causes a loss of the WANTED oil. This is the reason that TEPID water is used). Soak the herb in the TEPID water for one hour. Then squeeze the water from the vegetation, allowing the water to run back into the container, and allow the vegetation matter to soak for another hour. Repeat this process several times. Most of the pigments and tannin are released in several one-hour soakings.

It should be known that when soaking the herb in water, even TEPID water, some THC glands may fall off during the soaking and squeezing process. These THC glands can be collected from the bottom of the large container, after the herb has been removed, by draining the water through a coffee filter. You can discard the water after you are satisfied that you have collected all of the glands that you can. The collected glands on the filter can be dried and smoked -- these glands are very purse and potent, so beware. If you don't want to smoke them, you could (should) add then to your brew.

After the final soaking/rinse, the herb is ready to go into the brew. Well, almost. You must dry the wet vegetation. To dry the herb, take kitchen wire racks -- the kind used for cooling cookies and such -- and place one paper towel over the rack. Then gently spread the herb loosely over the paper towel covered wire rack. The paper towel draws some of the moister away from the plant material, while the wire rack allows for air circulation underneath the herb, hence quicker drying. You should store the herb that is being dried in a warm dark location until dried. Time for drying depends on the environment, so check the herb often and turn the vegetation over as needed to allow for even drying.

There are other ways to dry the herb as well. You may use a food dehydrator if one is available to you. Check the instructions for proper use of drying herb-like items. You may even, but I am not quick to recommend, use your microwave to aid in the drying process. To use the microwave, loosely place the herb on a paper towel lined microwave safe plate and place in the microwave. Heat the herb on HIGH for 30 SECONDS. Check the herb, if it is still wet, turn the herb and put it in for another 30 SECONDS. Continue the 30 SECOND cycle until the herb is dry and almost crumbly. You do not want to turn the plant black, brown, or have it so dry that it becomes powder after you touch it. Using the microwave to dry herb is a skill, so you may want to try your hand at drying different herbs before you try your hand on this no-so-cheap herb. Now that it is dry, you are ready to go.

There are many ways that you can incorporate your, now processed, herb into different types of drinks. For a "double buzz" beer, just brew up your favorite batch of beer as you normally would. Then add your processed marijuana, in a nylon mesh bag, to your fermenting beer 3-4 days BEFORE you bottle. This gives the alcohol in the fermenting beer enough time to dissolve the THC. The marijuana will lend a small amount of flavor to the beer, due to the residual water solubles the have remained in the processed herb.

The same can be done for whiskey. Add the marijuana to your whiskey mash 1 week before to put your mash into the still. The THC oils will be carried over with your flavorful alcohol. I don't recommend this process with a fractioning/reflux still, as that type of still may keep back some of the desired THC that you have worked so hard to get. MY recommendation is to use a pot still only.

You can also add the processed herb you liquors and other "botanical" brews. An interesting experiment would be to try an Absinthe recipe with and/or without the Wormwood. Now there is an extremely illegal drink waiting to happen.

Some people have taken their processed herb and added it to strait spirit. But they didn't do this to drink it. They did it so that they can later extract THC oil. The process goes like this: take your processed herb and put it into a jar. Take HIGH proof spirit and pour it over the herb until it just covers the herb. Let this sit covered for a week, remembering to shake the jar 2-3 times a day. After the week is up, pour this solution into a double boiler (preferably on an electric stove/hot plate). Then gently bring the solution up to a gentile simmer. What happens next is the alcohol is slowly being evaporated, while leaving behind the THC oil. Mind you, THC is heat sensitive, so you will lose some of the oil due to the heating process. When you are done, you are left with a THC oil concentration. Most people then use this oil to dip their cigarettes into to enjoy an interesting smoke. Other people take a small amount of the oil and re-dissolve it into a shot worth of vodka and take the solution sublingually to achieve the THC affects without smoking. Other people add it to their cooking. The list could go on.

Now, this e-mail is not my endorsement for using marijuana, or any other illegal plant or drug, in any form or fashion. This is knowledge being passed on for educational use only. It is not to be put into use in any form or fashion.

From homedistiller.org. Targeted towards distillers, but the processing information is certainly useful.
 
And secondarily, if one were so inclined to go for as much extraction as possible, would you make honey oil via butane or grain alcohol and put it in the keg, or just use a very high alcohol content liquor for extraction, let it sit, and then dump all that in the keg?

From what I understand you would soak the material in grain alcohol for a few days (maybe a week), then dump into the bottling bucket/keg at that time. This is what I'm going to try next. I just had a delivery of grain alcohol from Alberta (haha, can't buy it in BC) so I'd like to see how that works. Ideally I would like to extract the THC so this sounds like the best method.
I tried the dry-hemped beer after 1 week in the bottles to see how the flavours are coming through and I'm really impressed. At first I thought the shake was going to overpower the rest of the flavours, but it has really balanced out and allowed the bittering hops and malt flavours to come through. There is a slight fruity/sweet flavour on the back of my tongue from the shake that almost tastes a bit like bubble-gum. I think if I were to dry-hemp again I would use 1oz because I think I may lose most of the flavour as time goes on.
 
Thanks RadicalEd! that's an interesting article. Sounds like I should be processing the herb first in the method stated. Now i have rnd 3 planned!
 
That article does seem plausible and perhaps the majority of dissatisfaction with my results was the pigment and tannins (not counting the one's that spoiled) causing a strange flavor. Perhaps I should reread said article and look at the process again.

Until I read that I had given up the idea - thanks RadicalEd
 
so back to what you were all talking about earlier with brewing with herb. There are a few "hemp" ales on the market however a beverage called green dragon is weed and vodka or everclear. If you let it sit for around 3 -6 months you get a bright green beverage with high content of thc. as for brewing it in beer, not admiting anything- the longer it sits the more of the active ingredients leech out. Beer doesnt have enough alcohol content to act as a solvent so you would probably be better off with wine. Maybe a MEAD?
 
EricK The Red said:
Wow, the doob smokers are coming out of the woodwork! This explains how "crafty" some of us are when inventing tools of the trade. ;)

I think that there are something that just go hand-in-hand, like hotdogs and baseball, MJ and little boys (j/k) and a nice fatty and a beer!

A buddy of mine came back from Cali this past summer with a couple of the best pints of hemp-brew. I will have to track down the name, but they had an awesome "green" earthy flavor. The beer was an Ale, I would guess IPA. Strong ABV and it did seem to have a good extra kick in it.

Good luck, and I would like to be first one to ask for a copy of this recipe when its complete!!

Prost
 
dirtymike1 said:
Good luck, and I would like to be first one to ask for a copy of this recipe when its complete!!

Prost

You're right dude....when the kitchen is full of people running around, things boiling, timers timing, and stress is rising....gotta spark one up to bring it down a notch.

I can post the recipe (when i have it infront of me). It's a blonde ale recipe from the LHBS. The shake we ended up using was chernobyl, which gave it a really fruity/sweet aftertaste. There is NO major upfront ganja flavour...just a sweet afterthought on the back of your tongue. To be honest we thought this would be a novelty beer where you choke one back and pretend it's good....but it's really something you can drink all night long (so far 1 hangover and counting)...and for the ladies a slice of lemon is perfect for the summer patio days.
 
i can speak for the tastiness of this beer! it makes your tongue tingle and slightly numb up similar to a honey ale. i definitely want to try and make my own at some point.
 
Out of curiosity, if one were to use some really cheap, low-quality weed that smells like hay, how much of the flavor would transfer to the final product after soaking it in a high-alcohol solution for a week? Is the beer going to have a hay-like aroma? Or does that mostly go away?
 
Sounds like such a waste of the weeeeeeed. Would it not be better to just chew on a little bud while wetting your whistle with a homebrew. You will definately get the both the flavor and effect that way. Not that I have ever done anything like that myself.;)
 
personally i didn't find much of the flavor or effects there but the character it added was still quite unique. i'm not the brewer of this so i can't speak fully of it as i only had a taster glass worth.

if you were to use a bunch of trimmings, which in BC aren't terribly hard to get really cheap, it wouldn't be too expensive.
 
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