hop beginner...little help?

[jcomp]

Hi all...after research here is where I'm at. I have a few plants growing along the house here....after harvest, is it good to immediatley use hops for your brewing?...I read that hops are better used when dryed to 10-25% of their original moisture. I have also read that when hops are picked they immediatley lose their integrity, and value...this kind of contradicts for me. If we are taking time to dry hops, does this also hinder the qualities of the hops? Do we only do the drying process if we plan on packaging them? Any help would be great!

 

[rwinzing]

You want to dry your hops to get a lot of that mouisture out of them. If you plan on storing them for any amount of time you need to dry them.

You can use fresh hops in brewing it is called "wet hops" they infuse a different taste depending on the variety.

There are some brews out there that are wet hopped if you want to try and see what I mean

 

[jcomp]

I see...i have read that home brewers will set theirs out on a screen to dry them for a few days before using. I guess if they were to try a wet hop, they would immediatley use it after harvest?...Still though with a couple day drying process does it ruin the hops' potential at all?

 

[Andrea]

Properly dried hops at 12% don't lose any alpha acid. Too dry and they shatter and lose lupulin from the glands: too wet they rot or mold.

The cohumolone factor makes storage interesting but we all use hops from last year's harvest so the hops either in pellet or cone form dried still are useful in beer for their aroma and their bittering

" I have also read that when hops are picked they immediatley lose their integrity, and value"
What are you reading exactly? Nothing loses its integrity instantly-- except maybe virgin hookers

 

[jcomp]

Ok, so if I want to save some hops for friends to use. If I can dry them properly, can I vaccum pack the whole flower?

 

[EvilTOJ]

Yes, that's what most people do. Hops aren't delicate little things that will spoil within moments of picking. Just dry them and vacuum seal them and they'll store for a long time. Keeping them in the freezer prolongs their shelf life. I've had some hops in the freezer over a year that were still quite aromatic when I opened them later.