Hop Candy recipe

[B-Hoppy]

Has anyone tried using hops in making fudge or chocolate/toffee?

I don't know if this answers your question completely but check it out: http://www.hopcandyinc.com/.

An acquaintance in the hop industry told me that the Brits used to do this years ago. I've never tried so I can't really say how it tastes.

 

[BrewCanuck]

Has anyone tried this with LME in place of corn syrup? Or Brown Rice Syrup for those Gluten Free brewers? The chemistry says it should work. If I can find a candy Thermometer maybe I'll give this a whirl this Weekend.

 

[Puckhead]

Apparently when I tried this the first time I didn't have enough "candy" to keep the thermometer off the bottom of the pan so I got false readings. It wouldn't harden completely. So I brought the oven to 310 and threw it in there for 3-6 mins and it worked like that in stages eventually cooking it all to the correct temp. But I had it near the temp prior to using the oven.

 

[Diaperload]

My mom makes hard candy all the time and here's a tip if you don't have a candy thermometer.

As you are cooking your hard candy get a glass of cool water. When you think the candy is almost done, drip a spoonful into the cool water. If it crackles, it's done. If you don't hear anything, keep cooking.

 

[IchLiebeBier]

I know the topic is a little old, but I just messed with this today with my own process.

Basically, I did a mini mash with half a pound of grain to test my efficiency with my new Barley Crusher. I ended up with .33 gln of 1.050 wort from US 2-row. I was looking for something to use it for, so I decided to try to make candy. I refrigerated it for about 5 hours due to my son's track meet, so all the cold break settled out before I used it.

I boiled the wort with 2 cups of sugar and .05 oz of Nugget hop pellets for 20 minutes. Then I added .05 oz of Cascade hop pellets for 10 minutes. I strained it, then cooked it to 300 deg, then poured out on wax paper.

It hasn't hardened like I wanted. It's more like a fudge right now, but it tastes really great. I think having the malt in there makes it taste so good. Also, it may have hardened up more if I had added 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, but I wanted to see if the wort was enough acid for the process.

Try it with malt next time. I think you'll like it.

 

[DerrangedPOJO]

Gonna have to try this! i have tasted the ones from the home brew shop and yep it was awesome!

 

[B-Hoppy]

Gonna have to try this! i have tasted the ones from the home brew shop and yep it was awesome!

Thanks man, some new ones to be available soon:

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

Thanks man, some new ones to be available soon:

Will you be selling a sample pack like the pic above? BTW everybody here at Candi Syrup, Inc. loves your products! You guys are doing a fantastic job.

 

[B-Hoppy]

I'd really like to because that's the way I'd like to see it happen, but it's just me and I don't have the resources/capabilities to make it happen at this point. The new ones are only going to be offered on a trial basis and I'm hoping to keep one or maybe two as full-time offerings, depending on feedback. I'm working with a few of my customers who sell on Amazon/eBay to see if they'll want to put together 'variety packs' or give some sort of price break when ordering more than 'x' bags and will let you know. Thanks for the support~

 

[ianw58]

Where can I buy these, BHoppy?

 

[B-Hoppy]

Morebeer sells only Cascade but you can try here for the others: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...op+candy"&_nkw="hop+candy"&_sacat=0&_from=R40. http://humboldtbeerworks.com/ocart/index.php?route=product/category&path=74
Jeff and Bonnie have some nice tank-tops also: http://hop-head-farms.myshopify.com/products/hhf-womens-tank

 

[DerrangedPOJO]

That looks tasty!!!!

 

[B-Hoppy]

Purple always was my favorite color!

 

[DerrangedPOJO]

have you ever tried bullion hops? Going to make them tomorrow night after we get mothers day all wrapped up!

 

[ianw58]

B-

I had a project in Santa Clara on Thursday, so I stopped by More Beer for some candy...Cascade only...

I'm really enjoying them.

However, they're a bit big. I've ended up whacking them in half to make them more "manageable".

Any chance of a sampler pack? Four or five each of a handful of hops would be great!

Sorachi ace might be nice.

 

[B-Hoppy]

POJO, Never Bullion or BG, but Chinook was my first and it didn't make too good of a candy?

ianw58, Thanks for trying but remember, you're still a rookie. Most of the veterans want bigger pieces, ha. Whacking is the best I can offer at this point. In all honesty, I only did about 3000 pounds last year and my candy maker would have to retool from that size to a smaller die for mine which would cost about $50,000 to accomplish. I'd rather continue to save up for the hot air balloon and maybe provide a nifty whacking tool/bottle-opener combo until the smaller pieces are within reach.

I wish I had the time and resources to do a mixed bag, but I'm having a hard time inventorying the original 3 varieties and am trying to work with a few customers to possibly accomplish this. Presently, the only sample/variety packs are available here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CHUFHP4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. StrangeBrew sells a 4-ounce bag with 7 pieces of each of the original three varieties and BeerLoved sells three bags (one of each variety) for a little bit of a discount. Don't get confused like the one guy who submitted the review did. Thanks again for trying~

 

[ianw58]

Oh well, B.

I'm not a hophead by any means, but these are really good.

Now, I need done Horlick's tablets to see if the combo makes beer...


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[B-Hoppy]

Great idea! I guess great minds think alike: http://www.lollyphile.com/products/ipa-beer-lollipops and https://jellybelly.com/info/promotions/beerBeanLaunch. Haven't tried either but I think it would be difficult to reproduce the flavor of "beer" in a non-beer product due to the many variables, reactions etc. that occur during the many steps of the brewing process. Time will tell!

 

[B-Hoppy]

Will you be selling a sample pack like the pic above? BTW everybody here at Candi Syrup, Inc. loves your products! You guys are doing a fantastic job.

These should be available through a seller on Amazon in a week or so. Due to some miscommunication between myself and the candyman, the Apollo and Zeus are almost indistinguishable (color-wise) and I apologize for that. The flavors of the two are very very different though with the Apollo giving me a 'melon' character and the Zeus tasting pretty much as it does when used late in a brew.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Just a quick update for anyone interested. Here's a customer who put together all 10 varieties in one bag: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M66RFV8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 Hoppy Trails~

 

[cbarnett5]

Sounds like a project I will have to try. A local brewer gave me about 15 pounds of older hops the other day, and I was wondering what to do with them.

 

[B-Hoppy]

I just saw this the other day and it looks like the hop extract is done with butter like some folks do with the other green bud: http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/29...-beer-enthusiast-producing-hops-infused-candy

 

[B-Hoppy]

A couple new varieties are making their way out to the public. Citra is pretty well known but the Target has a really cool spice/clove/wood/cedar thing going on, similar to rootbeer? FYI~

 

[slym2none]

Oh wow... I actually make home-made buttermints. Now I want to try a hop-flavoured version.



But, I will have to try this hard-candy first. I have some Columbus hops leftover from my last brew, I bet I can get some of my younger buddies to think I made candy using hops' cousin. When I opened the packet, that's all I could think of - how much the Columbus smelled like that other greenery.

 

[jinghcd]

i tried it a couple times, i could never get the candy to be "hard" candy, came out as a gooey texture both times

 

[slym2none]

i tried it a couple times, i could never get the candy to be "hard" candy, came out as a gooey texture both times

As mentioned earlier in this thread, you have to cook it beyond the "soft ball" stage. Get a candy thermometer and check out some hard candy recipes for reference.

*thumbsup*

 

[B-Hoppy]

As mentioned earlier in this thread, you have to cook it beyond the "soft ball" stage. Get a candy thermometer and check out some hard candy recipes for reference.

*thumbsup*

Good call! Lots of quality confection sources of information also suggest that making hard candy during times of high humidity will increase the chance of tackiness, very very true!

 

[B-Hoppy]

I'm sure many of us know there are commercial hop flavored candy available, but I think we can come up with a recipe to make our own. I tried to make one recently, that came out nice. It wasn't a hop bomb like the commercial counterpart, but I think its a good start to build upon. Hoping there are others out there that would like to run with the idea, and we can come up with a great recipe.

Here is what I did, based on this standard hard candy recipe

1.75 C Sugar
.75 C light corn syrup
.5 C water
Green food coloring
Hops of your choosing.

I used a French press, and steeped .5oz of cascade in 1 cup of 180 degree water for about 15 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the white sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Without stirring, heat to 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.

Remove from heat and stir in the hop water (SLOWLY) and food coloring. I ended up with it being too watery, so I cooked it down more, so it was thicker. I poured it onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Let cool, and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Please feel free to try and modify this recipe, and post your thoughts!

Any successes yet, it's almost Halloween!