Hop mash!

[bernerbrau]

This question comes out of a drunken conversation I had last night.

Humor me. I want to know your speculations and opinions here.

What would it take to get 1.020-1.030 worth of fermentables out of a mash made entirely out of hops? I mean, hops are plant matter, right? So there has to be some way of extracting fermentable sugar.

A standard mash probably wouldn't do it. The leaves would soak up the water so you'd need to compensate. A complete lack of enzymes would mean you'd have to track down and add your own conversion enzymes. But you'd also have to ensure that the enzymes didn't break down the tasty tasty hop acids.

Then you have the boil to worry about, oils dissolving and losing aroma/flavor and all that. It would probably wind up being bitter as siht and not necessarily drinkable. And it wouldn't be beer at all, but hop wine.

Did I miss anything here? What other considerations would there be?

 

[beerkrump]

I think the major issue would be the fact that straight vegetable matter has very little starch or sugar in it. Think of any vegetable that is not a tuber, legume, or fruit that you eat. Cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and celery are mostly fiber and vitamins, not much chemically stored energy (starch).

Most of the organic matter in plants consist of complex fibers that require specialized digestive systems and huge volumes to garner enough starches out of them for animals that eat them to survive. Plants are very efficient and only store energy where it will be needed. The hops seeds or rhizome would be the place to find starches.

 

[bernerbrau]

I was under the impression that fiber was a complex carbohydrate and therefore convertible to sugar under the right circumstances... so with the right enzymes and favorable conditions maybe. Again this is all hypothetical and speculative. A guy at my table went "wouldn't it be awesome to make a beer entirely out of hops?" after a few sips of Stone 13 and we started talking about what that might take.

Perhaps more beer is required to have this conversation.

 

[Bjornbrewer]

I agree with beerkrump, there's probably not enough starch. Not like malt or the starch/sugar adjuncts we typically use. it'd be like making beer from leaves.

Not to mention the fact you need barley to call it beer

 

[bernerbrau]

Hey, I know it's infeasible. That's why I said humor me. What, hypothetically, would it take, if someone had a gun to your head and said "make hop wine!"? Like two tons of hops just to extract enough sugars for a 5-gallon batch, that sort of thing.

I was just hoping we could get creative and not let a little thing like real life get in the way, since it's all speculation anyway...

 

[bernerbrau]

I suppose this is better in the Drunken Ramblings section... mods?

 

[wendelgee2]

You'd need to develop some serious enzymes or use bacteria to break down the fiber into usable sugars. You might be able to get them from ruminants (cows):

Chewing is the first step in processing the feed. This is no small task as the cow makes 40,000 to 60,000 jaw movements per day as it chews and rechews regurgitated feed. Then it passes down a 2 1/2 to 3 foot tube called the esophagus into a large fermentation vat of 40 to 50 gallon capacity. Here digestion of feed goes on by 500,000 billion bacteria and 50 billion protozoa living and multiplying there. These small organisms have several unique characteristics which allow the cow to thrive in situations which would be impossible for other animals to live. They digest fiber found in hay, silage, and pasture for energy, make protein from nitrogen, and synthesize B vitamins for their host, the cow.

By the time you get any sugar out of these hops, they're going to be so F-ing bitter and tannic your hair will curl.

 

[bernerbrau]

You'd need to develop some serious enzymes to break down the fiber into usable sugars. You might be able to get them from ruminants (cows).

Interesting. So like the rennets and stuff they use in cheesemaking? What effect would the enzymatic action have on the aromatic oils, alpha acids and such?

 

[bernerbrau]

Cellulase - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -- these guys could be useful. You can get 'em from protozoans... Heh. Nasty buggers.