Hop teas?

[McCall St. Brewer]

The IPA recipe I have calls for making a hop tea and adding it to the beer after the blow-off stage is finished. What I am wondering is would it be best to add it to the primary as soon as fermentation calms down, or could I add it when I rack to the secondary?

Do many people use hop teas? Does it work well?

 

[homebrewer_99]

I've made and used hop teas to up the bitterness.

All I did was boil 1/2 gal of water for 1 hour and 1 oz of hops and let it cool. (The house smelled like someone smoked a couple of joints).

I added the tea by the cupful. One cup at a time. Stir and let sit for a while to allow the hops to blend in. Sample it after an hour. Need more hops? Add another cup. Repeat the process until it is bitter enough for you.

I would add it to the secondary after you transfer. You wouldn't want to add it to the primary because you'd have to stir up all that yeast cake and let it clear again. Waste of time.

 

[DAAB]

I've made and used hop teas to up the bitterness.

All I did was boil 1/2 gal of water for 1 hour and 1 oz of hops and let it cool. (The house smelled like someone smoked a couple of joints).

You'd imagine

I'm not to sure about continualy adding 'hop teas' until you acheive the desired level of bitternes. I've found that the hop bitternes can develop in the cask/keg/bottle and what may seem like an underhopped beer at that stage can be too hoppy after a month or so's conditioning and maturing. I've had what appeared to be a bland beer go into the cask and ended up with one that has a pleasant amount of bite and I do tend to prefer hoppy beers.

You may want to consider making up a tea with just a small amount of hops to start off and keep a record, if it turns out that it could have used some more you can increase it for the next recipe. Its a bit like a chilli..you can have one with the perfect level of heat, however a few more chillis and it could have been ruined.

(although i'm sure that analogy will be lost the "I use Tabasco eyedrops and Peri Peri nasal spray" crowd)

 

[homebrewer_99]

(although i'm sure that analogy will be lost the "I use Tabasco eyedrops and Peri Peri nasal spray" crowd)

Sounds like some people are prepping for Hell!