How to get the hop tea method right

[Ali01]

I want to add strong hop aroma to my homebrew, I tried the hop tea method last time, with some Mt hood hops, but it gave little no none aroma, just a little flavor, this time, I want to use columbus hops, they have a strong herbal aroma, I'm gonna soak them in some sterlized cold water, cover the top with food covering and place the jar in the fridge, let it sit for a week, then mix it with the beer, will that work? Does it even help if I put them in the fridge? Will it slow the aroma extraction time? I wanna get less bitterness from this

 

[IslandLizard]

Hop teas have never worked for me. Most likely reason is you can't make a strong enough extract that way, when diluted into a relatively large volume of beer, to be noticeable.

Why not dry hopping your fermented beer as everyone else does?
Just add the hops when fermentation has completed, and let them steep/extract for a few days. We make hop drenched IPAs that way, and NEIPAs, which have little to moderate bitterness.

You can also add them while chilling your wort (called whirlpool hops or hop stand), when it has cooled to around 140F (60C) and steep at that temp for 15-30 minutes. A little stirring will help. That will give it much flavor, and also aroma while adding very little bitterness. Then chill down to ferm temps.
You probably could steep them at somewhat lower temps (100-120F, 40-50C), but I've never tried.

 

[Alan Reginato]

I want to add strong hop aroma to my homebrew, I tried the hop tea method last time, with some Mt hood hops, but it gave little no none aroma, just a little flavor, this time, I want to use columbus hops, they have a strong herbal aroma, I'm gonna soak them in some sterlized cold water, cover the top with food covering and place the jar in the fridge, let it sit for a week, then mix it with the beer, will that work? Does it even help if I put them in the fridge? Will it slow the aroma extraction time? I wanna get less bitterness from this

I did a lot of experiments about it. I only found out that there's a reason why some things are done in a certain way.
Hop tea must be hot and it's useful to improve bitterness. Flavours, not that much, and (to me) leaves a "soapy" taste behind, if made with plain water. No matter if it's filtered or acidified. With wort should be mixed with all of it, because of solubility. Don't expect too much aroma or essential oil derived flavours.
Also, it's better add before fermentation ends. Oxygen is a concern and the only time I got a slight stale flavour, was when I did added a hop tea a few days prior bottling.
My suggestion, do whirlpool additions. Check temperature suggestions. Below certain point (80 C) isomerisation is minimal, so bitterness too. But time should be longer.
Or dry hoping. I kind didn't like the flavours it imparts to beer, but it's a matter of personal preference.

Good luck!

 

[skunkape]

Yeah, If you want aroma, dry hopping would be the way to go. Or maybe boil the hops for 10 mins or so as if they were an aroma hop add at the end of the boil. If you want to use a tea for bittering, I would boil the hops for 60 mins like they would have if you'd tossed them in to begin with.

I've only used hop teas to stop a fast sour and in those beers, hops weren't all that important otherwise.

 

[fluketamer]

hop teas are tough as others have said. i have had best luck with flavoring in whirpool . i get better hop flavors with whirlpool than with dry hopping. im prolly not dry hopping correctly though. i imagine if i time it right in the fermentation i could get better dry hopping results as that seems to be the most common method of adding hop aroma and flavor.

 

[Yesfan]

For those that dry hop, what is the best time? Right at the start of fermentation? During the active part? Near the end, or at the end?

 

[day_trippr]

At the beginning of this year I was convinced to give the framework of the Scott Janish prescribed dry hop regimen a try - and I liked the result so much I've stuck with it for every batch since. I let the yeast fully finish their task, "soft crash" to 50°F, add the hops for 48 hours (I pulverize the pellets in a Cuisinart first to maximize contact), then hard crash (I go for 36°F) for two days (I always crash with 0.4psi CO2 pressure applied to the fermentors) before a closed transfer to fermentation gas purged kegs (which have been injected with 1 tsp of ascorbic acid dissolved in ~30ml of water before racking).

The hop intensity is as bold as ever - confirming what I had read years ago that ~85% of the bang from dry hopping with pellets is typically extracted in the first 24 hours. The rest of my process - O2 avoidance and a little help from Vitamin C - is to keep that flavor and brightness in the beer.

I used to do the "bio transformation" thing a few years ago when neipas became huge (after lurking for years) but that was a bit of a hit or miss across the few yeast strains with the many hop strains I've used. It may still have a worthwhile contribution to consider, but I've moved on in the name of simplicity and repeatability

Cheers!

 

[fluketamer]

For those that dry hop, what is the best time? Right at the start of fermentation? During the active part? Near the end, or at the end?

off the top of my head (google) its "Generally it is best to dry hop towards the tail end of your primary fermentation period. Visually you can gauge this as the frothy krausen (surface of the beer) begins to diminish, typically day 4-5 of your fermentation period."