My brother-in-law grows hops and I picked about a pound Saturday. That seems to equate to about 4 oz. of dried hops given what his weights have been in other harvests. I have them in a paper bag. I have just been shaking the paper bag each morning. I have seen/read people putting hops on furnace filters and using a box fan to blow on them to dry them out. My question is this - can I just dry them out in the paper bag over a few weeks or will the hops turn bad using this free method? I don't really want to spend $20 on a fan and $8 on furnace filters to dry $6 worth of hops. Or, should I just brew with them over Labor Day and it would be a 'medium' wet-hopped ale...?
Is Paper bag ok?
- Thread starter eadavis80
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triethylborane
Well-Known Member
The bag is fine. You'd also be fine just letting them open dry in a cool, dark place, like a cellar.
It might be fine in the bag - or - they might start to mold. There are a lot of factors: ambient humidity, airflow, how packed it is, etc...
Laying them out in single layer would be more foolproof. Do you have any spare widow screens? A single layer on an elevated screen would be even better. Place a fan in the room (not directly blowing on the cones, and you would be in great shape.
Laying them out in single layer would be more foolproof. Do you have any spare widow screens? A single layer on an elevated screen would be even better. Place a fan in the room (not directly blowing on the cones, and you would be in great shape.
In order for them to dry, they have to be separated out so airflow can get all around them. I guess if you live in Arizona, they may dry anyway but for a regular amount of humidity I'd spread them out in the open air.
I put mine on some mosquito netting (because I had it) and suspend from a bedpost to a closet in an upstairs spare room. The windows are open, and it's warm and dry up there but if it wasn't getting airflow, I'd turn on a fan.
I put mine on some mosquito netting (because I had it) and suspend from a bedpost to a closet in an upstairs spare room. The windows are open, and it's warm and dry up there but if it wasn't getting airflow, I'd turn on a fan.
I use an old window screen. But to dry herbs from the garden I have punched holes in a paper bag with a holepunch and hung them in the basement near the furnace. Works well for oregano and basil, probably would work for hops.
I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag like BIAB.
The garage doesn't get any direct sunlight so I have them there. Airflow is not great in there, however. But, after about 10 a.m. my covered patio doesn't receive anymore sunlight so I can move them there each day to get some more air going.
I'd rather have them spread out, and not in a bag, so air can flow around them. If you can just spread them out on the bag, that would be best.
Turkeyshot
Well-Known Member
I have laid my hops out on a baking pan in the kitchen before. Then just mixed them up by hand a few times a day. A couple of days later they were good to go, and smelling great.
Well, on picking day I had 11.7 oz. and a week later I had about 4.5 so I think they were decently dried out. I used 3 oz in a pale ale. I'll probably dry hop with the balance. We'll see how it turns out. Just used pale ale LME, light DME and a pound of caramel 40 to steep with Safale 05. Keeping it simple and hopefully it's a nice crisp refreshing football season pint.
Good luck with it. I have made simple extract batches to test a hop, with good results.
That seems low. Or rather, high in the weight still remaining.
Generally, from a pound of wet hops I'll get about 3 ounces of dried hops or so.
Well, maybe I should have given them another week to dry them out more, but whatever. It's fermenting now so what's done is done. I'm totally okay with a 20ish IBU "pale ale' that's really not to style if the IBU's are that low, but whatever. As long as it tastes okay I'll be happy. The best teacher is experience after all.
madscientist451
Well-Known Member
I leave my hops in a closed sun porch that gets pretty hot during the day.
If you have a big colander, that would work or even a cardboard box, I shake them around once or twice a day, they get pretty dry without using a fan.
If you have a big colander, that would work or even a cardboard box, I shake them around once or twice a day, they get pretty dry without using a fan.
Yeah, when my brother dried his out, he was right around losing 3/4-2/3 of their weight, so I was on the smaller end of that ratio. Anyway - I had time to brew so I used 'em. Whatever it makes, I'm guessing will at least be drinkable. It's not like I went crazy with some insane grain bill. Just used 6.3 pounds of extract and the hops with 05. We'll see...
Happily ever after!
triethylborane
Well-Known Member
INB4 "surely you lost some alpha acids!"
