How to Dry Hops in a Dehydrator

If you have taken to harvesting your own hops or even buying fresh hops directly from the source, you may be wondering about the best way to dry out your hops if you want to buy in bulk. And if you have a dehydrator on hand, this may be the way to go. So, how to dry hops in a dehydrator?

What Are Hops?

Let’s start with the plant itself to understand why you would even need to dry hops in the first place.

Hops are a conical plant that grows on a vine. There is a leaf, a flower, and a cone, and all of the various parts can be used as “hops” in brewing.

Originally, the plant was used by Babylonians, where the plant is native, as a vegetable.

And gradually over time, brewers replaced their existing herbs, a mixture called gruit, with hops because of the preservative power of hops.

You see, hops not only cut down on the sweetness of beer by adding bitterness as well as herbs and floral notes, but they also contribute a tremendous number of preservatives.

So while it took a while for brewers to adopt hops in place of gruit, once they were accepted, especially as the world opened up to exploration and global travel, they stuck.

What Is Dry Hopping?

Now, before we get into drying out your hops, it is important to clarify that drying hops is very different from dry hopping.

You can dry hop your beer with any kind of hops, from fresh to dried to pellets.

Dry hopping merely refers to the act of adding hops to your wort after boiling your grain rather than before.

Traditionally, hops, or gruit before that, were added with the grain during mash in, and all ingredients were boiled together.

When the wort cooled, the yeast was either naturally attracted to the sugars in the wort or added by the brewer, and fermentation would commence.

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Eventually, however, brewers caught on that adding hops after the boil allowed the floral and herbal notes of the hops to be brought out in the brew without the added bitterness that is a natural byproduct of boiling an herb.

Like with tea, the hotter you boil it and the longer you steep it, the more bitter your brew will get.

So while we want some bitterness to counterbalance the sweetness, we don’t always want our brew so bitter that we lose sight of all the other subtle tones of flavor and aroma.

Why Dry Hops?

As to actually drying out the hops, why would we want to do that?

Well, while hops are an excellent preservative, they don’t actually preserve themselves very well.

Indeed, fresh hops usually start to spoil within 48 hours of being picked.

So many brewers have taken to buying during harvest season in bulk and then drying the hops out for use in brewing year-round.

The benefits are obvious and numerous.

You can save a ton of money by buying your hops fresh directly from a trusted source in bulk, particularly if you know your supplier will harvest the hops at the right time, which can be tricky; too early and your hops won’t reach their full potential, too late and your hops may die on the vine.

You really do want a supplier who knows right when to pick them.

And even better if you have decided to grow and harvest your very own hops.

Buying, or growing, your hops fresh and drying them in advance also saves you the trouble of a potentially interrupted supply chain.

The last thing you want is to need hops for a brew and not be able to get them.

Finally, once you find a supplier you like, it is good to buy in bulk and dry the hops in the interest of consistency.

Yes, even a plant like hops can change the flavor and aroma from plant to plant, from supplier to supplier.

So once you find a supplier you love, buy in bulk and dry.

Alternatives to Drying Hops in a Dehydrator

Now, if you have a dehydrator and you’re dying to use it, you certainly can, but if you don’t have a dehydrator and you think you need to buy one to dry your hops, think again.

In reality, the best possible way to dry your hops is the old-fashioned natural way – air drying.

Why?

All other forms of drying your hops will require heat, and the more heat you apply to hops, the less moisture you will be able to reserve in those hops.

Moisture is the key to flavor, aroma, and bitterness units.

Air drying is the best way to both dry out your hops and to preserve as much moisture as possible.

To air dry, simply place your hops in a paper bag (thin layer, wide mouth bag) or on a sheet, if you have enough space, and then put the bag or sheet somewhere with good circulation but not in direct sun. Give it about a week, and you should have optimally dried hops.

Another alternative, and possibly the worst one, is to dry your hops in a conventional oven.

This will cut down on your time, but it adds the most heat, which will remove all of the moisture and most of your essential oils, which you really want in your brew.

To dry hops in a conventional oven, simply place them on a baking sheet and bake at a really low setting, like 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and keep an eye on them, even turning them every few minutes to ensure they don’t get scorched.

How to Dry Hops in a Dehydrator?

Finally, to dry your hops in a dehydrator, place them in the dehydrator at 120 degrees Fahrenheit and leave them for about 9 hours.

It will take longer, but you will be able to preserve more of your fragile oils.

Cheers!

Passionate about the beer and/or wine making process? So are we! If you’re interested in finding out how you can use our technology to control fermentation and monitor your yeast, save work hours and improve the cost-efficiency of your business, drop us a line at [email protected] or check out our product pages:

Also, you can now get access to a fully functional demo account to test your yeast via our Web App. Completely free of charge and with no commitment to purchase.

Sources:

1.     https://learn.kegerator.com/how-to-harvest-process-homegrown-hops/

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