Topic: Hops
Comparing and Selecting Hops
FREESo how do I choose the right hops for my beer? With such a wide range of flavor and aroma characteristics, this chart can serve as a helpful guide to the multitude
Growing Hops
Digital and Plus Members OnlyOne of the easier ways you can put the “home” in homebrewing is to grow your own hops. This widely distributed plant, with the latin name Humulus lupulus, is broadly part of the family of nettles. It is somewhat more closely related to cannabis, although it has few if any of the mind-altering properties and
Hopping Help for Extract Brewers
Digital and Plus Members OnlyAll forms of homebrewing – whether all-grain, partial mash or extract – share many similarities. However, each it has its own set of challenges as well. One of the biggest complaints of beginning extract brewers is that their beers do not turn out hoppy enough. Many homebrewers became interested in homebrewing after tasting hoppy pale
Wort Boiling & Hop Character
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe bitterness in beer is developed by adding hops to boiling wort. Likewise, boiling hops adds hop flavor and aroma. The bitterness keeps the beer from being too sweet and the flavor and aroma of hops add a special “spice” to the beer. The amount of bitterness in beer depends primarily on how much hops
Hop Basics
Digital and Plus Members OnlyHistorically speaking, hops are a fairly recent innovation in the brewing world. Although evidence exists of their cultivation as early as 200 AD in Babylon, and 700 AD in Germany, they were not widely used in brewing until the 11th century in Bavaria. They didn’t gain wide acceptance until the 15th or 16th century
Build a Randall-Style Hop Filter
Digital and Plus Members OnlyWhen Dogfish Head created their Randall filter system for draft beers, it was to add a hop boost to a beer being poured. Build your own inline draft filter for hops and more.
Hop Oils
FREEI consider my knowledge on this topic typical for the average craft brewer and will answer your question from my perspective and comment on some of the topics brewers and hop researchers
Mash Hopping
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThanks for the good question, Keith. I have always thought that the notion of adding hops early in the process, either as mash additions or pre-boil additions to the kettle, in an attempt to improve aroma retention is completely counter-intuitive and inherently illogical. Increased exposure to high temperature will simply lengthen the time for precious
Pairing Hops and Fruit: Tips from the Pros
Digital and Plus Members OnlyYou should always take into account the intensity of fruit aroma and flavor when deciding how to hop your beer. Brewer: Adam Bailey, Bonfire Brewing in Eagle, CO Whether you call them fruit IPAs or hoppy fruit beers, one thing we can all agree to call them is delicious when done well. But, pairing two
Advancements in Dry Hopping
Digital and Plus Members OnlyResearch has changed the way we dry hop. Dry hopping has been a regular brewing technique for nearly two centuries. As you may know, around 1822 beer was first sent from England in wooden casks to the British army in India. The beer had recently been switched from a lower alcohol porter that was spoiling
Evaluating Hop Profiles with SMaSH Brewing
Digital and Plus Members OnlyOver my 11 years of homebrewing, the one aspect of the hobby that has always captivated me is the myriad of ingredient descriptions for the different ingredients of beers. When I first started homebrewing, the details of the yeast, malts, and hops set my mind to thinking of the various ways these elements come together
Buying and Storing Bulk Hops
Digital and Plus Members OnlyHops make up a small percentage of a beer recipe, but they have arguably the biggest impact on the flavor and aroma. Even stouts and darker styles, typically seen as malt-centric, require the perfect hop additions to properly accentuate and marry with the malts. Brewing the best beer requires the best hops. And when an