The 'Hop Water' Thread

[Stu's Brews]

Lol it can't get any worse haha.. I'm in no rush to bin this so will defo see how it changes over a week or so, and tbh I don't have the time this week to make a different batch anyway. I might try cold steeping next time seeing as you are finding that is nicer product at the end, although I'm not sure about using chinook hops.. I might try something a bit lighter like a hallertauer or something

I think hop variety is a key parameter; I've seen suggestions that low alpha varieties are better and obviously I wouldn't expect good results with anything you wouldn't use as an aroma hop.

I'd guess something like Chinook has a bit too much of a pine / spice character. Citra seems to be working ok; I've seen a few examples of people using Amarillo or Lemondrop hops. I have some spare Amarillo so will give that a try at some point.

 

[Stu's Brews]

You know this, but if you are using tapwater then you'll need a fair bit of AMS/CRS to lower pH (depending on where you live. Not sure if excessive sulfate/chloride comes in then. If you use RO water, you will need very little to lower the pH.

A highly technical '6 drops' from the syringe in 1L at the moment

Water chemistry is something I plan to play around with but figured I'd start with a few 'quick and dirty' trials to see whether it was worth investing more time in.

 

[Stu's Brews]

Finally got round to dabbling with this a bit more...

Latest experiment was to do a 1g/l steep of Citra at 80degC before splitting the batch to compare with and without a 5g/l dry hop of Citra.

Reducing the hot steep amount to 1g/l produces a much more palatable drink than steeping at 5g/l.

Without the dry hop, there is a light citrus and floral character with a little background bitterness. I think this is the best I've had so far.

With the dry hop, there appears to be a bit of grassiness and astringency, which wasn't present when not hot steeping first so potentially there is an interaction there that means I should reduce the dry hop quantity. I'm holding some back to try in a day or two's time to see if that subsides a bit though.

Overall, quite encouraging results, with a few more things to ponder.

 

[Druncan]

Latest experiment was to do a 1g/l steep of Citra at 80degC before splitting the batch to compare with and without a 5g/l dry hop of Citra.

Reducing the hot steep amount to 1g/l produces a much more palatable drink than steeping at 5g/l.

It might be interesting to try this;

Yakima Chief Hops® Cryo Hops® Citra® Hop pellets - 25 g​

LupuLN2® hop pellet that doubles the hop potency by 40-50% of traditional hop pellets for the same weight. Producing an enhanced hop flavour with juicy, resinous and fruity characteristics that is perfect for IPA beers and styles.

22.6% AA

 

[Stu's Brews]

It might be interesting to try this;

Yakima Chief Hops® Cryo Hops® Citra® Hop pellets - 25 g​

LupuLN2® hop pellet that doubles the hop potency by 40-50% of traditional hop pellets for the same weight. Producing an enhanced hop flavour with juicy, resinous and fruity characteristics that is perfect for IPA beers and styles.

22.6% AA

That's actually a very good shout - would definitely offset some of the green hop/grassy flavour that comes through when using high amounts of T90 pellets.

 

[Pennine]

Do you think you need to consider alpha acids when doing the 1g/l steep? I have a bunch of various leaf hops, mosaic, Idaho 7, azaaca etc... that I need to use up and this seems like a perfect summer drink. Also pH wise you are targeting 4.3?

I also have some kombucha to dabble with once I get the water down.

I should also ask how long did you steep at 80c for?

 

[Stu's Brews]

Do you think you need to consider alpha acids when doing the 1g/l steep? I have a bunch of various leaf hops, mosaic, Idaho 7, azaaca etc... that I need to use up and this seems like a perfect summer drink. Also pH wise you are targeting 4.3?

I also have some kombucha to dabble with once I get the water down.

I should also ask how long did you steep at 80c for?

I think you definitely need to consider alpha acids. I have seen some YouTube videos suggest lower alpha acid hops are more suited to making hop water but not tried it yet as I had some Citra to use up.

Been targeting pH less than 4.5 to mimic where beer ends up.

Steeped at 80degC for 20 mins, so essentially the same as I do for a hop stand.

Will be interesting to see how leaf hops work out for you as I've only used pellets so far.

 

[Druncan]

I have a FV with 120L AIPA 5.5% @ 4.6 PH ready to cold crash. (yeast dropped) Tastes perfect just needing a hop head blast,,,,,

So, I'm planning to cold soak 25g Cryo Simcoe and 25g Cryo Citra in a bag and 2.5L bottled water adjusted to 4 PH with Citric acid overnight in my airpot. If it smells good tomorrow I'll wet hop it to the FV.

Here we go,,,,, :tinhat:

 

[MashBag]

Why do you need to lower the pH?

 

[Stu's Brews]

Why do you need to lower the pH?

The theory is that by matching the pH of beer you get the same extraction of oils as you would when dry hopping.

Not tried doing it without dropping the pH though so can't confirm whether it actually makes any difference.

 

[Druncan]

WOW!!!!!!!! this is what i've been searching for. Loads of herbal floral citrussy goodness and absolutely no grassiness, but it does increase bitterness a few points. However, my wife now says I've completely ruined it,,,,,

Can't win.

 

[Pennine]

Here is the first of the mosaic water. It tastes like hoppy water! It's probably too much hops. Should probably drop to 1g/L. Or cold steep. Maybe dropping a hop bag in the keg will be better.

 

[MashBag]

The theory is that by matching the pH of beer you get the same extraction of oils as you would when dry hopping.

Not tried doing it without dropping the pH though so can't confirm whether it actually makes any difference.

Thanks. I was struggling with a head full of "but there is no mashing going on"

 

[aolcot]

I thought I'd give this another go as my previous attempt ended in total failure and I had to ditch the 5L down the sink.. This time after more research, I come up with the following which turned out nice and quite drinkable.. Aroma wise it reminds me of sprite.. Only negative on this batch is that is needs a bit more bite either from tweaking the minerals, or pH (or both).. i intentionally kept the water profile quite soft on this batch.

Process:
4.5L distilled water into a pot
Added 1gram calcium chloride
Added 1ml 80% lactic acid (should reduce to around 3.5pH)
Brought to a boil and held for around 5mins
Let stand for a few mins then transferred to a 5L mini-keg, covered opening with tin foil and let cool overnight to room temp
Added 4gram Talus via a hop bag into the keg for about 6hrs. I shook the keg every hour or so to try and encourage hop extraction
Removed hops, placed in fridge and pressurised to 30PSI for a few days

I noticed that there are some very fine hop particles in suspension so I need a better hop bag and/or keg filter as well.

This batch has inspired me to carry on trying as I was close to not bothering again after my horrendous first attempt.