The 'Hop Water' Thread

[Stu's Brews]

I imagine that I'm not the only person out there that is starting to dabble with non-alcoholic alternatives to beer. I've just started my journey into making 'Hop Water' so thought it would be good to have a thread to share what I learn and discuss with anyone else that is making it (mods please move to a different part of the forum if you feel that's more appropriate).

Only making 1L at a time at the moment as I've got a lot that I want to play around with to see what produces the 'best' solution so I've invested in a Soda Stream for carbonating the water. If you wanted to do larger batches then you could of course use a keg instead.

Made my first trial yesterday evening by cold steeping a 5g tea bag of Citra in 1L of water for 30 minutes before transferring to the Soda Stream and carbonating. Before adding the hops I treated the water with AMS/CRS to drop the pH down to ~4.5. I actually slightly overshot and hit 4.1 but the hops bought that back up to 4.8, so something to watch for there.

This was the end result:

Not sure how easy it is to see in the picture but there is a slight green tint from the hop addition. I've carbonated quite lightly but would probably up that for next time (having to learn how to use the Soda Stream!). Aroma is very much like sticking your nose in a bag of hops; quite floral and herbal. The flavour is smooth although quite herbal and grassy, with some of the tropical fruit character poking through.

Next experiment is going to be to try hot steeping at 80degC for 20 minutes. I've also got a big list of things I want to try with using different hops, fruit juices to adjust the pH instead of acid, water chemistry, adjuncts, etc. Will do my best to share any useful insights.

 

[AJA]

Be honest, is this actually nice? To most palates, hops alone taste like poison.

 

[Deadhead]

Following with interest

 

[Stu's Brews]

Be honest, is this actually nice? To most palates, hops alone taste like poison.

It's definitely better than poison!

I'm not 100% sure cold steeping is the best method (or might not be for Citra specifically) but it's all I had time for last night. It doesn't taste bad at all, there's just a bit too much grassiness for my liking.

Will see how the hot steep works out this evening.

 

[AJA]

Definitely keen to give this a go, could be an easy add on to a brew day.
I think the easiest way to carb is using a 2l bottle and a kegland carb cap. Saves using the soda stream.

 

[Stu's Brews]

Definitely keen to give this a go, could be an easy add on to a brew day.
I think the easiest way to carb is using a 2l bottle and a kegland carb cap. Saves using the soda stream.

The soda stream was a convenient solution for me as the other half prefers sparkling water to still. Hadn't actually considered a carbonation cap so that's one to think about for the future if I want to scale up a bit.

 

[Stu's Brews]

This evening's experiment was to try steeping the hops at 80degC for 20mins with everything else still the same (5g of Citra in 1l of water treated to a pH of ~4.5).

Very noticeable difference in appearance - looks more like a cloudy lemonade now.

Aroma is very herbal. Wouldn't say I'm getting any of the tropical fruit aroma you'd expect from Citra.

The flavour is noticeably less grassy, there's also now a slight prickly bitterness coming through whereas it was very smooth after cold steeping. Tropical fruit flavours are still more background notes with floral and herbal flavours dominating.

I think I preferred the smoothness of the cold steep but there is definitely some merit in the reduced grassiness from the hot steep.

A few things I'm thinking of trying next;
- different hop variety (got some leftover Amarillo and Mosaic I could use).
- cold steeping for longer, maybe overnight in the fridge.
- hot steeping but with some lemon or grapefruit juice used to reduce the pH.

It's already got me thinking hard about how to extract the right hop flavours so it may end up being quite educationally useful for my brewing as well as something to entertain during the week.

 

[aolcot]

This is really interesting.. Making hop water is something I've been reviewing myself a lot in the past few days, but have yet to actually get on to make a batch.

From all the things i've read/watched, they often seem to suggest steeping at 70 degrees to minimise bitterness pickup? is that what you are seeing

But really great thread, thanks for starting it up, its inspired me to actually get on and start making some myself and sharing here as well

 

[Stu's Brews]

This is really interesting.. Making hop water is something I've been reviewing myself a lot in the past few days, but have yet to actually get on to make a batch.

From all the things i've read/watched, they often seem to suggest steeping at 70 degrees to minimise bitterness pickup? is that what you are seeing

But really great thread, thanks for starting it up, its inspired me to actually get on and start making some myself and sharing here as well

I've not tried steeping at 70degC yet but will probably give that a go.

I left some of the 80degC sample in the fridge overnight and the bitterness has mellowed a lot this morning. The aroma is very 'woody' though - definitely preferred the cold steeped aroma. Not sure right now whether it is temperature or variety (or both) that is causing that aroma.

One mistake I think I may have made yesterday was the quantity of hops (5g/l), looking at a few other recipes that used hot steeping it seemed that 1-2g/l was more common so will probably try that at some point to see what difference it makes.

Something I'm also considering is a hot steep with a low alpha variety and then a cold steep with something more punchy.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I made some with cold water and there was a slight bitterness. That part of it was just right for me. Like you say was quite grassy though. Did mine with Huell Melon. Maybe should've tried Citra instead.

Ended up tipping it though cos it wasn't getting drunk. Should probably try again, perhaps sweetened this time to balance out the bitterness.

I think Clawhammer used some weakened wort as the base for one of their ones, for example re-sparging the spent grain.

 

[Pavros]

A couple of questions:
Could you use the same techniques as people in the US use for cold steeping coffee (I think they do it overnight)?
Is there any difference in grassiness or bitterness between using leaf or pellet hops? - I assume you would have to strain if using pellets.

 

[Stu's Brews]

Could you use the same techniques as people in the US use for cold steeping coffee (I think they do it overnight)?

Yep - that's essentially what I'm going to try next (probably this evening). I did a 30 minute cold steep the other day but think it needs longer so will try steeping overnight.

Is there any difference in grassiness or bitterness between using leaf or pellet hops? - I assume you would have to strain if using pellets.

Have only used pellets so far (in a muslin bag to remove the need for straining) but I guess the same logic would apply as when dry hopping a beer - the more vegetal matter you have the more likely you are to get grassy notes. Not sure there would be a massive difference in bitterness provided the alpha acid content is consistent between the two.

 

[Bambino40k]

I too have been dabbling in the Hop Water side of things. Check out Clawhammer's video on adding a small amount amount of malt and fermenting for a short time to and balance and round of the hop 'bite'.

 

[Broken Toe]

I love this stuff. Nearly always have a batch on the go, it helps to have really high carbonation to give it a bit of a bite.

I still haven't found dosing levels that are a guaranteed win. I think the levels of alpha and oil contents are much more impactful than when in beer.

Two of my go to are Simcoe (at quite low levels 10-20g per 10l as a hop tea) and cashmere at slightly higher levels.

Glad to see others are making this stuff!

 

[Druncan]

Nice one @Stu's Brews ! Really interesting. I'm mainly hop tea for adding my brew aroma - so similar technique.
Will try to remember to do overnight <70*C on my next brew.

However I now use a 3L airpot ('cos it was free) with T90's and my Randall on leaf. Not tried the T45's yet.

I have found a way of making a Randall that looks great; How to Build a Randall | Homebrew Academy

 

[Stu's Brews]

Third attempt at some hop water; this time I steeped 5g of Citra in 1L of water that I had boiled and allowed to cool to room temperature. I then left it for almost 24 hours before removing the bag and carbonating.

This is my favourite so far; none of the grassiness that I got from the short cold steep and none of the woody character from the hot steep. Aroma is floral, taste is smooth with some hints of citrus coming through.

I think if I switched to using lemon juice instead of AMS/CRS for reducing the pH then it could be a real winner.

However, before I do that, I want to try doing a hot steep with a smaller amount of hops, which I will then split to do one with an additional cold steep (I guess I could call it a dry hop) and one without. I think I'll then be satisfied with which approach is best and can start playing around with a few other things.

 

[aolcot]

Are you using tap water? and other than AMS to drop the pH, are you using any other additives?

I made a batch on Thursday evening boiling 5L of tap water with enough lemon juice to drop it to about 4.5pH.. I used about 2g/L of chinook that I had lying around in the fridge and steeped it at about 70C.

I tried a bit Friday evening and it really wasn't pleasant at all hahaha! I haven't tried any since, but I might try some more tonight to see if it has mellowed.

I was thinking about using a tiny bit of a campden tablet would help drive off chlorine etc prior to the boil

 

[Stu's Brews]

Are you using tap water? and other than AMS to drop the pH, are you using any other additives?

I made a batch on Thursday evening boiling 5L of tap water with enough lemon juice to drop it to about 4.5pH.. I used about 2g/L of chinook that I had lying around in the fridge and steeped it at about 70C.

I tried a bit Friday evening and it really wasn't pleasant at all hahaha! I haven't tried any since, but I might try some more tonight to see if it has mellowed.

I was thinking about using a tiny bit of a campden tablet would help drive off chlorine etc prior to the boil

Just tap water and AMS so far.

I did wonder whether a Campden tablet might be a good idea but haven't noticed any medicinal flavours that you get from chlorophenols.

At the moment, I'm trying to only change one variable at a time so I know what effect it has had (that's the engineer in me leeching out! )

I did see a video where they hot steeped that suggested leaving it for a week for the flavours to mellow out, so will be interesting to see if you find that does help.

 

[aolcot]

I did see a video where they hot steeped that suggested leaving it for a week for the flavours to mellow out, so will be interesting to see if you find that does help.

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

 

[AJA]

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.