Hop Tea Guide Anywhere?

[Piemaster]

I am thinking about using a hop tea to enhance my next kit, does anybody know if there is a good guide for doing so on this site (guide for making the tea, how much hops needed, some dos and don'ts etc)? I have tried using the search function, but 'hop tea' returns no results I think because the words are too short.

Or if there is no guide but someone wants to give me a brief guide here than that is fine too.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Spapro]

Its easy peasy really:

A good place to start is using one of these 20g hop tea bags - a few varieties of hops available but something like this:
http://www.home-brew-online.com/ingredients-c45/cascade-finishing-hops-20g-p1098

Wait until 4 days before you are ready to bottle (your fermentation should be finished ideally).

Take a sterilised mug, add a teaspoon of sugar and then add some boiling water from the kettle. stir to mix the sugar. Add the hop teabag into the mug and then top up with more boiling water to just cover the bag. Leave for 10 minutes then dump the teabag and the tea into your wort.

Adding the sugar apparently means more hop oils are obtained from the teabag than just boiled water on its own.

Then bottle after 4 days of the tea and bag being added to your brew, leaving the hopbag in your brew much longer than 4-5 days risks imarting a grassy taste to your beer.

Down the line you can buy hop pellets and make up bags with more hops if required using a muslin square, string and marbles to weigh it down. Make sure to sterilise the musling, string and marbles before using.

Hope this helps;-)

 

[johnnyboy1965]

I am thinking about using a hop tea to enhance my next kit, does anybody know if there is a good guide for doing so on this site (guide for making the tea, how much hops needed, some dos and don'ts etc)? I have tried using the search function, but 'hop tea' returns no results I think because the words are too short.

Or if there is no guide but someone wants to give me a brief guide here than that is fine too.

Thanks in advance.

It t all depends if you want to add more hop bitterness or more hop aroma?

 

[Piemaster]

It t all depends if you want to add more hop bitterness or more hop aroma?

It's the taste I was after. I have made some nice beers so far, but I have never managed to recreate the real citrusy/hoppy taste you can get in commercial IPAs like Deuchars etc. I thought adding a hop tea might help.

Spapro - Very useful thanks! Maybe I will buy one of these finishing kits and see how it turns out before trying a DIY job.

 

[MtirKiesh]

try this, goes well with the coopers ipa
[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eEf-GvNPYwU&list=FLU7Wa3e59A9LR8Grdhp-cHQ[/ame]

 

[Mark1964]

I use pellets and a café tiere. I just sterilise the jug and add boiling water to the pellets and leave while cool. It works great

 

[clibit]

I do what Mark does, sometimes. You can lob it all in 4 or 5 days before bottling, or just add the tea without the hops at bottling time. If I do that I use boiling water containing my priming sugar.

 

[Piemaster]

try this, goes well with the coopers ipa

Interesting, that video shows the hop tea being added at the start of the process, before the primary ferment, whereas most other material I have read (including in this thread) seems to suggest it is usually done after the primary ferment, a few days before bottling.

Are these supposed to be two different methods that yield two different results? Or is it just a matter of opinion which one is better?

 

[Roscoe9]

Its easy peasy really:

A good place to start is using one of these 20g hop tea bags - a few varieties of hops available but something like this:
http://www.home-brew-online.com/ingredients-c45/cascade-finishing-hops-20g-p1098

Wait until 4 days before you are ready to bottle (your fermentation should be finished ideally).

Take a sterilised mug, add a teaspoon of sugar and then add some boiling water from the kettle. stir to mix the sugar. Add the hop teabag into the mug and then top up with more boiling water to just cover the bag. Leave for 10 minutes then dump the teabag and the tea into your wort.

Adding the sugar apparently means more hop oils are obtained from the teabag than just boiled water on its own.

Then bottle after 4 days of the tea and bag being added to your brew, leaving the hopbag in your brew much longer than 4-5 days risks imarting a grassy taste to your beer.

Down the line you can buy hop pellets and make up bags with more hops if required using a muslin square, string and marbles to weigh it down. Make sure to sterilise the musling, string and marbles before using.

Hope this helps;-)

I'm going to give this ago with my brew. Silly question but once I've added the hop tea and teabag, do I need to stir the wort?

 

[Spapro]

I don't stir, when I pour the hop tea in (gently to avoid splashing/oxidising the brew) I just kind of dribble it in in a sort of circular motion rather than plopping all into one area of the wort.

Then I just gently plop the hop teabag in - mine generally float when first dropped in - after 4 days I think they have usually sunk and are sitting on the bottom of the FV when you syphon out.

Makes sure the mug/beaker/jug you use for the hop tea is sterilised in case it touches the wort when you are adding the tea/bag.

I just fugure stirring the wort should be kept to a minimum as you always risk introducing an infection when placing your stirrer into the brew.

Good luck with it - I have seen 20g hop teabags and 12g hop teabags, probably best to go with the 20g teabags so you can notice the difference !

 

[Roscoe9]

I don't stir, when I pour the hop tea in (gently to avoid splashing/oxidising the brew) I just kind of dribble it in in a sort of circular motion rather than plopping all into one area of the wort.

Then I just gently plop the hop teabag in - mine generally float when first dropped in - after 4 days I think they have usually sunk and are sitting on the bottom of the FV when you syphon out.

Makes sure the mug/beaker/jug you use for the hop tea is sterilised in case it touches the wort when you are adding the tea/bag.

I just fugure stirring the wort should be kept to a minimum as you always risk introducing an infection when placing your stirrer into the brew.

Good luck with it - I have seen 20g hop teabags and 12g hop teabags, probably best to go with the 20g teabags so you can notice the difference !

Thanks for the advice! I've got a 20g Saaz finishing hop tea bag ordered for my Coopers Australian Lager, so will do as you have guided.

 

[Spapro]

Saaz should suit your lager well, good luck with it.

 

[Roscoe9]

Saaz should suit your lager well, good luck with it.

Hop bag won't be delivered until tomorrow but I planned to bottle on Sunday. Will only 3 days in the FV be long enough?