Hop Wine

[Celestyal]

Anybody here ever make it? If so what hops did you use and how did it taste? I'm very intrested in trying it next.

 

[Dirtydog420]

Sounds good to me.. If you find or have a recipe please post..

 

[Celestyal]

Sounds good to me.. If you find or have a recipe please post..

Unfortunatly i don't, but i would like one. I can image just about any herb wine can be adapted for it. I would think anyway...

 

[Dirtydog420]

I went digging into a few books, and came up with this from Berry's: First Step In Winemaking..

one gallon recipe:
hops 3oz
bruised ginger 1oz
sugar 2.25 lbs
orange 1
lemon 1
water 1 gallon
yeast and nutrient

boil hops and ginger for one hour.. strain over sugar, lemon and orange.. add yeast and nutrient..

then says once almost dry, add 250 ml of grape concentrate and 1/2 lb of sugar. once no more bubbles pass, age 6 months for bottling..

I think I will try this myself.. No recommendations on yeast but I think Cotes De Blanc would work well..

 

[Celestyal]

Thank you! I will now have to try this. Sounds good.

 

[mmadmikes1]

I would use Cascade Hops, not to bitter or strong, it is going to wine

 

[Dirtydog420]

I would use Cascade Hops, not to bitter or strong, it is going to wine

Wouldn't you want a strong hop? I know that usually in beer making hops are added for only last few min to get right flavors. Don't know if an hour boil takes away flavor.. But really, after aging flavor would mello out quit a bit...

But I haven't made it so who knows.. Was going to have a chat the my local brew shop owner to see what he says..

 

[mmadmikes1]

Its wine so you wont be cooking it. It will be like a entire batch of Dry hopping. I would use a screen bag too. If you cook it the bitterness will come out and flavor dissipate. Now that last statement is only a guess, I have never made Hop wine. Not sure what yeast I would us??? but I would use sugar and not honey. Maybe test a back sweetened glass with both before doing entire batch. Damn I love playing with different flavors.l Let me know how it turns out and what you did. hops are not cheap so may have to grow some before I try this, or suck up to Katie down the road. She has hops all over her place

 

[Dirtydog420]

The recipe I have says to boil hops for an hour but I kinda thought dry hopping would be best.. Like I said, the guy at my local brew shop knows much about beer so Ill get him opinion.. Who knows, maybe Ill try one gallon both ways..

 

[Celestyal]

I was planning on dry hoping and making only a 1 gallon batch to start. My sis is growing some cascades right now so i might try to *ahem* procure some of them. I'm loving all the opinions though! I'm not actually to familiar with hops; im going off the suggestions of cascades because it's been a repeat suggestion but i might try a second batch with a different hop. Any suggestions?

 

[mmadmikes1]

I love Amarillo but they aren't cheap. Was at local brew store yesterday and the guy that works there and I spent 20 minutes talking about this. He does a lot of wine and works at a brew shop. You will want to use hops that are fresh if you can. packaged ones will cost to much so if your sister is growing them you are in luck. we thought 2 pounds of fresh per gallon would be a good start. Maybe cooking a 1 ounce package of dry would add the hop bitterness people are use to. . Any one have a good guess on where you would start the SG at?. I set PH at about 3.5 . We are still a little while until hops are ready here but I think I might give it a shot this year

 

[mmadmikes1]

O ya, write what you do down, PLEASE

 

[Celestyal]

O ya, write what you do down, PLEASE

No prob! Will be moving here soon so give me about a month okay? Guess sis's hops wont be ready by then...

But yeah, SG anyone?

 

[Celestyal]

Sorry, guys. Dont think I'm ignoring you or anything! We still haven't moved and have had some $ drama here so I haven't had the money or the time to make this yet. I will post when I do make it though as promised.

 

[Deezil]

From what i've learned about making beer so far, the longer you boil hops - the more you bring out the bitterness and lose the herb-type smells & flavors. Someone had mentioned "Dry Hopping" which is basically adding the hops to Secondary Fermentation - skipping a boil completely, and going straight for hop flavor and aroma - i'd go for this way if you wanted to showcase the hops. And i'd probably do it on something light, with some body...

Maybe a basic water-wine with some banana soup/raisins/concentrate to supply the body. Some lemon/orange/citrus for the acidity. Raisins would contribute a bit of tannin but might want to add a bit more. Ferment it from 1.085 per normal, rack to secondary then smack it with the hops. Its the same basic principal with some meadmaking/melomels too - they'll ferment honey+water, then hit it with fruit flavors in secondary because the fermentation doesnt have time to change the flavors of the fruit.

I'd definately skip the boil and "dry hop" in secondary for a truer hop profile. If you want some of the bitterness though, you could always boil some of the hops for 45-60 minutes, add that to the fermentation and dry hop later.. The boil would be like the fruit up front, and the dry hop would be a hop-equivalent for a F-Pack.

Anyway, some things to think about. Hope to help

 

[Larryh86GT]

Last year I made a batch of raspberry with dried hops picked from 6 different vines added. When I was boiling the hops in a pot of water with sugar added as it got to a boil and I stirred it the contents of the pot exploded out all over the stove and floor in our kitchen. One heck of a sticky mess. I'm not trying it again. Taste wise the wine was, well, odd. But I drank it.

Larry

 

[GerardVineyard]

When I was boiling the hops in a pot of water with sugar added as it got to a boil and I stirred it the contents of the pot exploded out all over the stove and floor in our kitchen. One heck of a sticky mess.

Larry

I work at a microbrewery and this is exactly what happens when you boil the hops, so use caution.

I too agree "dry hopping" is the way to go with this one. Boiling develops the bitterness, whereas dry hopping develops the aromas and florals of the hops.

 

[Deezil]

Last year I made a batch of raspberry with dried hops picked from 6 different vines added. When I was boiling the hops in a pot of water with sugar added as it got to a boil and I stirred it the contents of the pot exploded out all over the stove and floor in our kitchen. One heck of a sticky mess. I'm not trying it again. Taste wise the wine was, well, odd. But I drank it.

Larry

Thats a "hot break".. You have to watch the temp, and some/most of the time have to cut the heat and stir like crazy when the hot break happens to keep from boiling over... Something to keep in mind though, for sure.

 

[Noontime]

Any updates on this? Has anyone else made a hop wine?

I think I'm going to try a mead, with some ginger and hops.

 

[Downwards]

I did a braggot with hops. A quarter rye and 3/4 Belgian special.. I made the wort then added honey to 1.100 or so. The hops faded very quickly though. I kind of like it now even though I had to get past the initial feeling that I was drinking flat beer!! Took some acid blend to get it to where it seemed beer like but interesting. Different enough I guess to stand on its own. Maybe try hops in secondary, not long before you bottle?