Hop Tea

[Nosybear]

I have a Belgian Quad that isn't finishing out as dry as I'd like so I'm taking some steps to make it a decent beer. First, I'll wait until I'm sure that secondary yeast I added isn't working. One of the approaches I'm taking is to add some bitterness. There used to be a preparation of isomerized alpha acids but I can't find it any more so instead I made a hop tea: A quart of water, an ounce of Perle hops at 8.3% AA, boiled 90 minutes. The interesting thing about this little test is observing the change in the scent of the hops as the boil continued: It was very minty at 10 minutes, more herbal-spice at 30.... It was a first try and it looks like it could be a way to evaluate the flavor/aroma contribution of hops without the scent of the malt in the way.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I cubed a few brews awhile back and to get the hop aroma I made some 15minute cascade hop teas to dump into fermentor on transfer

 

[Wood House Hall]

Nosy, Trialben did you taste these teas?

 

[GFHomebrew]

Yea eventually in my beer lol all I know is it imparted the hop aroma and flavour I needed

 

[Head First]

Did the yeast completely stall out? If I remember correctly you used a Trappist yeast?

Edit: The hop tea will help balance the malt sweetness but not fix an under attenuation.

 

[Nosybear]

Nosy, Trialben did you taste these teas?

Yes. Nearly pure bitterness. A bit of hop flavors still, though.

 

[Nosybear]

Yes. Nearly pure bitterness. A bit of hop flavors still, though.

I did do a flavor check. About 2ml/100ml was about right. There are still some signs of life in the fermentation so I'll wait to dose it.