Bubbly Hop Water / Tea brainstorm

[Dornbox]

So last summer I had a few hop tea's from a company / brewer called Hoplark. There stuff is actually really good and while not advertised as such, I would say it's the best NA brew I've ever had. As a kegger, I've often thought how easy it would be for me to make something similar. Fast forward to now, MoreBeer had a hop sale as did Yakima Valley and I now have several pounds of hops and empty kegs (too dam cold in Maine to brew in the winter). Sooooo I /m gonna go for some sort of recreation of the Hop Tea. I'm sure I could scoure the inter webs and find most of what I need but I thought it would make for good conversation and there are some really smart cookies on this site.

So... trying to dry hop water or a something like chamomile tea. Without the heat and alcohol what are some tips and tricks that one could do to try to get a decent utilization out of a dry hop. Should I adjust my PH, dry hop at warmer temps, do a hop stand while brewing the tea? what are tricks that you guys would pull from your grab bags?

Thanks!

 

[Over The Cliff Brewing]

There are articles out there that talk about cold dry hopping beer. As for plain water, I would think even though your water might be cooled, I think the bitterness will shine thru without an sweetened backbone to offset. My 2 cents. There are many more experienced folks on this site that can help you out.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

Interested and watching.

 

[oliver]

So last summer I had a few hop tea's from a company / brewer called Hoplark. There stuff is actually really good and while not advertised as such, I would say it's the best NA brew I've ever had. As a kegger, I've often thought how easy it would be for me to make something similar. Fast forward to now, MoreBeer had a hop sale as did Yakima Valley and I now have several pounds of hops and empty kegs (too dam cold in Maine to brew in the winter). Sooooo I /m gonna go for some sort of recreation of the Hop Tea. I'm sure I could scoure the inter webs and find most of what I need but I thought it would make for good conversation and there are some really smart cookies on this site.

So... trying to dry hop water or a something like chamomile tea. Without the heat and alcohol what are some tips and tricks that one could do to try to get a decent utilization out of a dry hop. Should I adjust my PH, dry hop at warmer temps, do a hop stand while brewing the tea? what are tricks that you guys would pull from your grab bags?

Thanks!

This has been on my to do list because of the Lagunitas hoppy refresher. I've had the ones with tea in it, but I kinda like the Lagunitas one better. There's no tea in it, but the bottles clearly say they add yeast. So I'm assuming they let it ferment in some way. I would mix ambient temp water, lower ph significantly down into the mid 4s, add hops and yeast, let ferment for a week, cold crash, filter, keg to your desired level of spritziness.

 

[Dornbox]

This has been on my to do list because of the Lagunitas hoppy refresher. I've had the ones with tea in it, but I kinda like the Lagunitas one better. There's no tea in it, but the bottles clearly say they add yeast. So I'm assuming they let it ferment in some way. I would mix ambient temp water, lower ph significantly down into the mid 4s, add hops and yeast, let ferment for a week, cold crash, filter, keg to your desired level of spritziness.

I like the taste of the lagunitas but at the same time… it’s not my jam. I never saw that it contained yeast though which is interesting, bio transformation maybe? It’s flavor profile is very pineapple esq which is a flavor I like but have to be in the mood for. My daughter loves it!

I was thinking of something that will really let the hops shine but also have a little something extra to it. As far as hop oils, I think having a lower ph will help emulsify them into the water but that’s just a guess. The bio transformation angle is interesting too. Thanks!

 

[The Brew Mentor]

I'm thinking....
Carbon filtered water
Adjust ph to ~5.4
Boil water
Cool to 170°
Hopstand / whirlpool for 20 minutes.
Transfer through hop filter
Cool quickly to 35°
Carbonate to 3 volumes
This would be how I'd start.
Thoughts?

 

[Donoroto]

I'm thinking....
Carbon filtered water
Adjust ph to ~5.4
Boil water
Cool to 170°
Hopstand / whirlpool for 20 minutes.
Transfer through hop filter
Cool quickly to 35°
Carbonate to 3 volumes
This would be how I'd start.
Thoughts?

Worth a shot for a small batch. Hop selection seems critical, bitter water doesn't seem appealing.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Listening to a brulosophy podcast yesterday they were talking about seltzers and making them I know hop water is different but similar.
They were talking about using activated Charcol to "polish" the flavours
End of fermentation.
This smoothes out any off flavours that my be present from yeast fermenting in this nutrient deficient environment.

I just wonder how these hops will come across with no body to support them.

 

[Dornbox]

@Trialben Yeah. I was thinking of using a light chamomile tea as a base and whirlpooling and / or just dry hopping. I don't think there will be much room for any real amount of bitterness. Other wise I think @The Brew Mentor is spot on.

 

[GFHomebrew]

@Trialben Yeah. I was thinking of using a light chamomile tea as a base and whirlpooling and / or just dry hopping. I don't think there will be much room for any real amount of bitterness. Other wise I think @The Brew Mentor is spot on.

Let us know how you get on.
The little I know about hop teas their supposed to be really good for you.

 

[Dornbox]

So I did a rapid proof of concept yesterday with decent results.

Adjust water ph to ~5.2 ish
Brought about 3/4L of my Tap / Well Water which is extremely soft to 180°
Added a Chamomile Tea Bag and 1 average sized Amarillo Lupin Pellet.
Hopstand / whirlpool for 5 minutes.
Crashed with enough ice to complete the liter
Adjusted PH to 5.4
Transferred through a natural pre moistened coffee filter
refrigerated to 35°
Carbonated w/ a countertop seltzer fountain.

Result was a lemony light chamomile bubbly water. Definitely worth scaling up to 5 gallons and giving it a go with some citra or something more distinguishing than the lemony Amarillo and hitting it with a few IBUs.

Thanks for the input!

 

[GFHomebrew]

So I did a rapid proof of concept yesterday with decent results.

Adjust water ph to ~5.2 ish
Brought about 3/4L of my Tap / Well Water which is extremely soft to 180°
Added a Chamomile Tea Bag and 1 average sized Amarillo Lupin Pellet.
Hopstand / whirlpool for 5 minutes.
Crashed with enough ice to complete the liter
Adjusted PH to 5.4
Transferred through a natural pre moistened coffee filter
refrigerated to 35°
Carbonated w/ a countertop seltzer fountain.

Result was a lemony light chamomile bubbly water. Definitely worth scaling up to 5 gallons and giving it a go with some citra or something more distinguishing than the lemony Amarillo and hitting it with a few IBUs.

Thanks for the input!

Wow that sounds alright especially on a hot day.

 

[Box of Rocks]

Sounds great, I am intrigued!

A bit off topic since it isn’t tea, but here is a Near Zero Pale Ale recipe I constructed but haven’t yet attempted.

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.007
Final Gravity: 1.001
ABV (standard): 0.68%
IBU (tinseth): 21.04
SRM (morey): 6.14
Mash pH: 5.31

FERMENTABLES:
12 oz - Floor-Malted Bohemian Pilsner (66.7%)
6 oz - Caramel Malt - 80L (33.3%)

HOPS:
2 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 15 min
1 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Dry Hop (High Krausen)
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop (High Krausen)

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

 

[Dornbox]

Sounds great, I am intrigued!

A bit off topic since it isn’t tea, but here is a Near Zero Pale Ale recipe I constructed but haven’t yet attempted.

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.007
Final Gravity: 1.001
ABV (standard): 0.68%
IBU (tinseth): 21.04
SRM (morey): 6.14
Mash pH: 5.31

FERMENTABLES:
12 oz - Floor-Malted Bohemian Pilsner (66.7%)
6 oz - Caramel Malt - 80L (33.3%)

HOPS:
2 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 15 min
1 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Dry Hop (High Krausen)
1 oz - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.5, Use: Dry Hop (High Krausen)

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

So not a fan of NA beers because of the sweetness. This looks like a nice summer supper though. Keep us posted!