# Hop ethanol extraction



## law-of-ohms (3/1/14)

Has anyone on ahb tried this experiment before? This is 50g of Cascade hops with some 95% alc



It seems to extract the bitterness very well.


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## Bribie G (3/1/14)

Mate does it with pure alcohol he gets from some Pharma source (I don't ask) - then he lets it evaporate to leave a residue that he smokes (for relaxation and sleeping) - I gave him a heap of old Galena, Saphir and EKG a couple of months ago.

Set himself on fire the other week - only superficial burns but lost all his hair and eyebrows. :unsure: :unsure:


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## Ducatiboy stu (3/1/14)

Hop Hash.......


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## Glot (3/1/14)

Be aware, even " laboratory grade" Ethanol is denatured. It contains methanol. I have a friend that buys 20 litre drums for lab work. Pure Ethanol is available but at a price ( has excise).


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## law-of-ohms (3/1/14)

Mines, not denatured, just comes slightly hopped to begin with. *another* hobby of mine.....

Anyway back on topic, oils extraction, I do have a vacuum pump I wonder what that will do....


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## Bribie G (3/1/14)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Hop Hash.......


That's what he calls it


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## Parks (3/1/14)

We did an experiment at BABBs a few months back using this method but with a commercial bottle of vodka.

The results in using the hop-vodka to add aroma and flavour to beer were excellent.


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## sp0rk (3/1/14)

I've been meaning to try this
I've got some 92% ethanol laying round that a mate made for me, will give it a go over the weekend


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## Parks (3/1/14)

I think using pure(ish) ethanol will result in taking much more out of the hops than you want. We found that with 40% vodka leaving them exposed for 2 days was the best result.

While not really a thorough experiment here is the write-up on how the night went and some background info.

View attachment BABBs - Dry hop experiment report.pdf


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## law-of-ohms (5/1/14)

Ok so I added 1ml to my boring pilsner and it was ok, increased to 2ml and its fantastic. Thats in 330ml only down side it it makes the beer cloudy. Drinking it now and it seems like a great apa!


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## Scooby Tha Newbie (5/1/14)

Does 10% ethanol work? Because I can get that at the local Caltex.


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## manticle (5/1/14)

Glot said:


> Be aware, even " laboratory grade" Ethanol is denatured. It contains methanol. I have a friend that buys 20 litre drums for lab work. Pure Ethanol is available but at a price ( has excise).


Are you sure?

My workplace uses ethanol and the nature of the work means any extra ingredients would be listed. You do need a licence to buy the stuff, at least in Victoria as far as I'm aware.


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## GalBrew (5/1/14)

Glot said:


> Be aware, even " laboratory grade" Ethanol is denatured. It contains methanol. I have a friend that buys 20 litre drums for lab work. Pure Ethanol is available but at a price ( has excise).



Lab grade ethanol isn't denatured with methanol, that would render it useless. You can get non-denatured ethanol, but if it is 100% then the last bit of water has been removed with toluene and I sure as shit wouldn't be ingesting anything that has gone anywhere near it, be VERY careful and read the MSDS. Personally I would rather distill my own 96% ethanol and use that rather than use lab grade stuff, which is great for molecular biology but not for drinking.


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## toncils (6/1/14)

Parks said:


> I think using pure(ish) ethanol will result in taking much more out of the hops than you want. We found that with 40% vodka leaving them exposed for 2 days was the best result.
> 
> While not really a thorough experiment here is the write-up on how the night went and some background info.
> 
> ...



Just read this, awesome. Any way I can read more experiment write ups?


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## OzPaleAle (6/1/14)

I would think a short exposure time would do as the lups are all external to the plant cells I thought, so only needs to be washed off\dissolved into the ethanol any prolonged time just dirties the extract with chlorophyl and other plant material.
Maybe a quick first soak with ethanol, then a subsequent soak in fresh ethanol.
I could be wrong there but when I look at the whole cones the glands are pretty exposed so doesn't need to be pulled from within the plant cells like some other extractions.


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## QldKev (6/1/14)

law-of-ohms said:


> Ok so I added 1ml to my boring pilsner and it was ok, increased to 2ml and its fantastic. Thats in 330ml only down side it it makes the beer cloudy. Drinking it now and it seems like a great apa!


Did it add just bitterness, or is there a lot or aroma?


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## law-of-ohms (6/1/14)

Flavour, aroma, and bitter, so all!, its great stuff!


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## Parks (6/1/14)

toncils said:


> Just read this, awesome. Any way I can read more experiment write ups?


Not sure if our newsletters are available to the public or just members - http://www.babbrewers.com/newsletters (looks like they are available). 

We only do one a year(ish) on the months where we don't have mini-comps. I couldn't tell you where the others would be in that list of newsletters but from memory recently there was -

Dry stout brewed with 4 different water profiles (3 of which were built from brisbane water)
Fresh wort brewed with different yeast.

I'm sure there are more in there. The hop one is certainly the most comprehensive or formal one done yet.


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## Bizier (6/1/14)

I have done the vodka, and agree that it is a nice trick if you need to spruce the aromatics up.


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## Goose (6/1/14)

interesting thanks

however, if using it as an extract for late addition to correct an under hopped beer or to add aroma, short of tedious trial and error, I'd be concerned about measurement, ie how much to add because I'd have no idea what I'd extracted nor in what concentration.

does this extract hop aroma and flavour as well as the bitter characteristic ?

also, like AA% deteriorates in time in hops (subject to storage conditions) I wonder if the same applies to the extract in ethanol .. ie if I had a bottle of that stuff and kept it for a year, I'm wondering if I would I not get the same punch per ml 365 days later ?


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## Bizier (6/1/14)

Hops are inherently bitter tasting, but there should be no 'measurable' isommerised alpha acid.

I would not be concerned about long term storage, just use it as fresh as you can, and store in freezer. If you were really into it, you could bubble CO2 through it before sealing. You should be able to bank of the oils, which is all I would be interested in, oxidising over time.


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## Parks (6/1/14)

Trial and error is really the name of the game here. 

Yeah, while there are no isommerised AA the hop vodka is very, very bitter. Goes back to what I have said a few times to people about the bitterness you get from dry hopping.


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