Dissolving Hop Tablets

[rspence]

New poster but keen follower of this great site

Was wondering if anyone has actually tried the Brigalow dissolving hop tablet in their brew? How did it turn out? I put a half one down with my Coopers Real ale (1kg BE2, 250g each ldme and dex) yesterday. Seen a few posts knocking Brigalow but I've not used them before.

I'm about to put one down another Pale Ale but will wait and see if others have had good results.

cheers

 

[booyablack]

New poster but keen follower of this great site

Was wondering if anyone has actually tried the Brigalow dissolving hop tablet in their brew? How did it turn out? I put a half one down with my Coopers Real ale (1kg BE2, 250g each ldme and dex) yesterday. Seen a few posts knocking Brigalow but I've not used them before.

I'm about to put one down another Pale Ale but will wait and see if others have had good results.

cheers

Wow, what a time to start posting, at 2:06am! But hey, here I am replying so......

I don't have any experience with the Brigalow hops tablets personally. Try using hops "pellets" (or flowers or plugs) instead of "tablets". Apparently the hops tablet is an blend of hops oils of unknown origin.

Anyway here's some links to threads on the matter:http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=31131
& http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=43478

 

[ekul]

I used to use one per brew religiously (and keep my brew at 25C witha fishtank heater!) but the few times i forgot there wasn't much of a difference. THey don't really add much in the way of flavour and at $3-5 a tablet not really cost effective when priced with real hops. I'd say grab some hops from one of the site sponsors or your local home brew shop. When you add hops you will really notice the difference.

The first time i added hops and kept my brew at 18C was the first time i made beer! Good luck

 

[QldKev]

Best way to use a hop tablet

a. Open packet
b. Throw tablet into toilet
c. Take a dump onto the hop tablet
d. Flush away that hoppy goodness.

But seriously, they are not worth it.

As ekul said grab some hops from either a site sponser or your local homebrew shop. You can get them in hop tea bags, which is ok for small volume, or buy a larger packet and measure out the desired amount. To use them you can either just throw them in, they will settle out; or get a coffee plunger fill with water from your kettle, add hops, leave for a few minutes, plunge and pour the water into the fermentor.

QldKev

 

[bignath]

Best way to use a hop tablet

a. Open packet
b. Throw tablet into toilet
c. Take a dump onto the hop tablet
d. Flush away that hoppy goodness.

But seriously, they are not worth it.

As ekul said grab some hops from either a site sponser or your local homebrew shop. You can get them in hop tea bags, which is ok for small volume, or buy a larger packet and measure out the desired amount. To use them you can either just throw them in, they will settle out; or get a coffee plunger fill with water from your kettle, add hops, leave for a few minutes, plunge and pour the water into the fermentor.

QldKev

Could not agree more with QldKev.

I have tried them several times when i was really starting out, and i initially put the lack of anything interesting added from tablet down to my "beginner" beer practises...Sadly no.
If you buy some real hops, you may, depending on your batch size and recipe, get anything up to 4 batches out of 1 packet (90g) of hops. Very cost effective, and the difference is immeasurable.

and the coffee plunger is an awesome brewing utensil. I use one quite often for hop additions.

No matter how much it seems like a good idea when you are looking at them on the shelf, stay away from the hop tablets. In fact most of the brigalow stuff is crap. I use the bottle tops if i need to bottle in a hurry and have run out accidently, but that's about it.

bignath

 

[manticle]

They are good for head retention - add nothing to flavour or aroma. There are better ways to get head retention in your beer and using real hops is one of them. Real hops (or pellets or plugs) will also give distinctive flavour.

I used them a few times in the early days and they do what they are supposed to but so do packets of 'beer finings' You can buy gelatine cheaper and you can buy real hops (weight for weight) cheaper so if you have the option - go for the good stuff.

 

[rspence]

Wow thanks for all the constructive advice. I'll forget I put the tablet in then, so I won't be dissappointed. As per QldKev's advice, the other half will be brown trout fodder.

I haven't hopped because it seemed like too much bother. But the plunger idea has sold it for me, thanks. Next brew will be hopped to the hilt

 

[Acasta]

Best way to use a hop tablet

a. Open packet
b. Throw tablet into toilet
c. Take a dump onto the hop tablet
d. Flush away that hoppy goodness.

HAHA. Gotta love it.

 

[Wolfy]

As per QldKev's advice, the other half will be brown trout fodder.

Rather than throwing them away, keep them to use (in a year or so) when you start making yeast-starters for your beer.

 

[manticle]

I'm confused. Why would you put a brigalow finishing hop tablet in a starter?

Did you mean to post here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...mp;#entry667213 or have I missed something?

 

[Wolfy]

I'm confused. Why would you put a brigalow finishing hop tablet in a starter?

There is no reason I'd buy them for that purpose, but if I had some, I'd use them for that instead of throwing them out.
Some people suggest adding hops to starters so the yeast get used to the oils etc and because they may help reduce chances of infections etc, so if you had some of these tabs, why not use it for that?

 

[manticle]

OK. Recently people have been telling me starters are better without hops (******* the yeast or something). I start my growth stage with DME and boiled water then add the chilled wort that the yeast will be fermenting (which is obviously hopped) so the yeast gets the right profile but I hadn't though the hops were particularly of benefit.

Sometimes people sweat the little stuff a bit much though.

 

[QldKev]

I may be completely wrong, but I too though hops in starters was a bad thing as you want the yeast to multiply as quick as they can to ensure you have maximised the viable yeast count.

QldKev

 

[theredone]

kev makes me lol