Hop Extract. How Do You Make It?

[dug]

I have a crap load of hops on my plant this year, way more than can be stored in my freezer. And the other day as I was musing over a harvest ale, what would be a good way to extract the flavour and aroma components of hops?

Would a steam distillation work? or perhaps a cold butane extraction? or something else that I don't know about?

 

[matho]

the pro use liquid co2 as the solvent the make hop extract but i supose you could use an alchol as a solvent and evaporate it off just like the other 'essential' oil. h34r:

 

[Effect]

I would go the butane...as that is the only way I have ever gotten oil from other hop like flowers...

 

[brando]

I have a crap load of hops on my plant this year, way more than can be stored in my freezer. And the other day as I was musing over a harvest ale, what would be a good way to extract the flavour and aroma components of hops?

Would a steam distillation work? or perhaps a cold butane extraction? or something else that I don't know about?

You could always pass some on to forum friends, or sell.

 

[Swinging Beef]

SELL SELL SELL!!!

 

[Pollux]

Dare I say the forbidden words......

BULK BUY

 

[brendo]

Hold onto your kittens...

 

[Bribie G]

Here's a completely off the wall suggestion.

<background story>

Although I brew AG I also make a very nice partial brew (drinking one now) and what I do is to mash and boil a full brew, well hopped with POR, and then split it between four 5 litre cubes. For each brew I use a cube, a can of goop such as Morgans Canadian and a kilo of dex. Because the base wort is very well hopped, when it has been 'diluted' four times on adding to a brew it turns out a nice crisp hoppy brew, augmented of course by the basic hop in the kit. My cubes last for months. In the no chill section I hear of people who regularly keep cubes up to a year.

</ end of background story>

Why not do an AG super duper mega hoppy brew that would peel the shirt off your back and nochill "cube" it in one or two litre sturdy micro cubes - I expect you can get something robust as a jerry in a very small size, or even in glass.

Stash em away and you have a dose of stable killer hop to pour into the fermenter for every brew until the new harvest. The very high concentration of hop goodness would be a preservative in its own right.

No need for gases or chemicals.

 

[unterberg]

Dare I say the forbidden words......

BULK BUY

Hold onto your kittens...

Hehe

I got mine locked up!

 

[dr K]

It may look like a lot but it is highly unlikely that you get more than 900gm of cones per bine and most likely somewhat less.
This represents after drying about 150gms of flowers, not a lot really.
Everyone should think of these figures before they complain about the price of hops.

K

 

[Fents]

Here's a completely off the wall suggestion.

<background story>

Although I brew AG I also make a very nice partial brew (drinking one now) and what I do is to mash and boil a full brew, well hopped with POR, and then split it between four 5 litre cubes. For each brew I use a cube, a can of goop such as Morgans Canadian and a kilo of dex. Because the base wort is very well hopped, when it has been 'diluted' four times on adding to a brew it turns out a nice crisp hoppy brew, augmented of course by the basic hop in the kit. My cubes last for months. In the no chill section I hear of people who regularly keep cubes up to a year.

</ end of background story>

let me guess....you make a melb bitter clone too yea?

 

[Bizier]

It may look like a lot but it is highly unlikely that you get more than 900gm of cones per bine and most likely somewhat less.
This represents after drying about 150gms of flowers, not a lot really.

I got 175g dry in my first harvest from first year plants... which is about a metric shopping bag.

I say make a triple IPA harvest ale. Or make a randall and invite us all around.

 

[dug]

It may look like a lot but it is highly unlikely that you get more than 900gm of cones per bine and most likely somewhat less.
This represents after drying about 150gms of flowers, not a lot really.
Everyone should think of these figures before they complain about the price of hops.

K

It does look like alot... because there is alot :icon_cheers:

I've already harvested about 300g of the bine already, this bine had 2 croppings this season. and the there has been about another 200g that has either past its usedby date, (ie gone brown), or been crushed up in hands to get that nice hop smell.\

The reason I was wanting to do an extract was to;
1) experiment, something I love doing
2) Save all that hop flavour and aroma that really doesn't last that long
3) because I hadn't really thought of selling/giving away the fresh hops

Butane would probably be the "best" and easiest choice of extraction. I presume the aroma and flavour components are very volitle (sp) and would be lost if using solvents at high temps.

DuG

 

[Bribie G]

let me guess....you make a melb bitter clone too yea?

:icon_offtopic: Yup, slowly getting there but the last one turned out more like a VB Noooooooooooooooo so I'm swinging the recipe back to the light side (makes you realise just how FEW hops the commercials use)

 

[Jazzafish]

Try following these videos on making an oil extract from other plants like hops:
Here:
Or Here:

Best of luck, but I recon the normal way is better.

 

[kook]

I've already harvested about 300g of the bine already, this bine had 2 croppings this season. and the there has been about another 200g that has either past its usedby date, (ie gone brown), or been crushed up in hands to get that nice hop smell.\

How are you storing them for the hops to go brown that quickly?? Are you sure you're fully drying them before storage?

 

[dug]

How are you storing them for the hops to go brown that quickly?? Are you sure you're fully drying them before storage?

storing them on the bine in the sunlight and rain

 

[LethalCorpse]

Meanwhile, that's a helluva view you've got there! Must be awesome to sit on that deck with a schooner and watch the water through the hopcones