Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Matt F wrote:

tony b wrote:I just had an interesting thought - Has anyone ever smoked fresh hops (not like that, Dude!) I wonder if it would pick up a smoky flavor in the drying process. Do something like a cold smoking (120F) process with fruit woods - apple, peach, or cherry. Granted, the higher drying temperature would cause you to lose some of the more volatile hop esters, but if it added different flavors, it might be a good trade off?

Using heat of any kind for drying hops usually is not good for the hops. You don't want to cook hops to dry them.

I thought most commerical Oasts had a heater element to them. No pushing hot air but do warm the air they are pushing through the hops?

Most probably just enough to raise the dew point (lower the humidity) so the air can absorb more moisture and hence, dry out the hops.

Yup, minimal heat, works like a de-humidor.

Would liquid smoke work?

I recently brewed a bacon and hatch chile dubbel. The recipe called for trimming the fat and baking in the oven, then drying off with a paper towel to remove the grease. Adding to the fermenter after the first few days. I think the chile overpowered the bacon flavor and I probably needed a smokier bacon. After a month since i opened the first bottle, the beer seems pretty active still and I'm noticing the bacon flavor is starting to be more noticeable. It was kind of gross watching the yeast strip the bacon apart!

Do an alcohol extraction of the bacon and keep the fat separate next time. Just dose the beer at bottling and you should have good results