Did I ruin my harvest?

[keislir]

I'm sure this thread is around somewhere, but did I ruin my hops by attempting to dry them in the oven? They smell somewhat sweet and I've read about getting grassy flavors by over heating. I still have half of my harvest to do the right way if I really messed this one up. Thanks

 

[day_trippr]

Probably not the best move. At what temp did you run the oven?

Next time just air dry them. It's pretty hard to hurt 'em that way...

Cheers!

 

[keislir]

oven was set a 170 but I kept the door open to keep the temp. down to 140.

Collectively they smell sweet, almost like hay, but opening them individually releases the original, desired aroma.

I'm air drying the other half of the harvest, so I'm pretty jazzed about that. Woulda been cool to have the rest though!

 

[day_trippr]

Save the oven-baked hops for bittering, you probably didn't erase the AA content if the temperature wasn't too much above 140°F. I think I may have read that some commercial hop dryers run at 135°F - I can't remember for sure but that's stuck in my brain, and if it's correct then you probably didn't ruin them for bittering. Use the other half of the crop for middle and later additions...

Cheers!

[edit] ps, if you could fit half the harvest in the oven, you could likely fit the second half on a liberated window screen or two, and use some kind of fan to keep air moving around the cones...

 

[Cyclman]

According to Freshhops, you're fine: http://www.freshops.com/hop-growing/hop-gardening#drying

I believe I've heard on podcasts that commercial hop dryers do it at those temps, but cooler and slower is better.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Any thing over 100f you will cook off the oils. Make beer brownies out of those!

 

[day_trippr]

I agree that there would be loss of aromatics, and perhaps even heavier flavor compounds, versus air-drying, but I would expect most (if not all) of the bittering compounds should remain. Could be wrong, I've never baked my hops

fwiw, the Oregon Hop Commission says: "If you choose to construct a dryer, good airflow is essential, and the temperature must not exceed 140°F. Drying hops at a lower temperature takes longer, but a better quality hop is obtained."

I think we can all agree with the conclusion, but for the OP's benefit, I'd think the question is which contents - and to what degree - of slightly baked hops are attenuated?

Cheers!

 

[keislir]

This is great advice! I was considering tossing them! Would boiling the hops in water for an hour give me any idea of how it would bitter my beer? I want to do something to test this before I ruin a batch.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Don't waste the energy, 5 minutes in a pan of water will give you a good idea.