I plan to grab a boatload of hops from the Nugget plant in my backyard this weekend for dry-hopping. Any worries about infection from fresh leaf hops? Should I sanitize, wash, or scrub them? Or just throw them in? Advice and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Nah, no need. Just toss those mothers in there. The alcohol and low pH are your friend, and hop oils coat cells (like spoiling agents) which effectively negates any impact they'll have on final flavor.
You don't need to sanitize the hops, but I would recommend sanitizing any hop bags and/or weights you'll be using. Dipping in boiling water will do it.
Back to the BYO magazine article relating to dryhopping, you don't want to dryhop with wet hops, the moisture can bring bacteria with it. You'll want to dry them out properly before dropping them in your beer.
I never sanitize my home growns before brewing, and they always have turned out great! You should be fine.
Bought some fresh cascade hops today ( wet ) and they were vaccum sealed and put in the freezer within one hour of leaving the LHBS. Shouldnt be any bacteria in a airless frozen environment should there ??
As Brewmaster6141 already said, I have wethopped with homegrown hops many times and other than using 5X the weight, they go in (unsanitized) just like normal dryhops.
Many, many bacteria are anerobic (Meaning that they thrive in an airless environment) and can survive frozen temperatures well below those that you are likely to achieve in a home freezer. I would save wet hops for very late in the boil or a hopstand and dryhop with dried hops. (IMHO)
Let's put it this way, the only time I have perceived grassy flavors from dry/wet hopping was when the hops were wet...I used almost 1 1/2# `in a 5 gal batch...go figure : )
Not if you freeze them right away. But I would use them shortly after thawing when your ready to brew.
I have never frozen wet hops, so take this with a grain of salt. But have been told that this will result in mush. And is the reason wet hops need to be used right away.
They were frozen literally 30 mins after being vacuum sealed right out of the crate. I cant imagine any damage done to them simply because of how fast they were sealed and frozen. Guess I will defrost them then open the seal and see what happens.. Its not like they only come around every 10 years .. but I can tell you ALL of us will know what happens when you seal and freeze right away. Will report back with what happens.
