ya I know I’m cheep but waste not want not. can you, do you, would you take 2 oz cascade from a dry hopping bucket and throw then in the next boil for bittering? I dry hopped with then for 3 days. just wondering what you all think.
My first thought is that it’s a really bad idea, but that’s just on instinct. If you were to try it, definitely go straight from the dry hop to the boil (don’t let the hop sludge sit around in a ziplock for a week before you get around to it). I have no idea how you’d predict or measure the results, but hey, it might be an okay experiment. Are you just planning on throwing bucketsludge into the boil? There’s a lot more than just your dry hops in there.
I should of sated that the hops were and are in a hop bag.
I think it’s one of the cheapest things I’ve ever heard. Buy in bulk, sure. Collect and reuse yeast, sure. Trade yeast with other home brewers, sure. All great ways to save money. But to pull hops from one batch to use in the next? Nah…
Hops are pretty inexpensive. I would just buy new hops and use them. One less risk taken of messing up a batch IMO…
By the time you pull that hop bag out there’s really nothing left but plant fiber. You physically can chuck that bag into your boil, but there’s no flavor or bittering capacity left.
It’s crossed my mind haha, but I’d never do it. I buy in bulk and most hops are cents per ounce.
I might be wrong but I think that practice was used in the old days in England. I seem to remember reading something about it, maybe in Mitch Steele’s IPA book?
I think the old days means 2 centuries ago. I also think it’s a bad idea. Everything I ever read said to use the freshest hops you can get, and you want every chance for things to taste good. Just me…
What’s the worst that can happen? Try it on a small batch … and tell us how it works.
I was brewing a IIPA and decided to do a partigyle IPA as well. The IPA immediately followed the IIPA. Since the IIPA had 3 oz of Citra at flameout, I decided to let them steep in the partigyle IPA along with the other FWH addition. I figured I’d pull some more flavor and a bit of bitterness.
Turns out that wasn’t a great idea. The IPA wasn’t bad, but not something I’d brew again for sure. The bitterness was kind of harsh and the flavor just wasn’t there. I think you’re better off just planning a new batch from scratch and investing in quality.
Then again, you won’t know for sure until you try it for yourself.
Back during the hop shortage in 2007-8, I remember reading articles that suggested doing exactly what the OP is asking about. The dry hops have had all their aromatic oils extracted in the first beer, but if you are going to be using them for bittering, you would loose those anyway. And all the bittering compounds are locked into the hops and not released until boiling. So it appears on paper to be a win-win.
That said, I never tried it. If you do, let us know how it turns out.
^^^ Rebuilt makes sense. I probably wouldn’t do it, but it’s because I’m lazy.
Typically, the hops I use would be different for bittering than for the dry hopping I guess, but I don’t see why it couldn’t work.
As far as price, hops are not cheap IMO. They’ve come down, but are in no way inexpensive so I can see the draw. No reason you can’t freeze them until you’re ready to brew again either.
I think I’m going to use them in a 2nd running’s beer with experimentation in mind, It will be small 1 gal and most likely low abv. I will let those interested know the results in 30 days or so.
