Postharvest
To keep this ornamental value at least over a longer period of time or store the cones as a raw material for brewing, hop cones have to be dried.
The cones last the longest in the dried condition. If fresh twigs are used for decoration, the leaves should be removed as they dry very quickly and curl up. This disturbs the optics strongly. For brewing, the cones are always dried, as this is the only way they can be stored without losing their ingredients.
There are (as always) different ways of drying:
1. Air drying: remove the leaves from the branches and hang the bunches upside down in a dark, warm and dry place. Harvested single umbels can be placed loosely e. g. on a sieve (aeration). Often you will find such a place in the attic, especially in older buildings or in the boiler room. Darkness is important to preserve the golden-green colour of the cones. In sunlight the umbels turn red-brown!
2. Active drying: of course you can also dry the cones in the oven. The cones should lie loosely on a grate and can be gently dried at approx. 80°C in the circulating air function for 1-2 hours. Please note that these data are without guarantee! In particular, if the oven is not used exclusively for such unintended actions, one should be aware that hop contains many aromatic substances which could possibly be transferred to subsequent dishes!
The cones last the longest in the dried condition. If fresh twigs are used for decoration, the leaves should be removed as they dry very quickly and curl up. This disturbs the optics strongly. For brewing, the cones are always dried, as this is the only way they can be stored without losing their ingredients.
There are (as always) different ways of drying:
1. Air drying: remove the leaves from the branches and hang the bunches upside down in a dark, warm and dry place. Harvested single umbels can be placed loosely e. g. on a sieve (aeration). Often you will find such a place in the attic, especially in older buildings or in the boiler room. Darkness is important to preserve the golden-green colour of the cones. In sunlight the umbels turn red-brown!
2. Active drying: of course you can also dry the cones in the oven. The cones should lie loosely on a grate and can be gently dried at approx. 80°C in the circulating air function for 1-2 hours. Please note that these data are without guarantee! In particular, if the oven is not used exclusively for such unintended actions, one should be aware that hop contains many aromatic substances which could possibly be transferred to subsequent dishes!
