Codename : Westfort Warrior Hop Water Pilot

© Freepik.comI recently found my 750 ml carboy, so I am back to trying some pilot batches of hop water. I can go back to making something on a much smaller scale. I have a lot of Warrior hops, so I opted to try them this time.

Recipe inspiration : TheBruSho Ultimate Hop Water

Ingredients 

  • 3 g Warrior hops (See brew notes below)
  • 850 ml of filtered or distilled water (chlorine in home water may produce off flavours)
  • 1/2 ml dry ale yeast (See brew notes below)
  • 1 oz lactose
  • 0.2 oz white sugar
  • 5 ml of lime (or lemon) juice

Vital Stats

Carbonation : 2.8

Steep Day

  • Add the water to whatever vessel you will be steeping in.
  • Add the hops directly to the water, this is called dry hopping.
  • Allow the hops to infuse at room temperature for about 6 hours, or until you get the aroma you like. 
  • Sanitise everything required for bottling.
  • Once the desired aroma has been reached, you will want to strain/filter the hop water to remove most of the gooey stuff. That is the technical term.
  • Add the both sugars directly into the bottle, add approximately half the hop water into the bottle, cap it and shake vigorously. This will ensure the sugar is dissolved completely.
  • Add the remainder of the hop water to the bottle, cap it, and shake vigorously once again.
  • Add the dry yeast directly into the bottle. It is already room temperature, wait 15 minutes for the yeast to re-hydrate.
  • Put the cap back on, and shake vigorously, yet again.
  • Add the lime (or lemon) juice, cap it, then shake vigorously one last time.
  • Add it to the shelf, and wait at least one week for it to carbonate.

Steep Notes

  • I used Warrior hops this time, as I have a lot of them.
  • The declared measurement of yeast is purely a guess. I used Windsor ale yeast in this case. You can use most any yeast you like.
  • Knowing the hops would absorb some water, the starting measurement of water to be slightly higher, with the anticipation it would reach the desired  750 ml.
  • I used the lactose in an attempt to sweeten the hop water a little, as it is a non-fermentable sugar, it won’t contribute to the carbonation.
  • Using a carbonation calculator, the 0.2 oz of sugar was chosen to achieve the approximately 2.8 CO2-vol I am hoping for.

Brew & Tasting Notes

  • I already know this mash was very potent and bitter. Using these hops, I need to steep for a shorter duration, use less hops, or both.
  • It was drinkable, quite bitter and not very sweet. The next iteration is already in the works.
It really does look like a small amount of hops in the water.

 

The hops really did dissolve and turn to mush.

 

Steep day : 26-Jan-2025

Pig facing left