Hops: rules for collecting and drying at home - preparing hop cones for the winter

How and when to collect hops

Hops are a fairly common plant and its thickets can be found in small ravines, as well as along rivers. Hops are often cultivated in garden plots for decorative purposes. If you do not have your own plantation of this plant, then you should look for a wild crop away from industrially polluted areas, away from railways and highways.

It is important to remember that only female hops have medicinal properties. A video from the channel “Twice Father Dimitri” will tell you in detail how to distinguish a male plant from a female one.

The cones are collected at the end of summer, starting in the second half of August.It is important not to miss the period when there are only a few days left until the buds fully ripen.

The desired condition of hop fruits can be determined by the following characteristics:

• The bracts are tightly pressed to the cone and have not yet begun to straighten.
• The color of the buds should be greenish-yellow. Green color indicates that the hops are underripe, and brown indicates that the hops are overripe.
• The cone should contain a sufficient amount of lupulin, yellow pollen that accumulates on the inside of the scales and gives the aroma and healing properties to this plant. You can determine the amount of pollen by peeling back a few scales on the cone.

Overripe brown hops can also be used to make decoctions for hair rinsing or as pillow filling.

Hops are collected in dry, warm weather by picking the fruits along with the stalk. This ensures the integrity of the bud during drying.

Watch the video from the channel “SAMOGONSHIKOV” - Hops, harvesting. Hop cones from San Sanych

How to dry hop cones

The natural way to dry hops involves placing the raw materials in a dry and well-ventilated room or under canopies that protect the harvest from sunlight. The cones are laid out in one layer on paper or grids. The second option allows you to prepare higher quality raw materials, since good air ventilation allows the product to dry much faster.

If the hops are dried under shelters in the fresh air, then the containers with cones are moved indoors at night, and in the morning, after the dew has disappeared, they are again placed outside. In dry, warm weather, hops dry out in 7–10 days. This is determined by the elastic stalk, which breaks when squeezed.

If the harvest occurs during a rainy period, a vegetable and fruit dryer will help quickly dry the hops. This unit must have a thermostat, since the buds can be dried at a temperature not exceeding 45 - 50 degrees.

Hops are not dried in the oven due to the impossibility of precise temperature control.

How to store dried product

High-quality dried buds retain their color and aroma. Store the product in a dry and cool place, placing it in bags made of paper or thick fabric. Hop cones are also stored well in cardboard boxes. The shelf life of harvested raw materials, if properly stored, reaches three years.