Easy Home Brewing - Hop to-it! - (Adding Hop Tea to home brew)

[2009stevecry]

Love the Shiner T-shirt, Cheers!!

[DrDribs]

Damn glad I watched this because I was thinking of just boiling hops in water for an hour for bittering. I read somewhere that you shouldn't boil DME for too long because it changes the sugar's structure and then the yeast won't be able to utilize it as easily. So would boiling hops with dex be ok?

[rxheaven13b]

It was worth filming Craig, Thank you!

[backyardsounds]

Here is my perdicament. When homebrewing, do we need to literally sterilize or are we just sanitizing? When I started, I treated everything I was brewing like I was taking it all into surgery. Even the water I used had to be boiled or bottled water. However, I've see you, et.al., use tap water when topping off a batch? So, can I just simply wash my stuff well and rinse it with water???

[mwstone8888]

Five thumbs up for Shiner! From Texas and have been to the brewery, spectacular. I'm about to bottle this batch and it's my first brew. Wish I had seen this video before I started... Love me some hops.

[acheekymonkeyuk]

Hi Craig,after watching several of your videos,i have decided to give it a go, got 2 25litre fermenting tubs, on for first stage, one for second.

Also got 5, 5litre Carboys. Gonna run secondery in there for my next batch of mexican style cervuesa, and gonna put a few dried chillies in each carboy. Going from mild to super hot, so see how effects the flavour

Fingers Cross

[lossofthoughts6]

Hey Craig, I have a band that you should really check out! They are called "Alestorm", they are from Scotland and their song titled "Nancy the Tavern Wench" is the greatest beer swinging, drinking song ever! If you decide to give them a listen please let me know what you think. I met them when they played in my town here in the States and they where a funny bunch to say the least. Anyways, Cheers and happy brewing!

[djhc123]

HELP PLEASE:

If i want to add some bittering hops to my coopers lager kit, how should i do it? I have a 1kg bag of brew enhancer (contains malt, dextrose, maltodextrin etc). Should i boil my hops with that for 60mins? I don't want to boil my can of malt extract because i heard that causes the kit to lose flavour. the guy at the store said just boil it in water for 60mins and add some more with 15mins remaining.

[CraigTube]

@djhc123 You can't just boil your hops in water and sugar for buttering. If you can get a small amount of Dry Malt Extract, 500g or so, you could boil them in that to get the right extraction of bitter flavour. For aroma, plain water is fine for 5 minutes or less.

[TheBeebopper]

Bittering is increased when a cask is dry hopped and left to mature over a period of months, like what happened tothe original IPA's. Hop bittering by boiling gets things over much quicker and is normal practice for a commercial brewery where time is money and there is a bank loan to repay.

Hops are available in many formats, the most common are;Loose hops, available at different compressions. Pellets. Cones. Isomerized hop oil. Hop essence.

20 minutes steep for hop tea made loose, IME

[MrPatriot3579]

Gday Craig.I just made a hop tea & added it to a beer kit.I put 25gm of New Zealand Cascade hops in a bag & simmered it for 15 mins in 3 litres of water.I added it 2 a can of Blackrock Pilsener Blonde & 1kg of Coppertun No. 20 Brew enhancer. I used Safale US-05 yeast & pitched it @ 24.C.Haha I was drinking a Coopers Dark Ale while watchn your video.Cheers Craig

[CraigTube]

Look for my video called Craig's Q + Beer review. The comments have lots of info on adding fruit to beer.

[chestercheeseface]

Nice video! A good hop to use for flavour is Amarillo with that Coopers IPA + brew enhancer 2.

Also Craig, would you use the same "hop tea" method if you were trying to give your beer a fruit twist, because I'm thinking about making some wheat beer but with a orange twist but I'm not 100% about how I would achieve that...

Cheers

[tufnel1970]

Another great video Craig. Thanks.

I have been brewing now for over 12 months and I am loving it. Thanks to your video's I have learn't so much.

Still not happy with my head retention, but sometimes I get a good head out of a batch. Don't know why.

thanks

[gamolicious]

love the way you keep it simple craig, no fuss no muss. dont let 'bee snob' get to ya. IT JUST SOUNDS LIKE HES JEALOUS

[BeerGeekNation]

Really great video man. Its a basic step but a very good one to show new brewers.

[MeMcNeills]

Hey Craig, More of a generic question...do you get any trub into your bottles with your setup? Any yeast chunks? My brew store keeps telling me that if I don't do 2 stage fermentation, I will get foul chunks in my beer from the yeast during bottling.

Thanks a bunch,

Danny

[CraigTube]

@MeMcNeills I think they are just trying to sell you a carboy there. My current batch is a single stage... clear as a bell and no "chunks" LOL. :)

[MeMcNeills]

@CraigTube I agree!!

[manosaxy]

@MeMcNeills If you are using a bottling bucket, any of the trub that escapes the fermentation bucket will settle in the bottom of the bottling bucket. Just give it a few minutes. If it does make it into the bottles, it will settle out. No worries!

[jamesdizzle420]

@MeMcNeills if u bottle using priming sugar you will always have yeast chunks they multiply with the sugar you add it has nothing to do with how many carboys u put it in make sure u siphon off the top of the yeast

[arrogantbastardale]

Hi Craig! I made that Coopers IPA for my first batch of beer, and when I tasted it after 4 weeks of fermenting, I was happy that it actually tasted like beer, but disappointed that the hop flavor was quite low.  I actually got an idea from Steeljan to add some hop tea to my fermenter (secondary), and let it sit for a week. Hopefully this will increase the hop profile. I used Apollo hops, which has high alpha acids, so we will see how it turns out!

[manosaxy]

@arrogantbastardale you can just add hops to the secondary. That's what "dry hopping" is. You get all the aroma and noe of the fuss!

[arrogantbastardale]

@manosaxy I actually added a hop tea that was boiled for 15 minutes. I didn't notice much aroma or piney taste, but the bitterness improved quite a bit. So, the question is, what is the difference between hop tea and dry hopping? IMHO, dry hops = aroma + flavor, and hop tea = bitterness. Thoughts?

[manosaxy]

@arrogantbastardale By adding hops to the secondary fermenter, you won;'t get any bitterness that you will when you boil. You will get mainly aroma and some flavor. The acids in the hop don't isomerise when they are not boiled.

[supercheekykiwi]

Fantastic. finally an easier way to improve a beer kit. will be trying this out next time. ALthough IPA seems to be damn hard to find in this part of the world. which is strange as just next door to oz.

[billc6955]

Craig,

I tried the tea hops this weekend,like you said dead easy to do.I'll give a review in a couple of weeks when I do a taste test.

[billc6955]

Think I'll give this a try.Thanks Craig

[ruffdeezy]

Another awesome video, got my start on coopers 2 years ago, do all grain now, but I still love watching all your videos. Gonna try make pickles too now.

[kramercanify]

Memorex88 here. I just paused the video @ 12 minutes to say.... the hell with the snobs!!! I'm an all grain brewer as you know and can't understand why some people are that way? Homebrew is homebrew!

You will make better beer than the rice/corn Budmillerlabattmolson crap they sell at freakedout prices (specially here in Canada).

Again, people must ignore these "beer snobs"! Listen to Palmer... you CAN make great beer from a can :-)

[kramercanify]

Memorex88 here. I just paused the video @ 12 minutes to say.... the hell with the snobs!!! I'm an all grain brewer as you know and can't understand why some people are that way? Homebrew is homebrew!

You will make better beer than the rice/corn Budmillerlabattmolson crap they sell at freakedout prices (specially here in Canada).

Again, people must ignore these "beer snobs"! Listen to Palmer... you CAN make great beer from a can :-)

[SuperTex1966]

Caught up with your videos from homebrewtalk. About to start on the journey and your videos are helping me be more confident about getting going. A Canadian making beer in a great Texas beer shirt. I have to be on board.

[bebeech]

Hey, Craig!! I'm loving your videos!! I'm just getting started brewing and I was wondering if there is a such thing as too much yeast. If there is, what would be the result of using too much? Thanks!!

[CraigTube]

@bebeech It could affect the flavour. There will be more dead yeast product in the beer. Stick to the recommended dosage.

[Crypticx666]

Hey Craig, I just made the Cooper's IPA just a couple weeks ago and it's what I have on tap right now. I personally don't much care for it. It pretty much tastes like the Lager, just more bitter! There's no different flavor...it's just really bitter.

Cheers!

[BeerDreadAwesome]

I love your Shiner Shirt...Texas baby!

[sfm1017]

Craig, I am going to do a Coopers EB this weekend. Would Cascade hops works to add more flavor?

[CraigTube]

@sfm1017 Cascade hops are perfect for this.

[eedwards74]

Brew with kits because most of us don't have the time or money for a all grain set up.

[BeerDiddleyBeer]

I wona brew up a batch now!!! Iv about 50 bottles from my other batches waiting to be drank tho..... I love to have a host of different styles at the one time. Great vid Craig! 

[dtadpole]

Great Video Craig! Love to see anything you do, none of it gets old or boring! Looks good!

[ScatteroTv]

Craig great kit info here, I have a recipe id like to post to your comments with your permision of corse, better tea better batch for a kit, Mark

[neightwatts]

Winamp rules! Extract brewing is awesome! One day ill venture into all grain. Ivd never tried coopers but I do enjoy watching Craig brew up a batch. Don't worry if it feels redundant Craig, just keep brewing on camera and we will watch. I like to watch because I can't brew everyday so I watch a video to get my fix. Ha ha ha.

[neightwatts]

Edit : misanthrope is supposed to read MISSING.  LOL sorry.

[neightwatts]

Hiya Craig! I just did this hop tea procedure yesterday and today I see you've done it as well! Great job man.

I boiled my booster adjunct from Mr.beer and my hops for about 5 minutes and then removed the pot from the heat and added my Mr.beer extract. My condo had this tasty cannabis type hop smell all night. It was great!

Sorry I keep misanthrope your Justin TV broadcast. I am awake and everything but I always get wrapped up in a movie or game and forget. Ill make it there one of these weeks

[riccoderossi]

No way is he a sell out. Watch the rest of his videos...

[flyingman1981]

Great video Craig !!!

[5INNER]

Thanks for posting another great video Craig. You videos are what gave me the courage to jump into home brewing. First batch is in the keg and am now fermenting my first apple cider. Thanks for your help!

[kyral210]

please please please get over coopers!

[CraigTube]

@kyral210 There's nothing to get over. I use the product, it's what I have available to me, and it makes good beer. I fail to see the problem. :) Use another brand if you want.

[n2prs]

sell out

[CraigTube]

@n2prs I'm sorry you see it that way. Can't please everyone I guess.

[grahamlong]

@n2prs

Are you referring to Craig trying to make some money via his webite?

Why shouldn't he? He must spend a huge amount of his time helping others out so if this is a way of facilitating that then good for him.

If you think you can do better then crack on!

Great vid Craig, love your work :-)

[weirdbeer]

All good.

[ozglenn]

Hmm quess one person didn't like this vid at all, TSA maybe ?

Anyway great vid as always craig

[kenbigley]

Hi Craig to stop the enhancer from " clumping" simply mix it with a decent quantity of cold water.

[1979timdog]

great video craig, as always! cheers!!!

[MeMcNeills]

Hey Craig, Personal question. You are not a fat guy with a big beer belly. How do you keep the weight off and still enjoy great beer? Thanks, Dan

[rpappi]

@MeMcNeills Im not craig but its called moderation with beer and with food. its simple. Calories in - calories burned = excess calories. 3500 calories per pound of fat. you consume more you gain more. its not difficult to keep thin with some gym time.

[MeMcNeills]

@rpappi ahhh, moderation. That's new to me...

[MeMcNeills]

@rpappi ...Actually, "gym time" is good for your heart but has a very minimal effect on your overall weight. Check the studies...

[rpappi]

@MeMcNeills you can make studies say anything i know for a fact that gym time works. now its also a fact that without proper diet gym doesn't mean anything. 80% of weight loss is diet. proper nutrition and exercise are key when combined.

[CraigTube]

@MeMcNeills I watch what I eat, and stay away from processed foods as much as possible. Burgers and fries are rare, fresh veggies and low fat choices are important to me. I do have a bit of a belly, but at my age, that's no sin. Cheers!

[MeMcNeills]

@CraigTube Cheers to that...good on ya.

[WildBuffoon]

Hell yeah!  sport that shiner bock t-shirt w pride!

[tnm140]

craig how come you never made a coopers candian blonde ale, its my go to coopers beer. I also love dreught and the irish stout. On another note do when you keg do you turn ur regulaor off when your not dispensing it. Lastly do you think there is any significant danger to having a co2 tank leak or rupture besides the missle effect.

[CraigTube]

@tnm140 I think I did do the Blond, but just didn't film it. It was nice and clean. No I don't turn my regulator off. Maybe I should. Lastly, you might suffocate if you're near a fast leaking co2 tank. That's my guess.

[jakeanddar]

Awesome video Craig! Thumbs way up!

[t3m1r8]

Craig, I brewed a batch very simular about 3 weeks ago. I used muntons export pilsner. some honey some corn sugar and 1 ounce cascade hops. thanks for the hard work and great videos!!

[arrogantbastardale]

New fan here, Craig! Your videos helped me take the leap into extract beer brewing. In fact, I brewed my first batch last Saturday... it happened to by that same Cooper's IPA! Anyway, just wanted to leave my thanks to ya!

[walspur05]

Great new way to kit brew Craig, I'll be giving that a try. So many possibilities!

[paparker21]

wait wait wait.... "I hit the bottom of my key" ... "so its time to brew some more".... you wait till the current keg is empty to start the next batch? You, my friend, need to learn from Toyota's "just in time" manufacturing strategies...

[CraigTube]

@paparker21 LOL There's another one already brewing back there, but it's a few days shy of kegging.

[257milo]

Another great video Craig!!! Can't wait for the results!!!

[YRFKD]

I'm curious about your 'go to' with the James Ready. Its certainly not necessarily offensive, as its not really anything -but your pinch faced expression is usually quick to follow when you drink it in your videos.

[CraigTube]

@YRFKD Truth is, it's not really that bad. For a cheap beer, it's quite acceptable, and 5.5% ain't bad either. James Ready FTW! :)

[thegentlearts]

Good VIdeo I always use a Hop Tea now it does add something to the brew. I put the hop bag in the fermenter as well.

[thegentlearts]

Good VIdeo I always use a Hop Tea now it does add something to the brew.

[HarryTroller]

Why not just dry hop?

[immolateus]

Great hop tea video...I'm looking forward to your justin.tv broadcast this evening. Cant wait to hear how this recipe turns out. Brewing is fun! Cheers!

[rhddrifter86]

What ever happened to the wheat brew you mentioned awhile back?

[Gunnerholic]

The brewing videos are great Craig, not sure why you think they might be becoming a bit tiresome. Youve just enticed me into buying a Coopers lager and Coopers Stout as we speak lol.

[orstk320]

Cheers Craig. My first bottle day is scheduled for the 22nd of March. I am nervous because my assistant brewmaster is wanting to put our first batch in a homebrew competition . It tasted clean and good before it went to econdary I just can't fuck it up when we bottle. I am ready to brew batch 2. Thankyou again Craig for your dedication and hard work. I hope that this beer turns out well. Cheers mate and I aticipate the next vid. Happy St. Pats Day laddy hope all is well.

[VitiokasMozart]

Why do I always press like button when I only hear your music in title? Never regret it though :) Thanks for videos and many healthy years to you. Cheers.

[threeque]

Love the basement brewing videos. Keep em coming! See you tonight on your JustinTV broadcast!!!

[aikidojoe1]

hey craig my my first brew should be done for bottling on sunday..its a lager not my fav beer but hey my first time....next brew is a coopers wheat,,then im jumping strait into a mini mash weizen....as always craig awsome video keep it up...

[hoopztube]

Nice video Craig. Same way I add hops to my brews. Can I ask, have you ever done a two cans brew? I am going to make a two can brew with 2 Coopers Lager and an edition of Saaz Hops to make a Pils style beer. Maybe you could one day show people how to do a two cans brew?

[kumquatsta]

did you do the drums for this video? were they mic'ed up? they sound great.

[sausage4mash]

liked the back ground music ,it was very Beer

[Bucks5Live]

Hey Craig, I've been doing partial extract recipes. Do you recommend using a hop bag when boiling hops?  I have just been dumping my hops into my boil but noticed you have been using bags in recent videos.

[TeeloB]

I always hit the "like" button to Craig's vids within the first few seconds...:)

[thewayyoudance]

Nice work, Craig. Keep it up!

[TheBigBrewer]

Great vid. What a awesome way to enhance your beer with a cheap alternative. Cheers keep up the good work!!!!

[briancarrane]

Is it ok to mix fizzy orange and putoin ?

[PeiHomeBrewer]

You should inquire to see if your shop is able to get Munton's Beer Kit Enhancer, Craig. It is 500g DME and 500g dextrose for only $7.99. Basically you would be getting your DME $2 cheaper plus 500g dextrose FREE. I recently used it in my Dark Ale; makes good beer and saves money. I believe it also has a small portion of wheat extract in it to aid in head retention.

[tvtoms]

Brew Enhancer 2 is 500g Dextrose, 250g Light Dry Malt Extract, 250g Maltodextrin in case anyone was extra special curious. hehe. I've used it and it is a nice convenient addition.

[jroik132]

another good one keep up the good work

[spoetzl2070]

As a Texan, it's cool to see a Canadian sporting a Shiner Beers shirt. Love the videos and keep up the good work Craig!

[Nfordmann]

uh oh!! u didnt mention names but we all know who your talkin bout in this vid lol. might cause another vid battle lmao....come on guys, come on!! :)

[dcostell]

wow, feels like ages since you've done a brewing video! Nice work!

[r0bsta01]

Another great vid Craig! Just opened a Coopers Lager I brewed 6 weeks ago and added honey!! Very impressed!! 6.5% though so best I go easy on them!! Just mixed the same IPA kit you showed in this vid. Very much looking forward to tasting it!!

Cheers from South Australia!!!

[sshukri0]

Nice video craig...NEED MORE...keep em coming, you make it sooooo easy to learn new methods

[Becharco]

Nice video Craig! See you on JTV tonight! :D

[bmeyer44]

first!!!!!!!!!!!



[CraigTube]

@bmeyer44 Holy crap, the thing JUST went live. :)

[bmeyer44]

@CraigTube yeah, the quality wasn't very good when I watched it, so I knew it wasn't really done processing!!!