What to do with freshly picked Hops? Our knowledgebase on hops tells us that they need to be dried quickly and with minimal exposure to light.
So, being the resourceful people that we are, we looked to what we had available.....
I went out in our back shed and found an old window screen and a window box fan.
Howard rounded up some bungee cords and an extension cord.
The weather was dry and in the 90 degree fahrenheit range, so the upstairs hay mow of our old barn provided the perfect conditions for drying the hops - hot, dry and dark.
The upstairs of the barn has an old hay elevator which provided a convenient place to suspend the fan and to set the screen holding the hops.
The drying process was completed overnight with no artificial heat source needed. it worked out perfectly for our tiny little harvest. We will need to rethink this process for 2011 with a greatly expanded harvest being planned.
The next step was to package the hops in air tight storage and place in the freezer. (Next to the blueberries)
The drying process was completed overnight with no artificial heat source needed. it worked out perfectly for our tiny little harvest. We will need to rethink this process for 2011 with a greatly expanded harvest being planned.
The next step was to package the hops in air tight storage and place in the freezer. (Next to the blueberries)
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