Brewing with homegrown hops is as satisfying as cooking with food from your own garden. But while zucchini and tomatoes can go straight from harvest to kitchen, hops need to take a quick detour to be dried first. It’s true that you can skip the drying process if you’re making a wet-hopped beer, but once your hops take off and you have a big crop, you’ll likely surpass what you can use in a short time.
Fresh hops start out with a water content of about 80 percent, and your target is about 8–10 percent. The key is to remember that hops are literally a delicate flower. If you treat them roughly, they’ll suffer. You have to dry them out fairly quickly to minimize the impact of heat, light, and oxygen. You also need to be careful not to overdry them.
Several Approaches
Many people automatically think of using their oven to dry hops. The problem is that the lowest setting is likely 150°–170°F (65–77°C), and it’s important to keep the temperature below 140°F (60°C), with 100°F (38°C) being even better. If you leave the oven open and you’re careful to turn the hops regularly, this can work…but I don’t recommend it.