I’d like to hear people’s experiences on dry hopping with homegrown hops. I’ve heard conflicting information on this subject. A lot of people say that hops are naturally antiseptic, but others who’ve tried dry hopping with homegrown hops have said they’ve had mixed results, getting contaminated batches, etc. The only time I tried it, myself, I noticed some off flavors from contamination. What are people’s experiences with this?
I’ve dry hopped with homegrown hops at least dozens of times and never gotten an infection from it. I have a keg on tap right now with 2 oz. of my homegrown Cascades in it as dry hops. No problems.
I have had very good results from HG hops in the secondary, although my practice includes a short spin in the microwave, becuase I have had some experience with small bugs on the hops, a shot in the microwave does the trick for me, make sure your hops have been dried well first however, if not they will cook and get brown and ugly very fast.
I’ve always dried and frozen mine first before using as a dry hop. Always had good results. I wouldn’t use them fresh as a dry hop- too much contamination risk. The microwaving tip mentioned above would work, but I prefer freezing. I’ve had bug issues in the past, but not this year!