From Vol. 2, No. 8, December 2018
Dy matter isn’t necessarily the best way to determine when a plant is at peak maturity, but it is cheaper than investing thousands of dollars in lab equipment.
To measure:
– Weigh an empty container (in grams).
– Weigh that container with hops (in grams).
– Dry the hops down to 0% moisture. For growers without specialized equipment this is best done in a food dehydrator. It can be done in a microwave or oven, but needs to watched closely to avoid scorching. Once the sample has reached a stable weight, the hops will be at 0% moisture.
Here is the formula:
Hop percent dry matter = 100 x (dry cone weight – empty container/green cone weight – empty container)
Commercial farms generally target Cascade dry matter at 22-25%, Centennial at 23-24%, Chinook 23-24%, Nugget 23%, and Willamette 20%. Picking at the outer edge of what is recommended for a variety will result in more free thiols in your hops; that is if you are growing a known thiols producer. For instance, pick Cascade when dry matter is at 26.