Delicious home brewed hops kombucha with a combination of aromatic pine, citrus, and floral notes full of gut-healthy probiotics.
Do you enjoy kombucha? I love the stuff now but I haven’t always enjoyed it. The first time I took a sip of kombucha was several years ago as I sat in the car in a parking lot of Flagstaff, Arizona.
It tasted like… dirty towels. 😖😣 Ugh, I simply didn’t find it favorable at all.
Thankfully I gave it another try and I’m glad I did because there is an exciting world of kombucha flavors that have made me swoon for the drink.
Commercially made kombucha can be found in most grocers – even Walmart carries several brands of the ever popular probiotic drink. You can occasionally even get samples of the stuff at Costco if you go on the right day.
Find everything from rose kombucha to lemon ginger, peach pineapple, even basil kombucha. In most cases, the kombucha flavor is so incredibly good that you wouldn’t even realize you are drinking kombucha.
Hops Kombucha
Centennial hops give this kombucha a hint of citrusy beer without being too overpowering. If you are looking for an additional flavor profile, orange is a natural fit.
When you’re ready to make hops kombucha you can take one of several avenues. Use dry hops or pellets or create a simple syrup by boiling the hops to extract more flavor.
Hops tend to run a little bitter, and boiling them results in a much bitter kombucha than I like to have. So I typically add .25 oz of dry hops to a gallon of brewed kombucha after the first ferment (1F). The dry hops sit in that kombucha anywhere from 1-3 days as a second ferment (2F).
They are then strained out and the kombucha is poured into swing top bottles for a 3-4+ day ferment there.
Some helpful links:
- Don’t have a kombucha SCOBY? Learn how to make your own kombucha SCOBY from scratch.
- You can find a gallon glass kombucha jar on Amazon. It’s best to buy in a pair (2) – one for first ferment and one for second ferment.
- Yakima Valley Hops is a great source for a variety of hops to flavor your kombucha. I prefer Centennial hops but Cascade hops would be a great choice too.
- Once you have a kombucha SCOBY, learn how to make your first few brews of kombucha.
Hops Kombucha
Equipment
- gallon glass jar (for initial brew)
- clean cotton cloth and rubberband (for first brew)
- gallon glass jar and lid (for second ferment)
- funnel
- swing top drinking jars (for bottling)
- plastic strainer (no metal)
Ingredients
- 1 C organic cane sugar
- 8 organic black tea bags
- 2 C previous brew kombucha or vinegar
- 14 C water
- 1 kombucha SCOBY culture
- .25 oz dry cone hops Centennial, Cascade, etc.
Instructions
- Bring 3 C of water to a boil. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Toss in the tea bags.
- Add the additional water (9 C) and allow the mixture to cool. Remove the tea bags and pour the sweetened tea into a clean glass jar.
- Add the 2 C of previous brew kombucha (or use vinegar) and add the kombucha SCOBY. Cover with a cheesecloth and rubberband.*
- Cover the jar with cloth, secure with a rubber band and place in a warm spot. The time it needs to brew may vary greatly - anywhere from 7-10 days should be sufficient (at a temp of 75 degrees). Winter batches may take a little longer. You can taste your brew by taking out a little bit with a clean straw or spoon.
- Once the brew has reached the perfect taste, bottle for a second ferment. Remove the SCOBY and set aside in a large bowl - taking care to cover for the time being. Remove 2 C. of kombucha and save for a future batch. To the remaining kombucha, add the dry hops (.25 oz). Place the plastic lid on the gallon kombucha jar and set to the rear of the counter away from sunlight in a warm place.
- Allow the hops to infuse that second brew for 2 days, give it a shake a few times each day. The hops should float on the top and sort of expand.
- After 2 days and with clean hands, remove the hops and discard. Strain the hops kombucha using a fine mesh strainer and funnel into your swing top bottles, filling 3/4 full. Continue with the remaining kombucha until you have 5-6 bottles. Optional: before sealing, feel free to add a small 2" strip of fresh orange peel. Close up the bottle and leave them out on the counter at room temperature for 3-4 days. This will help increase the carbonation.
- Place in the refrigerator and consume at your leisure.**
Notes
What’s your favorite flavor to brew up in kombucha? And have you tried Hops Kombucha before? If not, give it a whirl.. you might find that it’s your new favorite.
If you give this recipe a try, please leave a comment, and rate the recipe!
Hello!
I’ve been looking for info on hopping kombucha. Have you ever experimented with putting a “hop tea” with black tea in the first fermentation instead of waiting for the 2F? Will hops play a negative role on the scoby?
Dan, I have not ever tried that. It might be a great experiment… if you have an extra SCOBY to test out. You could definitely give it a try and let me know how it works. I have only added hops to the second ferment – and only for a day or so otherwise the flavor gets much too strong.
Speaking as a homebrewer, hops (mostly the alpha acid component) may affect the SCOBY as they a known antibacterial agent. That is a primary purpose for their use in beer. Sour beers (Lambics, etc) typically forgo hops altogether or use aged hops which have lost most of their alpha acids. There are some hop tolerant strains of LAB out there but I am not entirely sure which bugs are present in a SCOBY colony, so it might not work out.
Thanks Fry. I haven’t ever tried doing a hop tea with black tea in the first fermentation. When I second ferment my kombucha with hops, I only let it go a day or so otherwise it ends up much too strong. Hops are by far my favorite kombucha flavor though.
Do you cover the kombucha during the second fermentation? Like the first with a cloth?
Yes… I usually second ferment in another gallon kombucha jar, except I put a lid on it (the plastic one that comes with the jar when you order from Amazon). You can also second ferment in swing top bottles and such, but I find that to be too hard because the fruit pieces or Hops that you use to second ferment can get stuck in the bottle neck and be hard to get out.
Thank you! I have been looking for a hopped kombucha recipe. It is easier for me to get hops pellets. Do you know how the recipe would change with pellets instead of cones? And did you use a mesh bag or strainer to contain the hops?
You are welcome! I haven’t used pellets.. but I know from experience that when using Hop cones, they go a long way. A small amount of hops will pack a huge punch in flavor so I try to use just a small amount. I don’t use a mesh strainer to contain them either. I usually do a second ferment and dump the kombucha in a clean jar, then add the hops, then add a lid and let them sit for a day (two days if I’m busy). Then I strain out the hops and pour the kombucha into jars. My kids love hop kombucha.. it’s their favorite flavor. Let me know how it goes when you use the pellets! I’d love to know!
Recipe sounds great. I tried a honeycrisp apple and hop batch recently. I attempted the same way as noted here (before reading this), by adding the hop for 1-2 day third ferment, after already fermenting 1-2 with the apple (I thought of the hop idea after the apples were already in). The pellets all disintegrated and chemically broke down into powdery,mushy clump, which I strained out. Perhaps I used too much but it was way too strong. I probably used about .25 for a half gallon batch, but it was the pellets. Maybe next time I’ll look for larger hops. Thanks for sharing!
You bet! Hops are pretty strong. I find myself always wanting to use more than I need to. I have to hold myself back sometimes, otherwise the kombucha becomes way too “hoppy”. My oldest is 14 and it is by far her favorite flavor.