Make your Own Hops Salt

To make your own Hops Salt by bringing the aroma and flavor of your favorite hops to your favorite food and drink recipes, leaving the bitterness out.

If  you’ve ever ventured into the world of hops, you’ve opened a whole new world of adventure.

I know that might sound over the top. But hear me out: hops are a genius way to add flavor to your favorite foods. They can also help you sleep at night (more on that later!) and finely ground to make a beautiful green powder that is added to soap.

If you want to go a step further, you can infuse hops in olive oil and make your own hoppy lip balm.

Combine some hoppy lip balm with this hops salt and some handmade hops soap and you have a fantastic gift for the beer lover.

How to Make Hops Salt

Hops can be incredibly bitter. However, when adding to food in just the right way, you can leave the bitterness out and enjoy the aroma and flavor. This hops salt is incredibly simple to make at home with just two simple ingredients. Once done, add to a spice jar and use for all of your favorite recipes:

• sprinkle on your roasted veggies
• season grilled meat
• add it to your soup or brine
• flavor your favorite roasted potatoes or fries

Chances are, no matter what way you use it, you’ll love the outcome. 

Grab your favorite hops and some sea salt and get ready to knock out some hops salt one of several different ways:

Whole Cone Infusion

Whole cone hops are not as processed as hops pellets – as a result, they retain more of their essential oils (aromatic compounds). They are great for dry-hopping (infusing beer with additional aroma) or second-ferment kombucha because they won’t add any extra bitterness.

To do a whole cone infusion, toss a few hops with sea salt in an airtight container. Seal and allow to sit for 3-4 days until the hops infuse the salt with flavor. 

Or you can go a step further – and use a coffee grinder to grind the hops down to a fine powder. Add 1 tsp of ground whole cone hops with every 1-1.5 Tbsp of sea salt in a small bowl. Then use a funnel to transfer it to a spice jar.

Hops Pellets

Hops pellets are a bit different from whole cone hops  in that they have been dried and ground  into  powder. Then they are shaped (compressed I guess you could say) into pellets. Pellets take up less space due to their small size.  Since they take up less space they are easier to store..

(You can actually get whole cone hops or pellets from Yakima Hops if you don’t grow them yourself).

Hops pellets can be ground just like whole cone hops. One of the biggest differences between both is that the whole cone hops tend to be a little more fragrant because they are less processed.

Your gold ol’ nose plays a huge part in your perception of taste. If you live near to a beer supply store, you might want to stop in and smell the hops in person before you make a purchase. 

There are a wide variety of hops and they all have different flavors and aromas.

I used Centennial hops to make this hops salt.  They are similar to Cascade but less grapefruity, with a much bitter flavor.

When  infused as a whole cone, they will infuse with aromas of pine, mild citrus and a little floral.  Don’t go overboard though  – or you’ll definitely taste the bitterness..

Whatever method you use is definitely your choice. Just play with it for a while, or test a few hops varieties to see what works for your individual tastebuds. 

If you do happen to try or experiment with this hops salt,  please leave a comment, rate the recipe and be sure to tag me on Instagram!