What To Do With Hops Besides Making Beer? (8 Fun Alternatives!)

If you have some extra hops lying about that you find cluttering up your brewery or your home, you might be tempted to just throw them away.

Stop! Don’t throw them away! There are plenty of creative and interesting things that you can do with leftover hops that don’t involve brewing more beer.

The hops that can be used to brew beer are dried, fresh, or pellet hops and they can all be used in really creative ways to get rid of the leftover hops that you have.

Don’t be tempted to throw them away as these alternatives are fun and creative, and you might find that you enjoy using hops in other ways, maybe even more than brewing beer!

This article will show you fun alternative ways to use hops so you can make great use of them and have no waste.

Find out more about other ways to use hops below and start having more fun with hops than you usually do!

How Else Can Hops Be Used?

Many people automatically think of beer when asked about hops, but there are lots of other things that hops are great for.

They are most well-known for being used to create incredible states and aromas in beer, but they can also be used in other food and drink recipes to enhance amazing flavors!

Another great use for hops is that they are able to help relieve people from experiencing stress or anxiety as they can contain essential oils.

These hops can be used to make soaps, lotions, or even teas to help calm those feelings and help you to feel calm and relaxed.

If you are intrigued by other ways that hops can be used, find out more below about how you can use hops and what you can start creating with your leftovers today!

Make A Relaxation Pillow

I can already hear you asking, what is a relaxation pillow? Once you have one, you won’t know how you lasted so long without one!

A relaxation pillow is simply a small muslin bag that contains dried herbs.

You can choose from a variety of herbs to go in the bag, the most common ones being anxiety-reducing herbs to help you sleep.

To make the relaxation pillow, you will simply need dried hops and a muslin bag.

You can also add essential oils to the mixture to create a stronger aroma, but this is optional and you can just use dried hops if you want.

To start, mix together the dried hops in a bowl and add any essential oils or other dried herbs that you want to use for extra scents.

Simply spoon the mixture into a muslin bag and make sure that you tighten it so none of it falls out.

You can then place the bag either inside or next to your pillowcase and instantly feel relaxed!

Eat Young Hop Sprouts

If you are a fan of asparagus, you will probably be aware that it is quite expensive and takes a long time to grow, so it isn’t the most accessible vegetable.

However, if you love asparagus but can’t seem to get it as regularly as you would like, then you are in luck if you have young hop shoots lying around!

Young hop shoots are known as ‘poor man’s asparagus’ as you can literally eat them the same way you eat asparagus. You might not even be able to tell the difference!

It gives you a chance to try new flavors and enjoy having an extra addition at dinner to spice up your usual meals!

Make Decorations

If you have hop plants, you are able to plant them in your garden and train them to decorate walls or houses.

Hop plants are very similar to vine plants, so you are able to train them to decorate boring walls and fences and bring pretty plants and natural decorations to your garden!

This is a great use for hops if you do not want to continue using them in cooking as you can create beautiful garden centerpieces.

This is a fun way to brighten up your garden and give it a unique look that everyone will be jealous of.

Infuse Sauces With Hops

Hops are known for creating a bitter taste as they are often used in beer, but certain types of hops are more bitter than others.

Depending on what type of hops you have leftover, you can use them to infuse sauces or dressings to create a beautiful tasting sauce that you can’t just go and buy in the store.

To make a dressing using hops, you will need to make hop vinegar first. To do this, you just need a small bottle of normal cider vinegar so you can add your hops.

Add the hops to the vinegar bottle and leave the vinegar to infuse for a minimum of a week.

After the vinegar has been infused for a week, you can begin to make a vinaigrette infused with hops.

You will need to mix together your hop-infused vinegar, salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, honey, and olive oil together to make the vinaigrette.

If you are vegan, you can use maple syrup or agave syrup instead of honey.

Make Soap

If you decide that you want to make soap with your leftover hops, you may already have experience making cold-processed soap.

To make soap using hops, you will need to make hot-processed soap to make sure that you can smell the oils that come from the hops.

If you use the cold-processed soap method, the aroma of the hops will be lost and you will not feel the full benefit of the scent of the hops.

To begin, you will need to crush the hops into a powder and create a warm hops-infused oil by using 0.5 ounces of hops for every 2 ounces of oil used.

Once you have made the oil infusion, you can begin making the soap. Make sure that you save some of the whole hops to add to the soap mixture to create an exfoliating soap.

Make Hop-Infused Tea

Hops can be used for relaxation, so they are perfect to be used to infuse tea.

There is nothing more relaxing than settling down with a hot cup of tea that is infused with anxiety-reducing hops.

The majority of hops can be used to help people reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, as well as help them to fall asleep.

To make the hop-infused tea, you will need to use hops that are not as bitter as the ones that are used to make beer.

Add a quarter of an ounce of hops to every cup of tea that you add to a strainer and then heat your water. Keep the hops in the holder and let them infuse the water for a couple of minutes.

You can press your hops down in the strainer to infuse the water or you can leave them to infuse on their own.

You can add any sweeteners that you want to the tea such as agave syrup, honey, or cream, or you can leave the tea as it is.

You can also infuse the tea with other flavors like lemon, chamomile, or ginger for extra aromas and tastes!

Use Hops In Cooking

There is nothing better than adding subtle changes to a dish that you already love as it never hurts to spice up your usual meals.

If you have whole hops leftover, you can add them to stews or soups and simmer them to infuse your cooking.

You can either add the hops whole or just use the petals to infuse your meal.

You need to be careful that you do not use too much of the hops in your cooking as you don’t want the hops to overpower the other flavors.

You can start off by adding a small number of hops to your dishes and increase the amount slowly to make sure that you are happy with the flavor of the food.

You don’t have to simmer the hops in a stew if you don’t want to, or if there is another dish you want to try adding hops to, you can grind them up and sprinkle them over your dishes.

You can sprinkle the crushed hops on pasta, pizza, anything you like!

Simply sprinkle the hops the same way you would with other herbs, just make sure that you don’t add too much that it overpowers the other flavors!

Make Hops Bread

You read that right, you can use leftover hops to make hops bread!

The hops can be used to make bread, so if you are allergic to the yeast that is used in the bakery, you may find that you are able to eat the hops bread that you can make at home.

If you are allergic to yeast, it is always best to consult your doctor before consuming hops bread to make sure that it is safe for you to use.

To make the bread, you will need to leave your dried leftover hops to simmer in water for about half an hour as this will infuse the water to be used in your bread.

Get a sterile jar and add 1 and a quarter cups of whole wheat flour inside and then strain the hop tea over the jar making sure that only the liquid enters the jar.

Leave the mixture to cool and then add a quarter of a teaspoon of dry active yeast and stir the mixture well. You can then leave the mixture to sit for 6-12 hours and then leave it in a cool place to be stored when it is done.

If you do not have an allergy to baker’s yeast, you may be intrigued by bread that is infused with hops, so why not give it a go!

Final Thoughts

To conclude, there are lots of different ways that you can use leftover hops! All of these alternatives are fun and creative, and you are able to make them at home.

You can use the hops however you like, either in cooking, soap making, or decorating your garden.

The choices are endless when deciding how to use your leftover hops and there is definitely no reason to waste them!

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Andrew Carr

Hi, I’m Andrew Carr and I find beer fascinating. Not just drinking it (although that is a plus!) but everything about it. There is so much to learn - the fermenting process, the best glasses for each type, recipes to make at home… The list goes on!

I have been making my own beer for almost a decade now and I pride myself on my home setup. I’ve made sours, pale IPAs, stouts - you name it, I’ve probably made it in the comfort of my own home.

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