In case you didn't know, inhaling vaporized hops is a thing now.
According to Lagunitas Brewing Co., vaporizing hops has been the talk of homebrewers for years, and the Petaluma brewery has known about it for some time too. It's thanks to the brewery that the practice of vaporizing hops may be picking up steam.
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"We believed in it a while back and dialed it in," Lagunitas said in a reply over Twitter.
What is hop vaping, and how, exactly, does one vape hops?
It is exactly what it sounds like; very similar to vaporizing cannabis but using hops instead. By using a device that heats the substance using low temperatures instead of burning it, you produce a highly aromatic vapor rather than smoke.
Since cannabis and hops are technically related through the family Cannabinaceae, it seems only natural to vaporize hops for its aroma. But while cannabis might not be the most legal substance to put in a vaporizer (for now), vaporizing hops is completely legal, but unfortunately it will not get you high.
Lagunitas brought the practice with it on its CouchTrippin' Tour to the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.
While on their way to Austin, bands and beer and music writers not only brewed a special batch of CouchTrippin' Fusion Ale but loaded the Volcano vaporizer with hops and inhaled the vapors to get a burst of hops flavor. Known as hop vaping, the purpose is for the passengers to get an idea of how the hops will flavor the beer.
Using a fine vaporizing device, such as the aforementioned Volcano, will do just fine. But the key is very low temperatures.
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