Hops there for the taking!

I wrote about this last year and last week - it's that time of year again, when hops - wild hops - are growing in profusion around Jeziorki. I came across this bunch growing on a road sign on the corner of ul. Nawłocka and Dawidowska. On Saturday, I went there with a pair of secateurs and snipped about three kilo of plant down off the post, took it home and cone by cone removed the hops off their vines.

Now the interesting part - making a hop-based non-alcoholic infusion.

A bit of trial and error - make it too strong, and you can dilute it with mineral water, cold and sparkling. Difficult to go wrong, unless you let the pan boil dry. I took the biggest pan to hand, filled it with hop cones and five litres of water. Bring to boil, then simmer for half an hour. Allow to cool.

Then strain, through the finest sieve you have. Pour carefully so as not to waste any, then decant into bottles.

Left: this concept is on the market - Nachmielona Hoptimum by Browar Nepomucen. A half-litre of this beverage (0% alcohol, 0 calories) is available for 5zł online. If you have access to hops, you can make this yourself for the cost of the energy needed to boil then simmer the infusion. From the hops you can see in the photo at the top of the page (plus the ones you can't round the back of the sign), I made nearly six litres of concentrate, which when mixed 50/50 with sparkling mineral water (such as my favourite Muszynianka) gives you 12 litres of hoppy beverage that would cost you 60 złots to buy commercially.

How does it taste? A bit like grapefruit peel and newly-mown grass cuttings - in other words, planty bitterness. Nice, I like!

This time last year:
Two weeks and two days of travel

This time two years ago:
Final end to a local landmark

This time seven years ago:
Independence Day

This time eight years:
Out and about in Jeziorki

This time nine years ago:
Funeral of Lt. Cmdr. Tadeusz Lesisz

This time ten years ago:
Puławska by night