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August 13, 2014 How To Make Hopped Vodka

What Is Hopped Vodka?

These days, there are all kinds of ridiculous types of vodak available at liqour stores. Our absolute least favorite is Cake Vodka, which more or less makes a mockery of distilled spirits. However, not all flavored vodkas are as silly as cake vodka. We present to you (assuming that you've never heard of this new and wonderful concoction), Hopped Vodka.

Hopped vodka is not only naturally flavored, it's also crazy delicious. There are currently only a few commercial hopped vodkas on the market, but with the popularity of hops in the beer world and the recent explosion in the number of craft distilleries (all trying to peddle new and unique products), we expect to see more soon. The best known commercial hopped vodka, and our personal favorite, is Hop Head Vodka distilled by the Anchor Distilling Company.

How is Hopped Vodka Made?

By our calculations, there are about 4 ways that one could go about making their own hopped vodka. All but one of the methods is will require lots of time and effort. The last method is about as close to a "food hack" as we can imagine. Though, bear in mind, each way will produce a different flavor and aroma.

The first way is to make a mash with hops in it. You're essentially making beer and then distilling it instead of bottling or kegging. The second way to produce hopped vodka is to blend the hops in neutral grain spirits, and then re-distill. The third way to make it would be to add hops to a gin basket and pass alcohol vapor through the basket during distillation. And finally, the fourth way to make it would be to dry hop a neutral grain spirit with hops without further processing.

We actually have all of the ingredients, equipment, the time, and even the patience required for making hopped vodka using the first 3 methods....but we're lazy. So, we decided to see if we could make a palatable hopped vodka using method 4, which literally took less than 10 minutes. To our surprise, it was awesome! If you're a fan of hops, we highly recommend that you make some of your own using the following procedure:

Easy Hopped Vodka Recipe:

What Is Needed To Make Hopped Vodka?

1750 ML neutral grain spirit or Vodka

1/2 ounce of Willamette hops**

Funnel

Mason Jar

Mesh Strainer

Mesh Filter Bag For The Hops

Hops

How To Make Hopped Vodka

Add 1/2 ounce of hops to the hop bag that is inside 1/2 gallon mason jar. Note, DO NOT add any more hops than this. We tried several variations of this recipe and half an ounce is about the maximum amount of hops that can be added before the final product begins to taste bitter.

Remove the white flow reducer cap from the bottle.

Add the 1750 ML of moonshine or an entire bottle of cheap vodka to the 1/2 gallon mason jar.

Remove the hops after 10 minutes.

Drink and Enjoy.

Hopped Vodka Dirty Martini

2 ounces hopped vodka

1 tbsp dry vermouth

2 tbsp olive juice

2 olives

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker half-filled with cracked ice. Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with an olive, and serve.

**You can actually use any type of hop that you want. We chose this type because it's all that we had in the refrigerator!