Guitar Hero Hop Dryer

Intro: Guitar Hero Hop Dryer

Inspired by a Boston concert last night and harvesting 2-1/2 pounds of fresh hops today I made this Guitar Hero Hop Dryer. OK, so this Instructable actually has nothing to do with Guitar Hero except that the guitar box just happened to be a size that worked well for me. The idea comes from a similar project recently published in Brew Your Own magazine.

Though I'm using this to dry home-grown hops, I see no reason why this same setup couldn't be used to gently dry other herbs or flowers. I plan to give it a try with herbs from my herb garden later this fall.

STEP 1: Harvest Some Hops

This photo is about half of the hops from my first harvest of 2008. These are Cascade hops spread evenly on a window screen.

STEP 2: Cardboard Hood From Guitar Hero Box

While looking for some cardboard to make a hood for the dryer I ran across the box from Guitar Hero. The size almost perfectly fit half of the window screen. So, I taped the box lid and bottom together with some duct tape. The depth of also seemed to be roughly what I had in mind.

Remove the adjoining edges of the top and bottom leaving some at the corners and tape it all together.

STEP 3: Mark and Cut Hole for Fan

I'm using a 12v computer fan to draw air over the hops to help them dry. That's the very reason for the cardboard hood, after all. Place the fan in the middle and trace around it. Use a utility knife and cut about 1/4" inside the mark.

STEP 4: Mount the Fan

Glue or tape the fan to the top. I'm powering the fan with a 12v wall transformer...aka wall wart. Make sure the fan is mounted such that it pulls the air out through the top when it's running.

STEP 5: Use It!

Place the hood over the top, plug in the wall wart, and leave for a couple of days to dry.

I'm actually using the dryer hood over two window screens separated by 1-1/2" wood spacers. The whole thing is suspended between saw horses.

Comments

[John Smith]

now wait a second, where was the boston concert?!? and how's their new guy and how was it?? theyre just about one of my favorite bands. nice instructable too. i dont like beer(i'm underage), i think it smells gross but if you like it, hey, thats cool too

[mikeasaurus]

You are too young to drink, yet your favourite band is Boston?!

[John Smith]

huh? is there a realtionship there? either way, haha, i guess it came out bad. i dont drink i never will i shouldve found a way to state that i think that the hops drier is a good idea, even if i wont use it because i dont drink(or wish to make beer). i love boston though

[mikeasaurus]

The connection is that Boston are a band from the late 70's early 80's and you being underage makes it a strange candidate for a fan. Whatever, I listen to loads of music that's before my time too, being under 20 and liking a band artistically that is older than you are is quite a mature stretch. I'm really more surprised that I'm the only one that made the connection. Good on you dude, Boston rocks. As for drinking, I'd hold off declaring anything until you're done your time in uni. Somehow frat parties, hot girls, and beer bongs have a funny way of changing peoples minds about a lot of things, like drinking, showing up for class, midnight mailbox baseball, and all night missions for Visine and Peptol Bismol. Ahhh higher learning. As for the instructable: You home-grew the hops? Interesting. I have made beer for many years and have tried many different methods, however growing your own hops is a step above what I have tried in the past. What (if any) are the differences you can taste? Is it more bitter, perhaps a sharper bite? Also are you using these hops with a pre-made malt mix, or are you using the huge teabag to make your wort? You should do an instructable on how you grew your hops, and how you harvested!

[imarunner2]

I've been growing hops for just a few years. I started out with just a single rhizome but with the rising prices I've expanded to about 10 plantings. It takes 2-3 years for the root system to mature to the point where you can harvest anything significant. I've found the Cascade variety to do better where I live than the other varieties I'm trying to grow (Fuggle, Centennial, Sterling). I started growing mainly for the satisfaction of it but some hops this year became rather scarce and expensive so I decided to expand.
As far as taste goes, I don't know that there's a significant difference. I did make a pale ale last year where I threw in hops fresh off the vine that was delicious.
I mainly do all-grain brews these days but sometimes still do extract brews as in my How to Make Beer"Instructable.

[John Smith]

ah, haha, gotcha i get that alot. i like maybe four bands from the 90's on. soundgarden, pearl jam, um...some of nirvana, and...the black crowes because they bring good guitar back into music(nowadays its three chords, repeated, with hollow lyrics) i like my music haha yep if i can find the list of my bands i like, i'll post. 70's and 80's rock some 60's too cant imagine me liking todays "rock", much less that crap they call rap.

[jm121]

AFI!

[John Smith]

your advanded l33t speak has surpassed my greatest deciphering abilities. What is it you wish to tell me?

[imarunner2]

The Boston concert was very good. The new guy did an excellent job. Lou Gramm was the warm up band playing all the old Foreigner tunes. His brother Ben on drums played an out-of-tthis-world drum solo.

[John Smith]

awesome.

where was this? i think they are supposed to come to the hard rock somewhere here in south florida...i dont know. its after school starts so i probably wont be able to go.

=]

[Mercenary Wubby]

Very awesome for drying hops! and... Other plant material if so desired XD Hm, I was wondering about how you connected that computer fan up to a wall outlet? Very intriguing, mind elaborating?

[imarunner2]

I have a whole drawer full of plug-in transformers that I've accumulated over the years. On them you can read what the input and output voltages are. I found one with a 120 volt AC input and 12 volt DC voltage output which matches the 12 volt DC computer fan. I then cut the barrel connecter end off of the transformer and used a multi meter to determine which of the two wires was positive and which was ground. Then I wired the positive wire from the transformer to the red wire on the fan and the ground wire to the black wire on the fan. That's it!

[imarunner2]

I should also note that wall transformers also show their current rating along with the input and output voltages. You need to select a transformer that can supply more current than the fan consumes.