Most of us have heard of hops because they are one of the main ingredients used in beer brewing. They give beer that classic bitter flavor, and in some varieties it can be quite pronounced. Since I love to make my own brews I’ve been curious about growing hops for a while now. Earlier this season we bought a start at the farmer’s market, plopped it in the ground, and it was off and running in no time! But did you know that hops also have numerous health benefits and can be made into a tea? I was so happy to learn about the medicinal benefits of hops and hop tea, and now I want to share that with you!
Growing Hops
Hops (Humulus lupulus) are in the Cannabaceae family, which is the same family as cannabis and hemp.
One great thing about hops is that they are very easy to grow. They are a “bine” plant, which is similar to a vine but has a different growing habit. They are perfect for growing on a trellis, arbor, along a fence, or even on the side of a house or barn. Hops do have a tendency to take over a bit, so feel free to prune freely if they are going where they shouldn’t.
Hops are perennial and will die back to the ground each fall, coming back up in the spring. This makes them good for growing as a natural shade provider in the summer when you still want to allow the sun to come through during the winter.
The pale green hop flower cones are what is primarily used for most applications, including brewing beer and for medicinal uses.
Learn more about growing hops and harvesting and drying hops here.
Medicinal Benefits of Hops
While hops are well known as being a bittering agent and natural preservative for beer, they are less known for their awesome medicinal benefits. Here are some of the powerful health benefits of hops.
The most common ways to take hops medicinally is as a tea, tincture, extract, or in capsules. For aromatherapy you can try hops essential oil.
Hops as a sleep aid
Probably the best medicinal use for hops is as a sleep aid. It is a relaxing sedative herb and is particularly effective when combined with valerian.
Hop tea, tincture, or capsules can be taken before bed to help with sleep. You can also make a sachet using dried hops and other calming herbs like lavender and chamomile to hang by your bedside.
You can even make an herb pillow using hops flowers to help you sleep. If you don’t want to make it yourself you can buy a hops pillow here.
So that’s why I always feel sleepy after a very hop forward beer!
Hops for stress and anxiety
Beyond helping with sleep, hops are also very beneficial for reducing stress and anxiety. According to this study on the effectiveness of hops for anxiety and stress:
“In otherwise healthy young adults reporting at least mild depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, daily supplementation with a hops dry extract can significantly improve all these symptoms over a 4-week period.”
Several sources say that hops should be avoided by those with more than mild depression due to its powerful sedative properties.
Hops for digestion
Being a bitter and tonic herb, hops help to ease and stimulate the digestive system. Hops are perfect for making into digestive bitters and are best taken before a meal to stimulate the appetite and help with digestion. You can then use those bitters to make hop cocktails!
Drinking hop tea is another way to use hops for digestive issues, see how I make it below.
Hops for the immune system
Amazingly, hops are also a powerful immune system booster! They have antiviral, antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antibiotic properties.
Brew up a batch of hop tea when you’re feeling a sickness coming on, or take a few drops of hop tincture to shorten the duration of a cold or flu.
Hops for skin and hair care
Hops are high in anti-oxidants making them excellent for the skin and hair. They also have anti-inflammatory benefits, so are useful for calming rashes or inflamed skin. They would be excellent to use in an infused oil or herbal salve for skin conditions.
When hops are used on the hair they help to treat dandruff and flaky scalp, and can even help with hair loss! Some people claim that using a beer rinse makes hair shiny, likely due to the hops.
Hops are perfect for men’s beard care as well! Check out these awesome hops beard products on Etsy, or you can make this cedarwood and hops shaving soap. These soaps made from beer sound really cool too!
They are also good for healing minor cuts and wounds. Try making a hops poultice next time you you have an injury to help speed healing.
Hops for women
Hops have historically been used for women’s menstrual problems and also for women who are in menopause due to the high level of phytoestrogens they contain. They are effective at reducing the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome by reducing irritability and soothing cramps.
For menopausal women hops help to naturally regulate hormones, ease hot flashes, and calm nerves.
Because of its phytoestrogens hops should not be taken by pregnant women or young children.
How to Make Hop Tea
Making hop tea is probably the easiest way to use hops. Since we grow our own hops I prefer to use the fresh green hop flower cones when I make tea for the best flavor. But once the season is over I pick what’s left and dry them for later use.
You can purchase dried hops from Mountain Rose Herbs, my favorite place to get high quality organic herbs!
To make hop tea, simply pour two cups boiling water over 5-10 hop flower cones. The more hops you add the stronger, and more bitter, it will be. I found the bitterness to be quite mild and not bad at all, but everyone has different tastes. Adding other herbs like chamomile or peppermint will help with the flavor if needed.
As you can tell, hops are pretty amazing and have some great medicinal benefits. I hope this post has inspired you to use hops for your health, even if it means drinking an extra hoppy beer before dinner tonight!
Herbal Tea Recipes
Herbal tea is like giving your water a nutrition and flavor boost. Enjoy our other tea recipes!
Hop Tea
Instructions
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil.
- Pour the water over the hops flowers.
- Allow to steep for 5-10 minutes.
- Strain the cones and sweeten the tea to your taste.
probably should add to crush the cones before hand and expose more surface area. If you do this, you’ll automatically notice a difference..I’ve also heard not to use fully boiling water?? But still researching. I use hops medicinally, works well for me.
I have been experimenting with them in my kefir water with a little citrus!
Outstanding! I have a hops plant taking over the back of my garden and I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Can I still harvest the flower buds after they’ve turned brown and dried naturally?
Hi Emily. As long as the hops still smell good, they should still be fine to use.
Bless you for this illuminating information! I’m a psoriasis sufferer and have notice pronounced and rapid healing when I make hops tea a regular part of my alternative medicine routine. My naturopath and I are still trying to dig in and pinpoint the exact mechanisms at work, since I definitely believe there are physiological and emotional/mental benefits at work in my individual case. The mind-body connection with inflammatory conditions is fascinating to us both and I’d love to be proven right in my belief that hops is having a dual effect on my personal healing. Thanks again!
Having been a heavy beer drinker for years and sober for ten. im now growing hops and drink hops tea daily. I have no urge to drink beer. I did have to cut back on tea. I became to relaxed
That’s wonderful, David!
Since they are in same family as cannabis , can hop tea cause a false-positive result on a drug test ?
I don’t believe so. Many beers contain hops— I’ve never heard anything about them causing false positive drug test results.
Love hearing of the health benefits of hops. Recently found a plant growing wild, will be picking soon.
Awesome!
hops helped me a lot, its bitter but believe me its so important you will feel better, I was having arthritis
Hi Colleen, is there a certain variety that is best for medicinal purposes? The Modern Farmer site lists about five different varieties. The “Chinook” and “Galena” sound good from a flavor perspective, but I am not sure if they have medicinal benefits. Thank you!
I would love to know the answer to this question as well. If you had to pick one hop variety for beer and medicinal uses, which would you choose?
This is extremely helpful info. Thanks for posting it. I had no idea hops were antimicrobial/antibacterial! I live in NW Portland , and there are all over the place.
When is the best time to harvest the hops flowers? Is there any benefits to using the leaves?
Generally they are ready to harvest in late summer or early fall. I’m not sure of any benefits to the leaves.
Do you have a source where we can get the seeds to grow it?
Thanks😊
Here you go, Karin: Hop seeds
Brewed first batch of hops tea, used my coffee French press, full of water, 5 min micro to heat water, then put in apx 10 hops worth of crushed flowers, let steep for 4 hours along with 3 drops of peppermint extract. Poured over Ice, and had a wonderful iced peppermint hops tea. I am brewing another batch that I will put in my carbonator to create a peppermint hops soda. Peppermint smoothed out the bitterness but any bitterness is worth the health benefits.
Does it taste like beer? My husband is 3years sober and would benefit from the tea, but not at the expense of cravings resurfacing.
In my opinion it does not. I hate beer, the hops are very bitter, but not in the same way as beer. I suppose if he drank very “hoppy” beer it might have a similar subflavor, but hops tea tastes nothing like regular beer.
Hi Amber, I don’t think it tastes much like beer. Just a mild bitterness.
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Really interesting article. Living here in Oregon it would seem that there would be a local source for hops. I wish I could “you pick” some somewhere in the valley. Seems like a must have for the herb pantry. I know so many people that have sleeping issues. BTW I made some fermented elderberry honey yesterday. Thank you.