This past weekend I brewed a wet hopped Harvest Ale; an APA with the wet hops added at the end of boil (and hop-stand). I had two helpers; Gary and Rob. As the wort was boiling both Gary and Rob picked the hops. I gave them a target of 12 ounces but they overachieved and ended up picking 20 ounces. Since the hops were there I decided to brew with all 20 ounces. I also extended the hop-stand on this batch to a 50 minute duration. The beer is happily fermenting away in my basement and making that area smell reall nice. Anybody else brewing a wet hopped beer this season? Cheers! P.S. I picture of my hop plant below.
Jack, I used wet hops in my NE IPA this year. I used a five gallon bucket full of fresh centennials and a few chinook cones from the first year plants. It has really been my favorite IPA hands down. I wish there were some comps coming up in CO soon, but no such luck.
WOW! That is a lot of hops!! How exactly did you use this hops? End of boil or multiple additions? I neglected to specify in my above post that I solely used the wet hops for end of boil (and hop-stand). I have seen some folks opine that using a lot of wet hops will provide a 'green' flavor to the beer. Since 'green' is just a color to me I am uncertain what this exactly means. Maybe a vegetative flavor since so much fresh, wet hops are used. Maybe a 'chlorophyll' thing? Cheers!
Flameout addition / 30 minute hopstand. No green flavors either. I believe the chlorophyll is what people call green as well.
@JackHorzempa how old is that hop plant? My 'hop area' is around that size, but I don't have even close to the amount of hop cones that you have. Mine grow on wood lattice that leans up against our shed, and are only 2 years old.. I'd be lucky if I got 4-5 oz this year
I brewed an IPA with a couple hop additions and then 18 oz of wet cascade hops at flameout for 30 min before chilldown. Also dry hopped it with citra and azacca in the keg. Just about fully carbed.
My hop plant is 4 years old. I have heard that you typically need to wait 3 years for a hop plant to become very productive. I had a lot of hops last year (3 years) and even more this year (4 years). Hopefully you will obtain more hops next season. Is you plant located with a southerly exposure so that it 'sees' the sun all day long? Cheers!
Thanks for the advice.. Yea I made sure to put them in a location that gets blasted with sunlight. Like you said maybe they just need another year or two. I definitely got more than last year so that's a plus!
Some hop growers are fastidious about properly adding fertilizer to their plants. I have zero experience here; I simply planted the rhizome and let it grow. My wife went with me to this year's National Homebrewers Conference (NHC) and she attended a presentation on growing hops. One of the things she discussed was the 'practice' of annually cutting back the root ball of the hop plant. She instructed me that I need to to that this year (in the fall?). Maybe I will in fact do that this year? Cheers!
Interesting.. I'll have to look into that as well. I have heard of people in the past using miracle grow on hops with a lot of success. You'd just treat it as if it were a tomato plant, and add the mixture with water once a week. Guess I'm gonna have to wait another year or two til I can make a pale ale with 100% homegrown hops.. will still plan on a simple pale ale in about a month or so though with the 4-5 oz that I have, and add at flameout/whirlpool. Thanks for the tips.
