Fresh Picked Hop Combination

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by TheGr8Sarcasmo, Aug 18, 2016.

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  1. TheGr8Sarcasmo

    TheGr8Sarcasmo Initiate (0) Apr 3, 2015 Indiana

    So, on Sunday I went to three local hop farms and picked fresh hops from each, then I dried them over the course of a couple of days (because I didn't have time to brew same day), and I am going to brew tonight.

    I'm excited about using local fresh-ish hops, but the combination has me a little worried. I got Chinook, Sorachi Ace, and Cascade. Right now my plan is to Mash Hop with Chinook then do a bunch of large hop additions in the final 10 minutes, whirlpool, and dry hop. I am overshooting the estimated IBUs by a lot because I am not sure of the efficiency of oil extraction or alpha acids present in these dried whole cones.

    2.0 oz Chinook (US) 60 min Mash Hop
    1.5 oz Cascade (US) 10 min Boil
    1.5 oz Chinook (US) 5 min Boil
    1.5 oz Sorachi Ace (JP) 0 min Boil
    1.0 oz Cascade (US) 0 min Boil
    1.5 oz Cascade (US) 30 min Whirlpool
    1.5 oz Sorachi Ace (JP) 30 min Whirlpool
    1.0 oz Chinook (US) 7 days Dry Hop
    1.0 oz Sorachi Ace (JP) 7 days Dry Hop

    So I guess my question is, do you think this combo will be good?
     
    #1 TheGr8Sarcasmo, Aug 18, 2016
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  2. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    Chinook and Cascade are great together. Sorachi Ace sucks :slight_smile:
     
    #2 wspscott, Aug 18, 2016
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  3. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,276) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm not sure where I stand on over-shooting bitterness or not, and that's the problem with hops that haven't been tested. When using home grown hops I've always used commercial/tested hops for the bittering component and then gone from there where I felt you could over-shoot... the problem that I ran into is that the hops were not dried enough and I got a very "green" character out of them if I did too heavy of a dry hop. I think the kettle hops were always fine though, but it's hard to say what came from where.

    Beyond that I'd say you look fine. Mix it up, I think the woody spiciness of the Sorachi Ace will work nicely with the more piney Chinook.
     
    #3 NeroFiddled, Aug 18, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2016
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  4. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    Good argument for "undershooting", imho
     
    #4 GreenKrusty101, Aug 18, 2016
  5. A2HB

    A2HB Initiate (0) Oct 30, 2013 Michigan

    I'd vote for overshooting. The hop flavor fades so even if it's a little stronger than you'd like at first, after some conditioning, it could end up right where you want it.
     
    #5 A2HB, Aug 18, 2016
  6. TheGr8Sarcasmo

    TheGr8Sarcasmo Initiate (0) Apr 3, 2015 Indiana

    Thanks for all the advice. As a first time experiment I am pretty excited about it, but I am worried about the result being green or vegetal, and I am also worried slightly about the Sorachi Ace.

    I am brewing tonight, so hopefully everything goes well. Wish me luck.
     
    #6 TheGr8Sarcasmo, Aug 18, 2016
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  7. TheGr8Sarcasmo

    TheGr8Sarcasmo Initiate (0) Apr 3, 2015 Indiana

    After a week in fermentation I have to say this beer smells great. I took a sample last night and it tasted alright as well. I'll add the huge dry hop additions tonight and then we'll see how this does in competition.
     
    #7 TheGr8Sarcasmo, Aug 26, 2016
  8. invertalon

    invertalon Pooh-Bah (2,249) Jan 27, 2009 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    My Cascade and Chinook plants (2nd year) gave me a lot of fantastic hops this year. I brewed my wet hop IPA last Friday, using a mass amount of both in the late and whirlpool for hopping. I used Chinook pellets for bittering though, to get a more controlled bitterness.

    I didn’t get that intense wet hoppiness that I would have hoped, even though the hops smelled great and I used so many of them. I actually would have liked a tad more grassiness or something, but it didn’t taste much different at all from standard pellets. So I decided to stick with pellet for the dry hop vs. using the fresh hop for ease of racking the beer with my setup. It really needed the big dry hop to improve what I had as a base, though. This was my first time using whole leaf / wet hops in a beer.

    In my case, 4oz Chinook, 2oz Cascade and 2.5oz Centennial was used. Going to be a very tasty IPA.
     
    #8 invertalon, Aug 26, 2016
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