Lambic-type beer

Hi guys

I am researching making a lambic/ kriek-type beer. Now it is not a strict lambic/ kriek, but has many similar qualities. The question I want to ask is that in traditional styles, aged dried hops are used so as to add preservatives without the excessive bitterness to the style. I don't have these aged hops (and I can't really wait three years) and they are difficult to come by in South Africa.

The question I therefore wanted to ask was if maybe it was possible to use dry hopping (or any other method) instead? I know the resultant aroma from the hop will differ if it is still fresh, but do you think that I can still accomplish this? My main goal for this beer is for it to taste good, and it is not entering any competitions, so stylistic integrity is not high on my list. The hops I want to use are going to be tettnanger and cascade, which should give me some sort of fruity aroma, and should complement the beer.

Short of aged hops, the best option I know of is to use fresh low-alpha hops and use a quantity that will yield IBUs lower than 10.

The point of using aged hops is to allow the right bacteria to flourish while keeping the undesired bacteria at bay and not introduce too much bitterness.

You'll be fine using a small amount of hops as a bittering charge to get to 8-10 IBUs.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

The point of using aged hops is to allow the right bacteria to flourish while keeping the undesired bacteria at bay and not introduce too much bitterness.

You'll be fine using a small amount of hops as a bittering charge to get to 8-10 IBUs.

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Exactly. As long as you are pitching your choice microbes, there isn't a good reason to use aged hops. If you are using a lambic-style spontaneous fermentation with wild yeast from the air, then I would find a way to buy (or artificially age fresh hops by baking them in a warm oven)

I just heard on the Sunday Session on the brewing network that Fitger's brewery bakes there hops. They lay them on a pan in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 min I think. They said they have had great results with this. Re listen to the episode..
Brewing Network Sunday Session

Thanks guys for all the help. I shall listen to the Sunday Session. I am thinking of cultivating some sort of South African wild yeast (although our little critters are used to 30C/ 86F temperatures), just to give it a uniquely South African flair. I shall maybe split the batch and try the baked hops in one, and the fresh low IBU hops in the other. This is still in the experimental stage, so mistakes are meant to be made!

i did the oven thing, make sure you crush up the pellets to allow for maximum exposure. I also stuck them in a ziplock flooded with 02, periodically for a couple of weeks- shaking up the crushed up hops to oxidize them. It seemed to work- they got cheesy, then kind of grayed out...