Just used my first homegrown hops.
 

So I had planned on brewing a nice brown ale today but when I was at my HBS their prices for some of the hops I needed were outrageous. He wanted nearly $4 an ounce for some varieties. I figured I'd just buy some bittering hops and add a bunch of this year's Cascade for the additions.

So I'm not really following the style, but since I only harvested Cascade this year I'm damn well going to use it. I actually had nine varieties but life got in the way and I could only harvest the Cascade. I'm not too concerned because it's only the second year for these plants and they are all healthy.

I need to work on my drying apparatus. I'd used the furnace filter and box fan technique but you can't really push any volume through with that.

Someone made a great suggestion to me on another forum. Use an old cheap dresser that you find at a garage sale or have laying around. Cut holes in the drawers. In the bottom, place a heat lamp. The heat will obviously rise through the drawers, and you won't have to worry about light getting in since the heat lamp isn't actually in with any hops.

Now, this is probably a fire hazard, but it sounded like a nice plan.

On a side note: I just cracked open my first bottle of homebrew with homegrown hops. My harvest this year was a little weak compared to past years, so I didn't get much yield. I have enough to make a few delicious batches though.

A variation on the dresser. Cut most of the bottom out of each drawer and replace with window screening. A cheap ceramic heater in the bottom will be safer than a heat lamp and the air flow will speed the drying.

Drop them into a pale ale recipe FRESH!

"Wet Hop" beers are the best!

How thick of a layer can you place in a drawer, David? I would imagine you'd have to turn them regularly and that the bottom layer would cure much quicker than the top. Do you use this method?

That would work for the first couple of ounces, but what about the other several pounds?

Just thinking out loud but you could probably just remove the bottom drawer and move it to the top, moving all others down a level. Opening and closing each drawer quickly to give them a shake would probably do the turning for you pretty quickly. It's a neat idea.

I'm using my homegrown hops for the first time today too in an American Amber ale. I'm using store bought Centennial to bitter with but then I'm using 6oz Cascade, 2oz Centennial and 1oz Willamette for kettle additions and dry hopping.

Sounds like an IPA, not an Amber

Its a hopped up Amber with a healthy dose of Munich and various Crystal malts. And its not that bitter - only about 40 IBUs.

IBU's can be decieving. I brewed an American Amber last fall that had 27 IBUs. It tasted like a mellow IPA. Don't get me wrong though...I love the idea. The more hops, the better.