What kind of hops are these?

Hi all,

A coworker of mine just handed over some homegrown hops to me from his uncle. However, his uncle couldn't remember what type of hops he grew this time around (he grows a lot). Sounds like he was growing cascade or centennial.

I was wondering if you guys might be able to help me decipher based on the photos below? Let me know!

Also, I've never dry hopped before but obviously, I think the timing is perfect to give it a whirl! Any suggestions? I'm an extract brewer so would dry hopping work with a kit or would it throw it off?

Any and all feedback welcome!

P.S. How should I be storing these hops? Right now, I have them in a brown paper grocery bag that's about half full.

Trying to identify hops is like trying to speak Sanskrit.

Time for a wet hop ale, toss the cones in near the end of the boil and enjoy. I'd go with something close to SN celebration, which is a wet hop ale and quite delicious.

If you want to save them for dry hopping you should dry them prior to storage in the freezer.

They should be used quick, they are fresh wet hops.

Yeah, going to be almost impossible to tell just by looking at them.

brewingmeister said:

Trying to identify hops is like trying to speak Sanskrit.

Time for a wet hop ale, toss the cones in near the end of the boil and enjoy. I'd go with something close to SN celebration, which is a wet hop ale and quite delicious.

If you want to save them for dry hopping you should dry them prior to storage in the freezer.

They should be used quick, they are fresh wet hops.

Click to expand...

OK so, I have probably at least 10oz of these fresh hops. From what I understand, they were literally just picked about 3 days ago.

Should I maybe use some in the next few days to brew and then freeze the rest?

How would I go about drying them out?

Fresh hops are new to me so I appreciate the insight!

That bag has leaves and bines in it too, not just cones. You might only have an ounce or so of dried hops there.

It is best to use them quick or dry them.

There's some good threads on hop drying. Search hop dryer. I think Hop dryer tutorial is a sticky in the hops growing section but I'm on mobile so it doesn't show up.
Don't freeze them before drying them. Think frozen tomato...

They look like my Centennials. Not Cascade. But who knows.

Typically it's recommended to use freshly-picked wet hops within 48 hours, they deteriorate pretty quickly. So brew today, or freezer, or dry. There are lots of threads on here showing how to dry.

TyTanium said:

They look like my Centennials. Not Cascade. But who knows.

Typically it's recommended to use freshly-picked wet hops within 48 hours, they deteriorate pretty quickly. So brew today, or freezer, or dry. There are lots of threads on here showing how to dry.

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So if they were picked about 3 days ago, how do I know if they're fully dried or not? They feel dry to the touch but not too dry I guess.

If its after 48 hours, is it too late to brew with them?

The bag I have is pretty deep and full of cones at the bottom so that's why I was wondering about brewing with half and freezing the rest.

Use some for the boil and dry the rest for dry hopping. Or just use them all.

brewingmeister said:

Use some for the boil and dry the rest for dry hopping. Or just use them all.

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Yeah I was just thinking that. Pretty sure that's the route I'm gonna go.

I cut off all of the vines and leaves... there's at least 6-7oz of cones. Most of them are pretty dry so I think I should be OK freezing them at this point.

Mike_Diesel said:

Yeah I was just thinking that. Pretty sure that's the route I'm gonna go.

I cut off all of the vines and leaves... there's at least 6-7oz of cones. Most of them are pretty dry so I think I should be OK freezing them at this point.

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No, don't just freeze them. Dry them out by placing on a mesh screen in a warm place until totally dry and then freeze them. Or use them in a batch of beer right away. But don't freeze wet hops!

Yooper said:

No, don't just freeze them. Dry them out by placing on a mesh screen in a warm place until totally dry and then freeze them. Or use them in a batch of beer right away. But don't freeze wet hops!

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Well how dry is dry enough? I don't know that I'd consider them "wet" still but I don't really know.

Some are a little damper. But most of them are semi-flaky...some are kinda crunchy.

Yooper said:

No, don't just freeze them. Dry them out by placing on a mesh screen in a warm place until totally dry and then freeze them. Or use them in a batch of beer right away. But don't freeze wet hops!

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What's your rationale? I've heard freezing is a no-no, but I've seen a few posts that seem to say it's ok:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/freezing-wet-hops-132901/#post1496198
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/wet-hops-storage-189761/#post2202635
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/freezing-wet-hops-storage-128816/#post1442444

Mike_Diesel said:

Well how dry is dry enough? I don't know that I'd consider them "wet" still but I don't really know.

Some are a little damper. But most of them are semi-flaky...some are kinda crunchy.

Click to expand...

Weight is a good indicator; when they've lost 80% of their weight, probably good to go.

Ok so if I have about 7oz at about 80% of their weight (which I would assume they are)...and I use half tomorrow to brew with...what should I do with the other half if I want to dry hop in 3-4 weeks?

My assumption was freeze them. If not, how else would you recommend storing them until the dry hopping phase?

TyTanium said:

What's your rationale? I've heard freezing is a no-no, but I've seen a few posts that seem to say it's ok:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/freezing-wet-hops-132901/#post1496198
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/wet-hops-storage-189761/#post2202635
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/freezing-wet-hops-storage-128816/#post1442444

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Very "grassy" and vegetal big globs of green mush. At least in my experience.

Drying them first, and then freezing was fine, though.

Cool, thanks. Good enough reason for me to dry first. This year mine didn't last beyond harvest...the kettle was a big black hole for wet hops
Maybe next year.

Yooper said:

Very "grassy" and vegetal big globs of green mush. At least in my experience.

Drying them first, and then freezing was fine, though.

Click to expand...

So how should I freeze these bad boys? About 3oz of them I'm going to freeze...and I don't have a food vacuum/saver.

Do I still need to freeze them if I'm going to use them in a few weeks?