home grown hop disappointment

I have some first year cascade that grew about 12 oz of dried hops. They were picked when the hops were pappery, tips brown, and lots of lupilin. However i brewed with them adding 1 oz at 10 min and 2 oz at flameout. However the smell was never as good as hops i buy. If anything they were more grassy smelling. They were dried very well on a screen. Is this cause they are first years or cause they were picked at the wrong time?

i also dried a lot of my first year centennials and they don't smell as good as store bought hops, so i'm worried i might end up with the same issue. i'm curious to know if next years with have better aroma...

First year hops spend a lot of energy trying to survive in their new home. There are a lot of factors that influence growth, weather, water, soil, blah, blah.

I personally think all my hops are more aromatic than store bought hops. In fact I just brewed last weekend with a guy that never used home grown hops and he was amazed at the aroma of my Mt. Hood. After I dropped the hops, you could see a pile of lupins at the bottom of the vacuum bag. Give them another year and some more love, they'll come back stronger than first years. Good things come to those who wait.

I've found the same thing and am hoping for better results in year 2, and excellent results in year 3.

I figured the first year would not be that good, but i was optimistic when I got 12 oz off one plant. Guess it doesn't have to do with amount as much as quality?

Almost exact same thing happened to me. 12 oz of hops (wet) from first year Columbus. I made a wet hop ale with all 12 oz, great bittering but little to no aroma and grassy. I was thinking that perhaps it was because I live in such a dry environment, but now I am looking forward to next year.

I got 12 oz dry! but mostly grassy and no aroma...cant wait till next year I should have MUCH more

i tried to brew an all Nugget IPA with fresh hops. i put 5 oz -- 2 oz for 60 min, 1 for 30 min, 1 more for 5, 1 oz at flameout, and 2 oz dry hopped for 14 days. there is hardly ANY hop flavor to it. there is some bittering but nothing like i'd expected. i did formulate a big grain bill for it to balance out the hops, but it is FAR from an IPA. i am glad to read that this seems to be a common thing for first year yields. next year! next year!

My first year harvest ale is terrible with a brutal "cheese and lawn cuttings" character. I've been using it only for cooking but I always give it a try and its definitely getting better. I'm storing bottles around the house at different temperatures so its also gonna be an experiment on how beer ages. Hopefully it will age into something drinkable and hopefully next year's harvest is better.

gbx said:

My first year harvest ale is terrible with a brutal "cheese and lawn cuttings" character.[...]

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The "cheese" character is usually indicative of oxidation. How did you store the hops - and for how long - before using them?

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

The "cheese" character is usually indicative of oxidation. How did you store the hops - and for how long - before using them?

Cheers!

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I didn't store them at all. We picked during the mash and used them wet.

The grassy smell is a sign that the cones were not mature when picked.Even though papery and a little turning brown or golden at tips which could be a sign of under watering.

hmm, next year I will have to read up on watering. However, the 3 weeks before they were picked it rained almost every other day.....global warming....

Did better than my first year cascades, I got nothin.

I ended up getting a pound of hops from my two Cascade plants, dried them on a screen in the garage, vacuum packed and froze them. So far i have used them with great results in two beers. I only got 1 oz from my two Magnum plants.

So I do not believe that your first year hops will necessarily be unusable. Depends on how you take care of the plants and when you harvest. I guess it also depends on climate and whether you chose the right plant for where you are located.

store your hops shrink wrapped in a baggie for 2 months and when you open them up you will get more aroma, but it is only your perception.

My homegrown ale is a home run this year.

My first years all were destroyed by the hurricane that hit New England... I just hope they come back next year, and to build a sturdier hop trellis.

That SUCKS SPR, sorry.

Wet hops impart grassy. Nothing unusual about that.