Help me identify this type of wild hops!

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TheGerman

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I am still very new to all of this, sorry if I'm asking a newb question....
So a neighbor of mine found out I wanted to start homebrewing and told me another neighbor grew some hops for decoration purposes only. After hearing this information, I ran over to the man's house and he went on to tell me he didn't know the type of hops but that I could have as much as I wanted.
I ended up harvesting about 1/3 of a paper grocery bag full of hop cones. Now I know I should only use these hops for aroma and flavor since I don't know the type, but I would still like to know the type of hops it is. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Chris

Here is a picture of the unknown hops i harvested:
7716_153187311676_554191676_3278489_2322417_n.jpg


And a picture of the amount harvested for FREE!
7716_153187321676_554191676_3278490_8271667_n.jpg
 
Your best bet is to try them in a sample batch and taste them. Compare them to other hops you know by flavor. Just looking at a picture is pretty hard.
 
Guessing the types of hops by looking at leaves and cones is almost impossible. It'd be like trying to guess the strain of tomatoes in someone's garden by looking at them.

You can smell them, and try to guess if they are citrusy, piney, floral, etc. And to look at the area you're in and see if any hops are common to your area. In our area, a few people planted cluster hops about 50 years or so ago, so that is my guess as to what some of the "wild hops" are. Some hops have been planted as ornamentals, so there is really no telling what many of them are.
 
As Yooper points out, cones tell you almost nothing about a hop because there are only 8 (some say 4) cone shapes. There are four leaf shapes, but one bine can have multiple shapes.
 
TheGerman said:
I am still very new to all of this, sorry if I'm asking a newb question....
So a neighbor of mine found out I wanted to start homebrewing and told me another neighbor grew some hops for decoration purposes only. After hearing this information, I ran over to the man's house and he went on to tell me he didn't know the type of hops but that I could have as much as I wanted.
I ended up harvesting about 1/3 of a paper grocery bag full of hop cones. Now I know I should only use these hops for aroma and flavor since I don't know the type, but I would still like to know the type of hops it is. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Chris

it is pretty much impossible to tell what a hop is by looks but if I had to guess I would say nugget or northern brewer from the same strand if it is aroma cascade and libety are the only to I can tell from the aroma in the beer or wort hope that helps
Here is a picture of the unknown hops i harvested:
7716_153187311676_554191676_3278489_2322417_n.jpg


And a picture of the amount harvested for FREE!
7716_153187321676_554191676_3278490_8271667_n.jpg
Click to expand...

it is pretty much impossible to tell what a hop is by looks but if I had to guess I would say nugget or northern brewer from the same strand if it is aroma cascade and libety are the only to I can tell from the aroma in the beer or wort hope that helps
 
davis073005 said:
it is pretty much impossible to tell what a hop is by looks but if I had to guess I would say nugget or northern brewer from the same strand if it is aroma cascade and libety are the only to I can tell from the aroma in the beer or wort hope that helps
Click to expand...
 
TIL: fizgig is a necromancer.

haha I just wanted to jump on that before anyone else did :)
 
Haha, i know, but I am baffled. I am a software developer and have written forums, I can't figure out how I replied to this thread, maybe a post above mine was deleted or my 3 year old got on the computer and clicked around and found it.
 

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