Hop Harvest ale!

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Dude

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Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a decent hop harvest this year, so I've put together a recipe that will go beyond anything I've ever done before--100% WET HOPS.

I'm doing a blend of hops to put into the beer, but my second year Northern Brewer is doing quite well, so I've based the recipe on a steam beer due to the fact that I'll have MUCH more Northern Brewer than anything else. The blend will consist of approximately 75% NB, 12.5% Santiam, 10% Mt. Hood, and 2.5% Cascade.

Essentially what I am going to do is pick the hops the morning of the brew session and immediately use them in the beer. I've heard and read that you have to use approximately 6 times as much hops as you would dry. Therefore, I'm hoping I can get enough for this recipe. I can adjust the recipe to reflect how much of a harvest I'll actually pull.

It is a basic steam beer grain bill.

A$$ Hat Harvest Ale (AH-HA)

ProMash Recipe Report
Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 9.00
Anticipated OG: 1.048 Plato: 12.01
Anticipated SRM: 11.4
Anticipated IBU: 50
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
77.8 7.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
11.1 1.00 lbs. Victory Malt America 1.034 25
5.6 0.50 lbs. Crystal 120L America 1.033 120
5.6 0.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2
Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 9.00 36.6 60 min.
6.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 9.00 7.3 10 min.
6.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 9.00 6.1 5 min.
6.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 9.00 0.0 0 min.

Yeast
-----
White Labs WLP810 San Fransisco Lager
 
By weight, the volume doesn't change much during drying. There are some flavors that exist in fresh hops, that don't exist in dried hops. Then there is the cult aspect.:ban: There are actual wet hop events out here featuring dozens of fresh hopped ales.

However, speaking from sad experience:( , randelling with wet hops is a waste of hops.

Nice recipe. I think I'm looking at maybe 8 oz. this year, mainly Fuggles. I'm calling mine "The Whole Harvest Ale" for obvious reasons. Until I actually harvest, I don't know if it will be a BMC clone or an IPA.
 
Dude, you stole my name. Thats gonna cost you a bottle of AH-HA or I sick my lawyers on you.(j/k)
 
Harvested hops today!

I'll have to rescale the recipe--I only ended up getting about 6 ounces, so I scaled the recipe down to 3 gallons. It'll work out just fine though, because then I can put the finished product in a 3 gallon keg and run the travel kegerator outside for the harvest ale party.

I'll post the updated recipe a bit later.

Here are some pics (the beautiful model is SWMBO):

les1.jpg


vine.jpg


bowlohops.jpg


baggedup.jpg
 
Is that a weiner dog skulking behind beautiful model? I had a black&tan midget wirehair. Feisty little guy.

Hope you are brewing soon fresh hops don't last very long maybe 48-72 hours. Looks like you vaccuum packed, keep them cold until you brew. My plants aren't much bigger and it's the second year.
 
david_42 said:
Is that a weiner dog skulking behind beautiful model? I had a black&tan midget wirehair. Feisty little guy.

Hope you are brewing soon fresh hops don't last very long maybe 48-72 hours. Looks like you vaccuum packed, keep them cold until you brew. My plants aren't much bigger and it's the second year.

Yeah, that's Dixie, the one that had the back injury a few months back. Proud to say she's doing better than anyone ever expected her too.

Vinnie Cilurzo said you could vacuum seal and then freeze the fresh hops, so that is what I'll be doing until it is time to brew with them. Prolly won't brew it until early September--right before SwAMi leaves for OK.
 
Beautiful SWMBO and hops plant! If you find you have too many hops, I have some crappy scottish ale I'm looking to ditch in trade. I know, it's one-sided in my direction. I just would love to trade a yeast culture for some home-grown hops.
 
Cheesefood said:
Beautiful SWMBO and hops plant! If you find you have too many hops, I have some crappy scottish ale I'm looking to ditch in trade. I know, it's one-sided in my direction. I just would love to trade a yeast culture for some home-grown hops.

We'll talk next year. I barely had enough for a batch this year, that's why I had to scale down the recipe from 5 to 3 gallons. :(
 
I updated the recipe...does the grain bill look okay for a steam beer? I put it together after looking at some cali common recipes at various sites.

Ass Hat Harvest Ale

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

07-B Amber Hybrid Beer, California Common Ale

Min OG: 1.048 Max OG: 1.054
Min IBU: 30 Max IBU: 45
Min Clr: 10 Max Clr: 14 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 3.50 Wort Size (Gal): 3.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 5.75
Anticipated OG: 1.048 Plato: 11.94
Anticipated SRM: 14.0
Anticipated IBU: 38.5
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
69.6 4.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
13.0 0.75 lbs. Victory Malt America 1.034 25
8.7 0.50 lbs. Crystal 120L America 1.033 120
8.7 0.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 9.00 28.8 60 min.
1.50 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 9.00 7.3 30 min.
1.50 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 9.00 2.4 5 min.

Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP810 San Fransisco Lager

Notes
-----

Multiply hop amounts x 6 for wet hops equivalent
 
Okay, got a question. I'm going to brew this weekend, as I need a project to keep my mind off of the house purchase.

I don't have the exact ingredients for this recipe, but I need to brew it.

I need victory malt, but all I have is aromatic, special B, or munich. I'm guessing munich would be the best substitute? I can't find any references to munich in a cali common. My Designing Great Beers book is MIA at the moment.

Any suggestion on what I should use of these three? Munich, right?
 
If I had to pick one I'd say the aromatic, but I'm leaning toward both the munich and the aromatic. The rest of your recipe looks fine.
 
Chairman Cheyco said:
Isn't victory just a little toastier than munich? Why not throw some munich in the oven for 20 minutes? Nothing like fresh roast...

Cool, that's what I just did. All set for brew day tomorrow. :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Brewiz said:
Dude, Are you going to rinse your hops or go straight in??

Straight in. :D

Well, what a great day to brew this baby! Mid 70s, dry as a popcorn fart.

I was mashed in by noon, and got 75% efficiency with a batch sparge. I just added my 2nd hop addition, and tasted the wort. I was really worried about how much bitterness I'd actually get from the fresh, wet hops. My worries were for naught. This a bitter mother, for sure. Really glad. The hops smell really grassy--and from what I've read, that will translate into the beer as well. Can't wait to try this one.

Just found out SWMBO is making pumpkin cheesecake too. KICKASS. :rockin:
 
Done. One of my fastest brew days ever. Everything went just about perfect. A little high on OG but I diluted it a little before I pitched the starter.

All cleaned up and relaxing after about 5 1/2 hours.

I hope this is a kick ass beer.

Up next, The Great Pumpkin Porter.
 
Hey got a question.where did you get the roots for the hop plants...i can't quite remember the correct name for the roots..thanks.
 
revrand65 said:
Hey got a question.where did you get the roots for the hop plants...i can't quite remember the correct name for the roots..thanks.

Any homebrew store will have them in the spring. Rhizomes are what the roots are called.

BTW...I racked this into a keg last night--it turned out stinking great. Grassy, fresh flavor. I'm going to dry hop it with some more NB while it is carbing up. I totally recommend doing this some time. Awesome concept, pretty damn good beer.
 
Sorry to revive an old thread, but how did the final beer turn out? I recently brewed a fresh hopped ale, and I've got some vacuum sealed fresh hops in the freezer. I'm thinking of using the frozen hops for a dry hop so I'm particularly interested in how the dry hopping worked.
 

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