Fresh Hops

I have two monster hop plants in full flower at present.
I have just started to home brew using extract.

Any ideas how I find out if my hops are suitable for brewing and if so can I use them in the first stage or second stage.

I want to had them direct to the wort rather than boiling down etc.
Do I need to dry them first?

They do need to be dried, which may be accomplished in several ways including sun or low-temp oven. As far as how suitable they are in terms of flavor, I'd assume aroma would be a good start, with empirical data to follow up!

Thanks

BeeGee said:

with empirical data to follow up!

Click to expand...

Sorry I don't understand. (I'm very new to homebrew, I started my first one today)

I mean after drying them to start using them in beer and see how you like the taste! I don't really know of a way for the home hops grower to determine the AAU's of his/her hops deterministically, so the next best method is to go for it.

Cheers, sounds like a plan.
I guess I'll need to do two side by sid of the same mix. One with hops and one with out. I have 2 x 2.5 gallon fermenters so that shouldn't be a problem.

I don't think I would brew a batch without hops... What I would do is perhaps get a recipe you've done before and like, and follow that recipe for one 2.5g batch, and then brew another 2.5g batch with exactly the ingredients except substituting your hops. Once finished, you'll be able to compare the character (aroma, bitterness) of your hops to the commercially available ones, as well as the 'strength'. You could also try different ratios of your hops at various times in the boil (bittering/flavoring/aroma), not to mention dry hopping.

Come to think of it, someone had to have done this by now and could probably offer better advice!

How you use the hops is largely a factor of what type of hops they are. If they're bred for bittering then they'll have a high percentage of Alpa Acid 8%+. Aroma hops (flavoring) typically have much lower AA%. Some hops are versatile and can be used for either bittering or aroma.. really it's the brewer's choice. While hop AA%s vary depending on conditions, each variety has a general range. So, if you know what variety you have then you know how it can/should be used (bittering or aroma), what styles of beer it's typically used in, and a general estimate of how much Alpha Acid it contains (and thus how much to use).

As for growing and drying your own hops I know nothing about it.. I buy mine for the time being but that may change sometime soon.

Now for the easy explanation of hops.. pardon me if you know this already. I do not mean to patronize.. but you say you're new so here goes..
Depending on when you add hops to the boil they will have a different effect on your brew. Added at the start of the boil and thus boiled for a long time (60 minutes typically) they will add bitterness to your beer.. this is a must for beer to be beer. Added later during the boil and thus boiled for only a short time and they will add a hoppy aroma but little or no bitterness to the beer. If you add once fermentation has subsided and you have transferred the beer to the secondary fermentor they will add a great hoppy aroma.. this is called dry hopping and is very very popular among homebrewers for good reason.

So that's the long and short of hops.. hope it was helpful.

Yes thanks very much..

I have no idea what type they are. I bought them from a herb suppliers and they where just labelled hops.

I guess the plants cover 20sqr metres and have grown through 2 trees. I need a dry day to harvest them. I plan to dry them in the oven. I should have enough for a year.