All Cascade (Home Grown) Ale

So I have been away from brewing for a bit due to a back injury and today is my first attempt at a 100% Cascade Pale Ale using my home grown hops. I have never attempted a single hop brew before let alone one from home grown hops.

Using a basic recipe I have been successful with previously, but only using Cascade for bittering and aroma.

I have no clue as to the Alpha or Beta content but they do smell good. I only harvested a bit over 1lb (dry) weight this year. I am using 3 ounces at 60 minutes and 1 ounce at 5 minutes. I intend to try dry hopping with 1 ounce also.

So we shall see in several weeks what comes of my labor today.

Any comments or suggestions (even though they my be late at this point)?

Salute!

3 ounces of cascade will be pretty bitter for a pale ale. If you assume the Alpha Acid is around maybe 6.5 or so, I'd toss in about 1.5 ounces, which should give you IBU's in the mid-high 30's (total approximation, of course).

Toss in 1 ounce for 5 minutes, then another 1-2 ounces AFTER flame out for flavor. SNPA use generous amounts of finishing hops after the boil, which they let steep for a bit before cooling, which gives them their great Cascade flavor.

Dry hopping with anything less than 2-3 ounces is probably a waste of effort. I think you need 3-4 ounces to really get the effect. 1 Ounce will barely be noticeable, and you might be better suited to use these hops post-boil instead.

Hope this helps.

eltorrente said:

3 ounces of cascade will be pretty bitter for a pale ale. If you assume the Alpha Acid is around maybe 6.5 or so, I'd toss in about 1.5 ounces, which should give you IBU's in the mid-high 30's (total approximation, of course).

Toss in 1 ounce for 5 minutes, then another 1-2 ounces AFTER flame out for flavor. SNPA use generous amounts of finishing hops after the boil, which they let steep for a bit before cooling, which gives them their great Cascade flavor.

Dry hopping with anything less than 2-3 ounces is probably a waste of effort. I think you need 3-4 ounces to really get the effect. 1 Ounce will barely be noticeable, and you might be better suited to use these hops post-boil instead.

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

+2/3 I agree with everything here except the need for 3 ozs for dry hopping. I use 1 oz in my cascade pale ale, and it turns out awesome... has even won awards.

*Deleted*....didn't notice initially that you mentioned they were dry.

For last year's harvest ale, I did an IPA boiling for 90 minutes, and just tossing in small handfulls almost continuously for the 90 minutes.

It is impossible to guage the IBUs and the beer may be far less bitter than expected.

I threw in 8 oz or so, probably 3 oz for 60 minutes or more, and it was somewhat bitter, but not beyond a pale ale.

I suggest going for an IPA and then if it falls short of an IPA you have a PA.

Go for a PA and fall short and you have miller lite.

Aren't you supposed to dry out leaf hops before you use them? If these are straight off the vine, wouldn't they still be "wet?"

TopherM said:

Aren't you supposed to dry out leaf hops before you use them? If these are straight off the vine, wouldn't they still be "wet?"

Click to expand...

You would be correct sir!

oops

If hops are taken straight off of the vine, dried, and then soaked in boiling wort, aren't they still technically a vegetable?

cheezydemon3 said:

If hops are taken straight off of the vine, dried, and then soaked in boiling wort, aren't they still technically a vegetable?

Click to expand...

LOL! Actually, since we want to get ultra technical here.. they would not be a vegetable... they would technically be a flower!

Did you brew this yesterday? Inquiring minds want to know!

This is similar to a "NW IPA" I recently brewed. 90 boil with 3 oz Cascade at 60 min & .3 Ht Hood & 1 oz Cascade @ 5 min. I was planning to dry hop with the remaining .7 oz Ht Hood.

Should I use more? (approx 6 G batch @ 1.064 OG)

As for dry vs wet hops. The ratio is 5oz wet = 1oz dry. wet has really good aroma and flavor. Its all good.

I didn't care for the strictly home grown Cascade brew I made last year. I used 1.5 oz @ 60 minutes and 1.5 oz @ 10 minutes. The resulting beer tasted exactly like warm grapefruit juice at kegging time. Took a while for that taste to mello out enough to drink.

purplehaze said:

I didn't care for the strictly home grown Cascade brew I made last year. I used 1.5 oz @ 60 minutes and 1.5 oz @ 10 minutes. The resulting beer tasted exactly like warm grapefruit juice at kegging time. Took a while for that taste to mello out enough to drink.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that your's didn't turn out well. Did you use any flame out or dry hops?