Fresh and Wet are NOT the Same

So several great home brewers that I have met and even the occasional professional brewer have decided to grow their own hops. I think that this is wonderful. To willingly engage in the supreme struggle of wresting the fat from the land and producing brewing ingredients takes a very special and likable kind of person.
Just the same, hops have been dried prior to use for hundreds if not thousands of years. The "fresh" (wet) hop beers that I have recently tried have not been up to snuff. Maybe in this grand new age of homebrewing, there is still a place for tradition. Kiln or (even sun-dry) your hops people. If you're brave enough to grow and malt your own barley yourself, I promise I won't post about it.

What is your point in this thread? Am I missing something here? It takes a "likable kind of person" to grow hops? WTF!

Yea, I'm confused too. A lot of people around here grow their own hops. They also dry the hops before using, unless specifically making a "wet hop" beer. I think you are telling people to do what they already are doing.

BTW, Sierra Nevada's Wet Hop ale is pretty darn good.

Try Deschutes Hop Trip next fall, it's a great wet hop IPA. Though if you haven't noticed it's not exactly the right time of year to be trying "wet/fresh" hopped beers.

Aspera said:

The "fresh" (wet) hop beers that I have recently tried have not been up to snuff.

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How recent? If you are tasting them now, they are way past their prime. Try them when they are released (August, early September) and they can prove to be pretty incredible beers.

I could be wrong but is wet hopping a beer just using the dry hops from a prior brew as a bitter in another batch?

Edcculus said:

Yea, I'm confused too. A lot of people around here grow their own hops. They also dry the hops before using, unless specifically making a "wet hop" beer. I think you are telling people to do what they already are doing.

BTW, Sierra Nevada's Wet Hop ale is pretty darn good.

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Sierra Nevada made like 4 wet hop beers last year and they were all pretty good. The taste of a wet hop beer is really specific, but if you're in that mood, it can be spectacular.

betch said:

I could be wrong but is wet hopping a beer just using the dry hops from a prior brew as a bitter in another batch?

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Using fresh hops before being dried, usually within a day or so of being harvested.

BarleyWater said:

Using fresh hops before being dried, usually within a day or so of being harvested.

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The general rule of thumb is 30 hours or less. I am not 100% sure why, but that seems to be the range.

wet hops do serve a purpose :cross:

Irie5447 said:

What is your point in this thread? Am I missing something here? It takes a "likable kind of person" to grow hops? WTF!

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The point seems the be that you should dry your hops before using them.

The "likable kind of person" is just someone who is cool enough to grow them.

I think. :fro::fro:

Aspera said:

Kiln or (even sun-dry) your hops people.

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+1 to drying your hops, obviously, but I thought I read in The Homebrewer's Garden that you want to dry them out of the sunlight?

I had to get in here... this thread has no point, so I thought Id say...

With global warming becoming such an issue, maybe we should all be sun drying our hops, to soak up some of that deadly radiation.

No. I tried Founders Harvest Ale last fall and it was spectacular. I say phooey on having to dry them. They can make a very good beer still fresh and wet.

But honestly, how many of us are actually going to do that.

Homercidal said:

No. I tried Founders Harvest Ale last fall and it was spectacular. I say phooey on having to dry them. They can make a very good beer still fresh and wet.

But honestly, how many of us are actually going to do that.

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I'd actually like to try one. Maybe this fall I'll do a "wet hops cascade" or something like that. I had SN's and really enjoyed it. It seems a little daunting, though- brewing the day I'm picking hops and then setting up the screens for drying them. I'd also have to find out how many ounces to use, since they are so much heavier than dried hops.

I had somebody's wet-hopped ale last year (can't remember whose), and the grassy that you get warned about was pretty overwhelming. Obviously, can't make any judgments about a sample size of 1, but it was a little discouraging.

Still, I need a Randall...

EDIT: Yoop, the figures I've always heard are 4-5x the weight when using wet hops; the drying process removes about 80% of the weight.

I'm going to take it to an even higher level. Do my boil outside by the hop vines and dip the living plant into the boil.

When I saw the title, I thought this thread was going to be about something else entirely.......<sigh>

Aspera said:

If you're brave enough to grow and malt your own barley yourself, I promise I won't post about it.

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Yah, but what about those fools that only malt and kiln to US 2-row standards? They should be kilning to British Pale. After all, the British have been doing that for hundreds of years. Heathens!

Edcculus said:

I'm going to take it to an even higher level. Do my boil outside by the hop vines and dip the living plant into the boil.

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OOHHH
"Living Hop Ale"

Nice

YooperBrew said:

I'd actually like to try one. Maybe this fall I'll do a "wet hops cascade" or something like that. I had SN's and really enjoyed it. It seems a little daunting, though- brewing the day I'm picking hops and then setting up the screens for drying them. I'd also have to find out how many ounces to use, since they are so much heavier than dried hops.

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There is another option to using fresh hops. Out of a desire to try something a little new, I picked all of my fresh hops and bagged them into Foodsaver bags, vacuum sealed them and froze them while they were fresh. I have been using fresh-frozen hops all year long. So far, I have made eight, 12 gallon batches of fresh-hop beer using my fresh hops. I got the idea from Vinnie at Russian River who froze his fresh hops so he could use them for dry-hopping. It works good.

I am going to brew another fresh-hop beer this next weekend.

the_bird said:

EDIT: Yoop, the figures I've always heard are 4-5x the weight when using wet hops; the drying process removes about 80% of the weight.

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Just an FYI, I read in BYO hop guide magazine that the ratio is 6:1 for using wet hops vs. dried.

Edit: I just planted my rhizomes on Saturday. I can't wait to make a wet-hopped brew this fall.

bdnoona said:

Just an FYI, I read in BYO hop guide magazine that the ratio is 6:1 for using wet hops vs. dried.

Edit: I just planted my rhizomes on Saturday. I can't wait to make a wet-hopped brew this fall.

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6:1 is also the ratio that I have heard.

bdnoona said:

Just an FYI, I read in BYO hop guide magazine that the ratio is 6:1 for using wet hops vs. dried.

Edit: I just planted my rhizomes on Saturday. I can't wait to make a wet-hopped brew this fall.

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Good info.

What I'm (slightly) worried about is the hops that I dried last fall - how do I know if I dried them to industry standards? I mean, they're DRY (and vacuum sealed in the freezer), but ideally I'm want to know if they're at 10% moisture or 20% moisture or whatever, and compare that to what the commercial growers dry to. I imagine that they have a little bit more moisture than commercial hops just because of limitations of my drying capabilities (no kiln!).

Wet hop ales must also be fresh. After 2 months, meh.

the_bird said:

Good info.

What I'm (slightly) worried about is the hops that I dried last fall - how do I know if I dried them to industry standards? I mean, they're DRY (and vacuum sealed in the freezer), but ideally I'm want to know if they're at 10% moisture or 20% moisture or whatever, and compare that to what the commercial growers dry to. I imagine that they have a little bit more moisture than commercial hops just because of limitations of my drying capabilities (no kiln!).

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I've been reading that wet hops are 80% w/w and after drying they are 10% w/w
brewing book chapter 7.4

This year I'm planning on weighing them all and then re-weighing when I think they are done. I'll be able to tell if they are 10% water weight then.

For intermediate testing I'll set aside (separate section of the screen) a small sample of premeasured hops. Once they are 30% of their starting weight I'll know they are dried to 10% moisture content.

This thread seems to have been started purely to instigate, since the original poster took off.

Wet hop beers can be amazing, try Deschuetes Hop Trip in its prime, its a fantastic beer.

conpewter said:

I've been reading that wet hops are 80% w/w and after drying they are 10% w/w
brewing book chapter 7.4

This year I'm planning on weighing them all and then re-weighing when I think they are done. I'll be able to tell if they are 10% water weight then.

For intermediate testing I'll set aside (separate section of the screen) a small sample of premeasured hops. Once they are 30% of their starting weight I'll know they are dried to 10% moisture content.

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D'oh! Of course, ******* - WEIGHT THE FREAKIN' THINGS!

I'm having a lot of brainfarts today...

I think you all scared the OP off. He/she hasn't posted back.

I live in the Lake Placid, NY area, and last year, my good friend Rich grew Cascades in his back yard. He happens to be good friends with the brewmaster at the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery (brewers of the famous "Ubu Ale"), so they brewed a one-off "Back Fence IPA" with Rich's fresh hops. They brewed the beer less than 6 hours after the harvest, and it was their most popular beer (for a VERY short time).

KayaBrew said:

I think you all scared the OP off. He/she hasn't posted back.

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Not likely.

Is it standard to dry a percentage of the harvested fresh hops that were used to make a wet hop beer so that they could be used to dry hop? I would assume that using fresh hops to dry hop would add some weird/bad flavors. Or even a risk of infection?

bdnoona said:

Just an FYI, I read in BYO hop guide magazine that the ratio is 6:1 for using wet hops vs. dried.

Edit: I just planted my rhizomes on Saturday. I can't wait to make a wet-hopped brew this fall.

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I did a few side-by-side experiments where I dried my fresh hops and left the fresh ops, fresh. I found my hops when picked really ripe and somewhat "papery", that the ratio closer to 2:1, based on weight before and after drying. When I tried the 6:1, it was way over the top. I think it may ultimately depend on how dry you pick the hops. It is pretty easy to figure out. Pick a pound of hops and dry them and weigh again.