Harvesting for Fresh Hop Ale

[JJ900]

Hi All,
I have a first year Cascade and first year Centennial both in pots. The Centennial produced cones first, although the Cascade cone leaves seem to be opening sooner (not sure if that's a sign of ripening).

I would like to try brewing a fresh hop ale. I am guessing that my hops will not all be ready at the same time. Can I pick them as they ripen and store hops in the fridge for a week or two until enough hops are ready for brewing? When stored in the fridge how fast should I use them...will they wilt like lettuce or undergo flavor changes etc.

thanks!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

will they wilt like lettuce or undergo flavor changes etc.

Far quicker than lettuce - you have a matter of hours to use them at their prime. The best option is to wait until you see the first cone just starting to look past it, then brew a beer and add all the cones that are ready at the whirlpool stage (<160F). Then dry hop with the remainder as they ripen over the following weeks - that way they all end up in the beer when they're at their freshest.

Don't forget that a) hop cones are really light so a big volume is a small weight and b) green hops are mostly water, so 1oz of dried hops is the equivalent of ~7oz of green hops. Meaningful amounts of green hops represent a huge volume of plant material, so don't be miserly - the results are fantastic though.

If you do need to store them than freezing is one option, particularly if you can vacuum seal, otherwise drying them on a mesh works reasonably well but obviously you lose the special green hop magic that way.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

Far quicker than lettuce - you have a matter of hours to use them at their prime. The best option is to wait until you see the first cone just starting to look past it, then brew a beer and add all the cones that are ready at the whirlpool stage (<160F). Then dry hop with the remainder as they ripen over the following weeks - that way they all end up in the beer when they're at their freshest.

Don't forget that a) hop cones are really light so a big volume is a small weight and b) green hops are mostly water, so 1oz of dried hops is the equivalent of ~7oz of green hops. Meaningful amounts of green hops represent a huge volume of plant material, so don't be miserly - the results are fantastic though.

If you do need to store them than freezing is one option, particularly if you can vacuum seal, otherwise drying them on a mesh works reasonably well but obviously you lose the special green hop magic that way.

i'm in year 5 of my bines and will have a good harvest this year. In the past i've just used them all in a fresh hop brew. I will have to store some this year for later use and assumed i had to dry them before vacuum sealing and freezing. you imply you just freeze them directly, is that true?

 

[elburrogrande]

From my research, Freezing them fresh and using them within a month or so has no noticeable consequences. Ive been picking and freezing for the last couple of weeks, plan on brewing within then next couple. From what I read it is best to freeze them in predetermined amounts then dumping them frozen in to the boil or end of boil.

 

[orionol73]

From my research, Freezing them fresh and using them within a month or so has no noticeable consequences. Ive been picking and freezing for the last couple of weeks, plan on brewing within then next couple. From what I read it is best to freeze them in predetermined amounts then dumping them frozen in to the boil or end of boil.

I have had successes freezing them fresh in food saver bags and using up to 6 months later!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

i'm in year 5 of my bines and will have a good harvest this year. In the past i've just used them all in a fresh hop brew. I will have to store some this year for later use and assumed i had to dry them before vacuum sealing and freezing. you imply you just freeze them directly, is that true?

Drying is the enemy of hop flavour, it drives off all the tasty volatile molecules. But time is also the enemy of green hops, as they just want to turn to compost and oxidise all those lovely volatiles.

So even in the freezer, green hops will deteriorate reasonably quickly, I wouldn't store them in the freezer for much more than a few weeks, although they never last that long with me, I love green hop beer! The best place for green hops is wort or beer, within a few hours of picking. If you can brew enough beer within a few weeks, I'd freeze but not dry. If you want to keep them for longer than a few weeks, I'd dry and then freeze, but accept that you'll lose a lot of flavour by doing so.

 

[JJ900]

Thank you all these replies were very helpful. I'll add that looking at a few youtube videos on when to pick gives nice visual examples of when it's still too early to harvest.