Hops added a vegetation like flavor?

[Jsbeckton]

I planted some centennial hops a few years back and forgot about them. A few weeks ago I pulled about 3oz of wet hops off the vine and added them to about 2G of a blonde ale (dry hopped).

Unfortunately I am not pleased with the flavor change as a get what I can only describe as a strong vegetation flavor that is not anything similar to centennial that I have bought.

Anyone else ever have this happen? Was wondering if it was either because I didn’t let them dry out or if I picked them too early?

 

[bovine_OB]

I bet you just picked them too early. Better to harvest later vs early, because the lupulin hasn't been fully produced yet. May hop farms don't harvest till Aug-Sep, and 3 weeks ago would be late Jun, early Jul. Not a hop professional, but I'd bet you added hop flesh without adding as much lupulin as you'd think.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Have you ever had wet hopped beer?
I love that fresh flavor!

 

[Jsbeckton]

I have not used any wet hops before.

 

[dmtaylor]

You harvested too early, and you used wet hops. Your expectations were high for unripe hops. I don't harvest until September and recommend you wait that long.

 

[Jsbeckton]

So you also dry them first?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Make sure they're ripe, as others have said; I guess the end of the petals should start to brown and it should feel papery?
Wet hops have a much more fresh herb-y taste that is simply amazing in my opinion. In fact having access to wet hops is the only reason I would grow them, but I don't have space.

It's like the difference between using fresh herbs and dried herbs for cooking.

 

[dmtaylor]

I dry mine. You don't have to, but if you really want to avoid chlorophyll flavors, it's probably safest to dry them first.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Being able to use green/wet hops in beer is the main reason for growing them IMO - there's no comparison in flavour with dried hops. As with herbs, there's lots of delicate aroma compounds and oils that are driven off by the drying process. However, wet/green hops have a very short window in which to use them - in Kent the brewers will mash in, leave the assistant to keep an eye on the boil and only then go to the farm to pick up the hops. They work on 4 hours max from picking to brewing - by 12 hours you've got compost.

But as others have said, your main problem is probably picking them too soon - you want to wait until you're just starting to get the odd one with brown patches.

The other thing to remember is that the water content makes them much heavier than dried hops, most people work on 6-7x the weight of wet/green compared to your usual amount of dried hops.

 

[rniles]

Agreed .. you harvested them too early. There should be a lot of threads/videos on how to tell when your hops are ready.