Using unknown hops

[newell456]

I wouldn't do this, but my buddy bought a house from someone who homebrewed. The neighbors said he used them for beer, but he is dead (not from the hops), so that's all I know about them. My friend gave me plenty of vacuum sealed hops and wants me brew up a batch (he's buying.) He's rather proud of his harvest, so I wanna see what they can do. They smell like cascade hops to me.

Anyway, I'm thinking of making a 5 gallon batch of pale ale, since that can anywhere from mild to IPA.

But since I never used whole hops before, I don't know how much to use for bittering, flavor, or flameout. I have a food scale. Any ideas? Should I go by weight or volume? I want to shoot for something right in the middle of mildly hopped to hoppy so it'll be more forgiving either way.

 

[Hermit]

Since you don't know the AA content I'd suggest using them for flavor and aroma only until you get a better idea what they are like.

 

[Retrofit]

Everybody grows cascade. First thing you can do is buy some cascade and do a quick 'smell' comparison. Do they smell like cascade? If so they are cascade. You could get a local brewer/friend to do the same thing and try to confirm your suspicion. You could brew a "Smash" (Single Malt and Single Hop).

I suppose if I sold my house to a non-brewer and he sold the house to a brewer he might never figure out what I grow, but he had some great hops, even if they never knew what they are.

Good luck with your mystery hop

 

[newell456]

Everybody grows cascade. First thing you can do is buy some cascade and do a quick 'smell' comparison. Do they smell like cascade? If so they are cascade. You could get a local brewer/friend to do the same thing and try to confirm your suspicion. You could brew a "Smash" (Single Malt and Single Hop).

I suppose if I sold my house to a non-brewer and he sold the house to a brewer he might never figure out what I grow, but he had some great hops, even if they never knew what they are.

Good luck with your mystery hop

I'm reasonably certain they are cascade. They smell like cascade to me, and my brew friends agree. Plus, homebrewers in Michigan grow cascade, and all I know about this guy is that he was growing them for a long time.

I have an ounce of glacier pellets still sealed to use, so I may use the whole hops for flavor/aroma. Any suggestions on a all-extract pale ale recipe? I can do all grain, but I am exceptionally lazy this weekend.

 

[david_42]

You can use 6% AA for Cascade and aim for the middle of the IBUs for the style.