Wet hop recipe, sort of

[Yooper]

We had a ton of rain last week, and it put off our hops harvesting. So they were harvested early last week for the most part. That put my wet hopping plans aside, as we had to dry the chinook and zeus hops earlier, while the cascade were harvested a bit later. So, the cascade hops are drying, but not yet dry. I'll check them tomorrow to see where they are, but they are definitely more dry than "wet hopped" ale would be.

So the amount to use of them is sort of a guess- less than if they were just picked (they were picked Friday), but more than if they were totally dry.

I should be brewing this tomorrow.

Here's what I"m thinking-

Garden Pale Ale (10.5 gallons)
10 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) 50.0 %
6 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) 30.0 %
2 lbs Borlander Munich Malt 10.0 %
1 lbs Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) 5.0 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 5.0 %
0.50 oz Commerical hops- Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min
2.00 oz Cascade (Homegrown- semi-wet) Boil 15.0 min
2.00 oz Zeus [Homegrown] - Boil 15.0 min
2.00 oz Cascade (Homegrown- semi-wet) Boil 5.0 min
1.00 oz Zeus [Homegrown] - Boil 5.0 min
1.00 oz Cascade (Homegrown- semi-wet) - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min
1.00 oz Chinook (Homegrown) - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min
1.00 oz Zeus [Homegrown] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min
1.50 oz Cascade (Homegrown) - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
1.50 oz Chinook (Homegrown) - Dry Hop 5.0 Days

For yeast, it's going to be WLP001 most likely.

I was thinking of a pale ale with caramel notes (to counter the dank Zeus), and strong malt backbone. I am hoping for a ton of citrusy aroma and flavor, with some dank and resin in the finish.

Because of the hops not being totally dry, OR fresh off of the vine, I really have no idea how much to use. I have a feeling that I"m going to lose a ton of wort to hops here!

Any tips or advice would be appreciated!

 

[pdxal]

Yooper, I think you're just going to have to WAG and squeeze the semi dry hops to decide how much moisture they have. 6:1 ratio for fresh to dry hop weight, right? So, maybe 3:1 to guess for half-dried hops?
If you're worried about losing wort from all the whole cone hops, squeeze 'em out!
You should definitely be getting citrusy with all the C hops with some dank from the chinook.
I hope it turns out.

 

[cannman]

Yooper, when I grow my own veggies, I find that I get a superior product. Does the same go for hops?

 

[Yooper]

Yooper, when I grow my own veggies, I find that I get a superior product. Does the same go for hops?

No. I really prefer the predictability of commercial hops, but I love the concept of growing my own plus the cost savings. They vary from year to year- some years the cascade hops are far more citrusy while some years they have a bit of a grassy note. I often use them in late additions, once I see how they are.

We have a ton of them- chinook, zeus, goldings, northern brewer, hallertauer, centennial, and cascade. I don't even harvest the hallertauer any more, and don't really pick every single one on the others- it's overwhelming! They grow like invasive weeds.

 

[Cyclman]

I just dried mine all the way, then used them in a single-hop IPA, or pale ale, depending on whether my Centennials met their IBU potential.

It's fun to play with hops, and if they're not repeatable year to year, I consider them like vintage wine.

 

[SAMPLER]

Yooper, any update on the brew process with those wet hops. .Sounds like a tasty recipe.

Cheers

 

[Yooper]

Yooper, any update on the brew process with those wet hops. .Sounds like a tasty recipe.

Cheers

It's done fermenting, but I haven't tried it yet or decided on the dryhopping schedule. I'll get to that later this week, and try to remember to keep this thread updated (thanks for the reminder!).

 

[Yooper]

I just sampled, and it's 1.008. I dryhopped in the keg with 1.5 ounces of homegrown chinook (dried) and 1.5 ounces of cascade (also dried by now).

It's good! It's a little underbittered maybe, but I hope that once it's carbed up that it balances out a bit. I love the aroma of my chinnook hops this year, but I'm not 100% sold on this year's cascade.