Zeus vs Chinook

[Synovia]

I just finished picking the hops the previous resident of my home planted last year

I found two labels in the bushes, and it looks like I've got Chinook and Zeus. Now, theres a whole bunch of squid sex goin on with these plants, so I have an idea of which is zeus, and which is chinook, but I'm pretty sure I'm wrong on atleast a quarter of the hops.

Beersmith says they're both high alpha bittering hops (13% and 14%). Any concerns about assuming they're all zeus, or all chinook? Are they pretty close? If not, what are the differences?

Got 22.5 ozs wet from what should be the zeus plant. (which has much more cones than the other plant). How much should I expect dry?


Also, a guy on CL offered me a 50lb bag of barley for $20. It sounds like he grew it himself, but has no idea what it actually is, so I'd assume its 2-row. Safe assumption? Its unmalted I assume. Anything I can do with this? Can you turn it into toasted/roasted/caramel, or anything like that?

 

[BigEd]

Modern commercial hop varieties are all female plants so there is no cross pollination to worry about.

 

[r2eng]

My $0.02... the hops, if used for bittering, really do not matter. Both have great flavor and aroma, so just create recipes which they play well with.

Are you sure you want unmalted barley? are you planning on malting it yourself?

Buy malted barley.

 

[Synovia]

Are you sure you want unmalted barley?

No, thats the whole question. The guy wants $20 for a 55lb bag, which seems really cheap if theres anything I can do with it.

Almost looks malted to me.

 

[BigEd]

Those appear to be acrospires on the grains which would indicated it has been malted. Have you tasted it? Is there anything printed on the bag?

 

[Synovia]

Those appear to be acrospires on the grains which would indicated it has been malted. Have you tasted it? Is there anything printed on the bag?

THats the pic he sent me.

 

[cuinrearview]

I just finished picking the hops the previous resident of my home planted last year

I found two labels in the bushes, and it looks like I've got Chinook and Zeus. Now, theres a whole bunch of squid sex goin on with these plants, so I have an idea of which is zeus, and which is chinook, but I'm pretty sure I'm wrong on atleast a quarter of the hops.

Beersmith says they're both high alpha bittering hops (13% and 14%). Any concerns about assuming they're all zeus, or all chinook? Are they pretty close? If not, what are the differences?

Got 22.5 ozs wet from what should be the zeus plant. (which has much more cones than the other plant). How much should I expect dry?


Also, a guy on CL offered me a 50lb bag of barley for $20. It sounds like he grew it himself, but has no idea what it actually is, so I'd assume its 2-row. Safe assumption? Its unmalted I assume. Anything I can do with this? Can you turn it into toasted/roasted/caramel, or anything like that?

I've read the posts on home malting of barley. I'll go to work for a few hours on the weekend and buy malted barley and a case of micro.

As for the hops. You should get around 3-4 oz. dry when it's all said and dried. They'll be great for bittering but there's a lot of recipes out there that use Zues (Columbus) for flavoring and aroma additions. The Zues that I grew didn't smell like anything that I'd like to smell in beer but the soil there could produce something more palatable. Both the Zues and Chinook will be great for bittering, but it'll be an experiment as the AA% of homegrown is not known. Without knowing I'd shoot for the lower end of the range for the variety and after you have some experience with them you can adjust for growing season, appearance, and lupulin level.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

BTW, Zeus is not Columbus. It's written online that the oils test very similar, but they are not the same hop. Columbus and Tomahawk are the ones that are the same. To me, Zeus is much more pungent.

 

[dantose]

Best advice I can give is sniff/taste the hops. Whichever ones smell/taste the best use for finishing. As others have said, doesn't really matter on bittering.

I'm actually a big fan of chinook as a finishing hop. I used it as such for my last IPA.