Advice on home grown hops

[tlucarelli]

A friend of mine just texted me and said something along the lines of "Hey I'm visiting my sister and they have some hops growing on their land, but they're not using them. Do you want any?"

To which I said absolutely yes, grab as much as you possibly can! But then I asked what kind of hop are they? She said, well they were grown by the previous owner so they really don't know.

With all of that as my only information, I have a couple of questions/thoughts:

Is there any way to figure out what type of hops these are? They're grown in Michigan, so they do have to deal with the frigid seasonal changes, but I'm not sure there's any way to find out what kind of hops they are.

Second, what would be the best type of beer to brew to see how these come out? My first thought is an IPA, but is there a better choice?

Lastly, I've never used whole hops before. Do I use the same quantity? Should I try to dry them out or use them wet? If I have a vacuum seal, should I freeze them wet?

Any help would be awesome!

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Unfortunately it would take someone with more hop knowledge than me to identify them. Without having anything at all to go on, I honestly don't know if it would be possible without some sort of science lab analysis.

I would make a SMASH beer to really highlight the characteristics of the hops. Maybe some 2-row and 1056 to get limited flavors that are non-hop based.

While you can use the hops wet, they will probably be past the best time to do that, so I would dry them. The weight is then equivalent to pellets. If you are going to freeze them, you definitely want them dry first. Good luck!

 

[tlucarelli]

Thanks @firstaidbrewing! I didn't think about a smash. Will have to try it out!

 

[Cyclman]

Definitely do a wet hopped SMASH. If you know a BJCP judge they may be able to identify the hop if you can't.

 

[ba-brewer]

wet hops are 4 to 5 times heavier then commercial hops, so scale accordingly.

I think I say somewhere that someone froze wet hops and they thawed mushy. You can pretty much just spread them out in a single layer on a window screen and they will be dry in a couple days.

You could make a little hop tea to see if you can detect any flavors or aromas.

Not knowing the variety, maybe use a neutral bittering hop to set the bittering backbone then pile on the unknown hops in the end. Maybe you will end up with a pale ale if they are weak or an IPA is they are strong.

 

[tlucarelli]

Good ideas! Thanks guys!