Anyone brewing with green hops?

[AzOr]

Has anyone brewed with green (as in not yet ripe) hops? I have a couple of hop bines that produce a very modest amount of hops. I usually brew one batch of wet hopped ale annually.

They won't be ready to pick for at least 3-4 weeks but I've noticed that they have a very minty, green tea aroma now that fades as they ripen. They are Willamette, Cascade and Saaz. They all grow together and, like I said, only produce about 8 or so oz dried (poor soil).

I really enjoy that wet, green hop flavor and was wondering if I harvest earlier, if I could really push that "green" flavor.

 

[Docod44]

I did this last year with my first year centennials, mostly because I didn't know when to harvest and ended up doing so too early. The flavor profile was grassy/vegetal but overall wasn't very present in any significant way.

 

[AzOr]

Good point. The lupulin glands may not be ready at that point.

It may be a moot point. Looking at my calendar, I may not get to brew for a couple of weeks anyway. It'll still be delicious. This year I'll probably do a typical pale ale malt bill and use Perle for 60 and 30 min hop charge, then throw in the wet hops at 5 min.

 

[balto charlie]

I used to grow hops and every year I would make one, tasty. If memory serves I used twice the normal weight for hopping the brews. The hops ended up getting verticillium wil so I pulled them. Recently I drank one from a local brewery and it tatsed like grass. No real hop flavor. One needs to make sure the lupin is present, easy to see it the flowers and smell, hmmmm

 

[Dland]

Most articles about fresh or "wet" hops in brewing say since wet hops have 80% more water, you would typically use 5 times more by weight than dry hops to achieve same IBUs. Usually they also caution that using 100% wet hops can result in "grassy, chlorophyll" tasting beer. They also say to pick right before using as flavors break down quickly.

I have used wet hops when brew day happens when hops are ready to harvest. Mainly I use them in a post boil hop step at around 160-170F, and use regular dried hops for the rest of schedule. I pick them and put in sun on baking trays in morning on brew day, this gives them time to dry out a little, plus gives a chance for all the insects and spiders to crawl out of them.

I like the fresh taste of wet hops, but only in moderation, the "cut grass" smell is definitely there. I dehydrate the rest of my hops and vacuum seal for later use.

 

[Beerstein]

Last summer I made the same decision, and harvest my hops a bit early. I’m growing nugget, Newport, and crystal. The Bitterness and hop aroma faded very quickly. I used 8x multiplier to translate wet weight to dry weight. Overall wasn’t bad, but very, very bland.

 

[AzOr]

Last summer I made the same decision, and harvest my hops a bit early. I’m growing nugget, Newport, and crystal. The Bitterness and hop aroma faded very quickly. I used 8x multiplier to translate wet weight to dry weight. Overall wasn’t bad, but very, very bland.

Good to know. I'm assuming that the lupulin glands need time to fully develop. I actually enjoy that green cut grass flavor and aroma but want to make sure there's enough bitterness to balance.

I wouldn't want to drink wet hop beers all the time, but damn they are a great annual beer.

 

[Beerstein]

With the heat we are having, I’m hoping mine ripen sooner than later. I don’t know about you, but we have a lot of smoke right now…might be an interesting flavor.

 

[mashpaddled]

If the hops are not ripe you'll miss out on the flavor from the lupulin and bitterness. Instead you'll get the vegetal flavor and aroma, if anything. Unripe hops can smell nice but remember they've gone through a process (steeping, fermentation, alcoholic extraction--depending on when you add the hops) which may not produce the same output. It's an interesting experiment that may not turn out as hoped but interesting nonetheless.

 

[jerrylotto]

I thought that 4x pellet weight was the "correct" ratio.

 

[superiorsat]

I did an all wet hop beer ( Comet hops ) on July 24th. I went with the 5 times dry weight ratio. 45 ounces ( basically a whole 5 gallon bucket full ) in 12 gallon batch. 15 ounces at 60, 15 ounces at 10, 15 ounces at flame out. The tops of my 3 Comet plants were ready so I figured why not as I needed to brew anyway. I didn't really get the grassy flavor but I'm not sure I got the IBU's I was supposed to either no way to tell but it didn't taste like 68 IBU's. It was a very tasty beer and quickly became my favorite on tap. My initial thought was all the decades I've been drinking beer I've never had a beer that tasted like this, although I haven't had more than half a dozen wet hop beers in my life due to limited commercial availability ( and I'm only a second year as a hop grower ). Cashmere, Cascade, and Centennial are not ready yet and Comet probably needs to be harvested again soon. I will say it was. PITA to do this beer though. Used a giant mesh basket inside a 50 gallon pot and that clogged by the end because the mesh was to fine. The first 5 gallons below the screen came out quick then probably more than an hour to get the other 7+ gallons into the fermenter. Through the OYL061 Voss in once I realized it was clogged to get it working asap to fight off any competition as I slowly tricked the rest in. I would like to do this again this year but may try a different strategy. Maybe use my 20 gallon mash tun like a hop back. I think I should be able to keep a boil even with recirculating the wort back to the kettle if I put my lid on an use the steam slayer with some extra power unless someone has a better suggestion. Whole leaf hops and whole cone wet hops are a bit tough to work with I must say.

 

[AzOr]

I thought that 4x pellet weight was the "correct" ratio.

I've always read 5x. Since my wet hops are added late in the boil, I usually go 5-7x.

 

[oakbarn]

We used "green" hops (no glands open as they were picked too early) once. Instead of growing hops, the same flavor can be achieved with grass clippings.