First Beer: Double IPA with Fresh Hops, please advise!

[ruggedbrew]

Hi All,

I'm in Yorkshire, England, and I've found a fresh hop growing wild. Unknown variety (ID assistance would be helpful! I'll go get a photo). I hear that to convert a dried hop recipy to 'wet' or fresh, it's got to be 6 times the amount (due to extra moisture content). I have the facility to do 2 gallons. I'm aiming to buy my malts in the next couple of days, as the Hops will be ready in about a week, and once picked, they need using in 24 hours to keep their fresh grassy notes.

I've done stouts before, years ago. And a heck of a lot of wine. But i'd like to try my first IPA (why not a double IPA?)
Here's my recipe, bear in mind this is a complete first for me! hoping for some advice/critique (i want it as simple as possible).

Double IPA
2 Gallons

25 Oz Fresh Hops
2 Oz Maris Otter
3.2 Oz Extra Light Malt EXTRACT
180gram DME sugar for bottling.

Steep Grain for 30 minutes 0.4 gallon (1.5 Liters) at 68*, remove grain, top up to 3 litres and bring to boil for 60 Minutes following schedule below.

Hop Schedule:
5 Oz at -60minutes
5 Oz at -30minutes
5 Oz at flameout for 20 Minutes
Remove Hop
Cool to 20* Celsius
Add water to 2 Gallons, yeast, priming sugar.
+24 Hours later
5 Oz Hop
+ 5 Days
5 Oz in, Secondary Fermentor
+ 5 Days

Bottle with 180gm DME

 

[Kickass]

Hey Ruggedbrew. Certainly a fitting name for such a beer. A couple things come to mind here:

I think your measurements may have been goofed in converting from metric. That being said here's the direction I'd go for a 2 gal or roughly 7.5L batch. I admittedly like higher crystal malt sweet British style IPA's, Fullers special release Imperial IPA is fantastic!

15%-20% crystal malt (simpsons caramalt or simpsons crystal light)
80%-85% Maris Otter extract

So maybe...
1.75 kg M.O. LME
.4 kg caramalt (15-30L color range)

Excluding all the unknowns of wild harvested hops, someone else can add to that, your hop schedule looks pretty good. I would make a couple minor adjustments. I'd wait until fermentation was almost complete before adding the first dry hop addition. Then taste and if needed remove them and add a second dry hop addition. I don't like the flavor development associated with dry hopping more than five days. With such a small batch you may want to consider only one dry hop addition. Finally, because it is a small batch, you'll likely lose a considerable amount of volume with that much dry hop. If you can bump the volume us, i would.

As far as priming, I use this website.

Keep us posted!

 

[ruggedbrew]

Really grateful you got back to me, simply for the fact you've called me out on the measurements. Yes, goofed is the right word...I retraced my steps and i think i see what i did wrong!

Yeah, i'm thinking i may lose some volume, though, it's already 'wet' so hopefully it doesn't soak up as much as the dried stuff. If i can find enough bottles to empty my demijohns of their elderberry wine, i'll be able to use them too and bump up the volume (hopefully with the right measures!).

Perhaps i'll follow your idea for hop schedule too, see what happens!

Thanks again! Will keep you posted.

 

[GPP33]

Brewing with wild hops is a great opportunity, though it does come with some risks. Primeraly having no idea what the alpha acid content or flavor are. Hopefully someone else also isn’t working on a plan for them when they come ripe for harvest.

I would research hop teas which would allow you to make a small batch of tea with your wild hops and some known commercial hops to get a feeling of how much bittering they are likely to add and what the flavor profile is. It won’t be exactly like a beer but may provide some information on what you will likely get.

 

[ruggedbrew]

Thats a good idea re: teas, thanks. Im thinking of just going for some prepared hops, having researched how varietal they are.