Fresh/wet hopped beer ideas

[gometz]

I can help you with this part - simply divide the weight of hops by a factor of 5-8 (whatever you choose) and enter that. That's how I did it. I also adjusted the %AA in my wet hop to the middle of the range. Hope that helps and happy brewing!

I just talked to the guys at my LHBS and they mentioned that the fresh hops they have in stock have more of a 2:1 ratio. It all depends on just how fresh the hops are, the fresher the hop, the more water weight it will contain.

 

[Unferth]

I just talked to the guys at my LHBS and they mentioned that the fresh hops they have in stock have more of a 2:1 ratio. It all depends on just how fresh the hops are, the fresher the hop, the more water weight it will contain.

Maybe your LHBS dried the hops? All that I've read, here and elsewhere, says that one should use fresh hops very soon after picking... like days if not hours.

Hops - all freshly picked (bagged & frozen for a few days) Centennial

16oz x 60-90 minutes - haven't decided how long I'll boil
12oz x 30min
5oz x 15min
5oz x 10min
5oz x 5min
5oz x 0min

I may dry hop with a few oz of some of the Cents that I dried as well.

I know most say to use a general bittering hop but I decided I wanted the entire beer to be made all fresh whole hops

thats a lot of hops!

2 things come to mind:

1) you can play with the ratio numbers all you like, that is going to be a high IBU beer. 10 or so lbs of malt would not be enough malt background for me. I would push it up into the IIPA range, like 1.075, 1.080 or even higher. Just my Cents on the matter (pun intended).

2) less important and more to preference. I have started cutting the 30 minute hop additions. I don't feel like I get any flavor or aroma from those additions and they are not really contributing too much to the bitterness. A lot of people do them though, so I guess its personal preference.

Those are my thoughts, I hope they help you out some.

 

[bannerj]

I believe he put in value of each hop for them as wet, so 16 oz would be just under 1 oz...depending on how fresh.

My hops dry very quickly here in our current weather. I was doing 4/5:1 approx with hops 1-3 hours off the bine. Worked well for me.

 

[funnycreature]

Word of caution - I used gelatin to cold crash my APA for a couple of days after a second dry hopping. It was really clear but all the hops flavor and aroma seems to have disappeared. The yeast cake smelled wonderfully. I am really sad and hope it will still taste good.

 

[dhutchings]

This morning I headed outside to see a bunch of extra hops on the bine left over after the harvest. Either I missed a bunch or there's been new growth. What I picked looked and felt mature, though.

At any rate, I've got another 1.6 oz Fresh that have just gone in as a dry hopping addition.

 

[Unferth]

Word of caution - I used gelatin to cold crash my APA for a couple of days after a second dry hopping. It was really clear but all the hops flavor and aroma seems to have disappeared. The yeast cake smelled wonderfully. I am really sad and hope it will still taste good.

Oh dear. I hope so too. I think it always smells different out of the bottle than out if the carboy anyway.

Very timely warning however. I'm getting ready to rack off of my hops today and was considering adding gelatin. Not now.

 

[funnycreature]

Oh dear. I hope so too. I think it always smells different out of the bottle than out if the carboy anyway.

Very timely warning however. I'm getting ready to rack off of my hops today and was considering adding gelatin. Not now.

I've used gelatin before for my Kölsch but since it doesn't have lots of flavors to begin with I didn't notice any difference. Glad someone can learn from my mistakes

I'll be brewing another iteration of my "Pure Hopsocaust" double IPA this weekend with lots of pellet hops to have something hoppy again

 

[ScottWa]

So I brewed on Sat. and was very concerned about my final volume so I was pretty stuck on having 7.5 gal starting volume in the kettle, which I got. I was concerned that all the freshies would soak up more juice than they actually did. Anyway, I only did a 60 min boil and did use all 3 pounds of fresh Cents (that's actually what I named the beer too). I have just a bit under 6 gal in the fermenter, OG was about 1.054 if I remember right and it smells amazing! I don't necessarily have plans to dry hop, though I can, but I will cold crash it once I feel that fermentation is nearly over. I may also experiment with yeast washing after I transfer as well.

 

[gometz]

Maybe your LHBS dried the hops? All that I've read, here and elsewhere, says that one should use fresh hops very soon after picking... like days if not hours.

Ya that's what I was thinking too, but being all the way down in Texas most likely hurts my chances of getting REAL wet hops. Still hoping to stumble across a fellow homebrewer in the area on here who grows their own that I could buy/trade.

 

[ong]

Just brewed up a pretty simple pale ale with MO, a bit of crystal 40 and honey malt, and around 2lbs of fresh Nugget as the only hop (the whole harvest from my 2nd year Nugget plant), including a nice long hop stand at around 140. Smelled great -- excited to see how it comes out! I dried the last 5 or 6 oz of Nugget to dry hop with.

 

[ScottWa]

So I brewed on Sat. and was very concerned about my final volume so I was pretty stuck on having 7.5 gal starting volume in the kettle, which I got. I was concerned that all the freshies would soak up more juice than they actually did. Anyway, I only did a 60 min boil and did use all 3 pounds of fresh Cents (that's actually what I named the beer too). I have just a bit under 6 gal in the fermenter, OG was about 1.054 if I remember right and it smells amazing! I don't necessarily have plans to dry hop, though I can, but I will cold crash it once I feel that fermentation is nearly over. I may also experiment with yeast washing after I transfer as well.

So I was going to transfer my fresh hop yesterday since it has been in the primary for 8 days now I figured it would be down around the 1.014 range or so. I took a gravity reading and it is only at 1.020 which still seems a bit high so I agitated the fermenter to hopefully wake up any sleeping yeasties and moved the fermenter up to a warmer room in my house. I will recheck the gravity tomorrow and see where it's at then determine if I will transfer & dry hop. I am all set up to reclaim and wash the yeast from this batch too which will be a first for me.

 

[funnycreature]

I tasted a few of my beers over the weekend and I was pleasantly surprised. It's not fully carbonated yet but the hops made a comeback! The body is a bit too light but it's very drinkable. Maybe I can take a picture next weekend when it should be fully carbed up

 

[Unferth]

So I was going to transfer my fresh hop yesterday since it has been in the primary for 8 days now I figured it would be down around the 1.014 range or so. I took a gravity reading and it is only at 1.020 which still seems a bit high so I agitated the fermenter to hopefully wake up any sleeping yeasties and moved the fermenter up to a warmer room in my house. I will recheck the gravity tomorrow and see where it's at then determine if I will transfer & dry hop. I am all set up to reclaim and wash the yeast from this batch too which will be a first for me.

I've gotten into the habit of making about 5-10% of the fermentables some simple, fully fermentable sugar (dextrose, sucrose, etc.). Since then I've not had my batches stall out at 1.020.

before, even when I mashed low, it was hard to get them down there.

I tasted a few of my beers over the weekend and I was pleasantly surprised. It's not fully carbonated yet but the hops made a comeback! The body is a bit too light but it's very drinkable. Maybe I can take a picture next weekend when it should be fully carbed up

good to hear! I bottled mine this weekend and am patiently awaiting carbonation as well. It went drier than I expected, which is a plus (1.005). But the hops weren't shining as much as I expected when I tasted it. they were there, definitely, but after 56 oz of hops, I was expecting more. I, as well, hope the carbonation perks up the flavors a bit.

There is something subtly distinct about the taste of the fresh hops, and I can't place it.

I'd still very much like to hear a BCMJ judge (or just an enthusiastic sommelier) talk about the differences. My palate is just not refined enough to really pinpoint the distinctions.

 

[dhutchings]

Well, I bottled my fresh hop APA on Sept 20th, let it carbonate for a week and had my first taste last night.

It turned out great! Not as much bitterness as I thought there'd be from the bittering hops and the pine aroma that was in the fresh hops at harvesting time didn't get into the beer but wow did the grapefruity citrus flavour of the fresh hops POP!

I can't wait to try them in another recipe next harvest time! Next time I'll come up with a recipe on my own instead of adapting an ingredients kit. In the meantime I'll enjoy this brew while it lasts (which probably won't be long)!

 

[Unferth]

Congrats! Mine is conditioning right now. I've had a bottle or two of it and it isn't bad, but isn't great.

The fresh hop flavors come through really well, but it doesn't seem particularly balanced... Probably bc I only used one variety.

 

[funnycreature]

Congrats! Mine is conditioning right now. I've had a bottle or two of it and it isn't bad, but isn't great.

The fresh hop flavors come through really well, but it doesn't seem particularly balanced... Probably bc I only used one variety.

Mine worked out nicely after a few weeks. I wish it had more hops character but it's still an awesome beer. Good job!

 

[funnycreature]

Not sure what happened but within a week or so all hops flavor disappeared from my APA... It's still a good beer but I miss the floral/citrusy notes

 

[gometz]

Zombie thread revival.

I have 24 oz of fresh hops, would 12 oz at flame out and 12 oz for dry hop be far too much?
I have about 100 IBU of bittering from 3 oz of Cascade and Mosaic pellets in the boil already.

 

[funnycreature]

Zombie thread revival.

I have 24 oz of fresh hops, would 12 oz at flame out and 12 oz for dry hop be far too much?
I have about 100 IBU of bittering from 3 oz of Cascade and Mosaic pellets in the boil already.

I can only say that the hop aroma faded very quickly for me... So load it up and if it's too much just wait a bit and it will mellow to perfection

 

[gometz]

I should have mentioned this is for an Imperial IPA.

 

[Yooper]

Zombie thread revival.

I have 24 oz of fresh hops, would 12 oz at flame out and 12 oz for dry hop be far too much?
I have about 100 IBU of bittering from 3 oz of Cascade and Mosaic pellets in the boil already.

Where did you get fresh hops at this time of year? Homegrown? Even my homegrown ones have been harvested for over a month and I thought the commercial ones were harvested quite a while ago.

Anyway, if they are wet hops, 12 oz wouldn't be too much at flame out, but I think wet hops get really vegetal when used for dryhopping and 12 ounces is a lot for that.

 

[gometz]

They are fresh-ish. Vacuum sealed and then frozen. A store here in Houston had them and all of the employees plus some home brewers i talked to there said that they would stay good like that for up to 4 months.

 

[Yooper]

They are fresh-ish. Vacuum sealed and then frozen. A store here in Houston had them and all of the employees plus some home brewers i talked to there said that they would stay good like that for up to 4 months.

Not so much. They'll be big lumps of vegetal matter. There is a reason wet hopped beers are only available for a very short time!

 

[gometz]

Hmmm... well I guess I will find out on Friday when I defrost them. Hope I don't end up with terrible expensive mess on my hands.

 

[gometz]

Update: the hops still have great flavor and weren't a mess.