homegrown hop recipe

[browncoat]

Hey,

So I harvested quite a bit of hops from my rhizome. They are dried and happily frozen at the moment. Here is my problem: I don't have the slightest clue what kind they are. (I think Chinook but am only about 60% sure). I would like to brew a batch to see their characteristics but I've never formulated my own recipes. I was thinking something extremely basic with nothing but about 12 lbs of two row and some american ale yeast. Any suggestions?

 

[IffyG]

I'd suggest bittering with magnum (or something similar with a known AA%) and use the mystery hops as flavor and aroma additions. Nothing would be worse than brewing up a batch that ends up being undrinkable because it's not bitter enough, which is a distinct possibility when you are using an unknown hop.

 

[browncoat]

Thanks for the advice. What would you use for the grain bill?

 

[hoppymonkey]

+1 on brown coat especially if they are first year plants which tend to be low on the AA scale anyway. Do they smell pungent? How about citrusy VS Earthy?

 

[IffyG]

What would you use for the grain bill?

I've used 2-row and Marris Otter in similar beers (magnum for bittering with either citra/simcoe/amarillo/cascade for aroma and flavor) with great success.

 

[browncoat]

+1 on brown coat especially if they are first year plants which tend to be low on the AA scale anyway. Do they smell pungent? How about citrusy VS Earthy?

Definitely not a strong aroma. It's very earthy
It is a second year hop but a first year yield. I will try the MO plus two row and magnum hops just to see. Was figuring on doing a half batch just right save some for experimentation.

 

[day_trippr]

On the other hand...Last Thursday I brewed a 60 point IPA that was the first batch that used my own grown hops.

Having no idea what their alpha content was I doubled up the hop bill: 2.5 oz of Chinook for 60 minutes, 2 ounces of Centennial for 20 minutes, and 2 ounces of Cascade for 10 minutes.

The OG sample smelled amazingly citrusy which I took as a very good sign. Then I tasted it - and Holy Cow was that bitter! Yikes! It's a darned good thing I really like hoppy/bitter brews else this would be a blending candidate!

I'm too paranoid about using my hops for dry hopping so I'll use some Amarillo pellets when it's ready for that. I'm definitely looking forward to this batch being ready to taste in a couple of weeks!

Cheers!

 

[Greatlakeshops]

If you have Chinook; it is a strong dual purpose hop with a strong aroma and bittering. ( in fact, it is primarily used for bittering) It has a very distinct grapefruit peel smell when you rub out a cone. Faint & Earthy? The only one I know that falls into that profile is Saaz and possibly Sterling.
My buddy brewed with some green hopped Chinooks - took a sip - had a reaction like the bad cop from the movie "Contractor" - (near seizure I beleive his exact words were "hop-damn!"

 

[browncoat]

If you have Chinook; it is a strong dual purpose hop with a strong aroma and bittering. ( in fact, it is primarily used for bittering) It has a very distinct grapefruit peel smell when you rub out a cone. Faint & Earthy? The only one I know that falls into that profile is Saaz and possibly Sterling.
My buddy brewed with some green hopped Chinooks - took a sip - had a reaction like the bad cop from the movie "Contractor" - (near seizure I beleive his exact words were "hop-damn!"

I'll have to reassess. I'm not that great with smell identification. I am more prone to the "that smells great let's use it" mantra. It could only be Chinook cascade or centennial. I had 6 plants and 5 of them died. The loner I moved and this year it exploded.

 

[hoppymonkey]

I'll have to reassess. I'm not that great with smell identification. I am more prone to the "that smells great let's use it" mantra. It could only be Chinook cascade or centennial. I had 6 plants and 5 of them died. The loner I moved and this year it exploded.

Sometimes the young plants have a earthy/grassy smell. My earliest harvest from my cascades fit into that category.

 

[Greatlakeshops]

Now we're talkin'!
If your cones have a distinct elongated square shape with flat sides that stayed pretty much closed - probably Cascade. If you rub out a Cascade cone, the lupulin is in unique little kernels or balls (Magnum is the only other one that does this). But I suspect you have Centennial - the plant should have dark green leaves that neatly overlap, with a little red in the stems. The lupulin should be dark golden yellow and the cones are beefy; not fluffy. It has a great brewing profile that is well balanced between bittering and aroma. I hear it makes a lot of different brews -and a wicked wheat.

 

[browncoat]

Now we're talkin'!
If your cones have a distinct elongated square shape with flat sides that stayed pretty much closed - probably Cascade. If you rub out a Cascade cone, the lupulin is in unique little kernels or balls (Magnum is the only other one that does this). But I suspect you have Centennial - the plant should have dark green leaves that neatly overlap, with a little red in the stems. The lupulin should be dark golden yellow and the cones are beefy; not fluffy. It has a great brewing profile that is well balanced between bittering and aroma. I hear it makes a lot of different brews -and a wicked wheat.

I think we have a winner. When you say beefy for the cones do you mean they have a lot of girth? My cones ended up being alot bigger than I expected.

Close up of the leaves...