My brother-in-law grew cascades in his yard. He harvested a bunch and kept them in plastic wrap in 1/2 ounce bundles. I am honestly unsure if he had them frozen, refrigerated or just at room temp for probably at least 1/2 a year before I got them. When I got them, I immediately froze them until I used them today for a pale ale. I used 2.5 ounces - all in the last 15 minutes of an all-grain pale ale. However, when I took them out of the plastic wrap they were not sticky or moist at all and had barely any smell. My wort tasted and smelled good, but I'm not sure what - if anything - the homegrown cascades did to my beer. I used an ounce of pellets of centennial also - 1/2 at 60 and 1/2 at 15. Any feedback would help.
Homegrown hops no smell?
- Thread starter eadavis80
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I don't know what a lupilin looks looks like - I guess I'm a hop illiterate 
He picked them off the vine in August - we live in SE Michigan if that helps - probably not. Oh well - we'll see. I guess since they were basically used as aroma hops I can always dry hop if need be...
He picked them off the vine in August - we live in SE Michigan if that helps - probably not. Oh well - we'll see. I guess since they were basically used as aroma hops I can always dry hop if need be...--Dom--
Active Member
I don't know what a lupilin looks looks like - I guess I'm a hop illiterate
If you move the small hop leaves out of the way to try and get a look at the core of the cone, you should see the lupulin glands. They'll look like very small yellow balls. If they arent there the only thing I can think is that they were harvested too soon or they didnt produce lupulin. The only reason they wouldn't produce lupulin would be if there were both male and female plants growing near each other in which case the female plants would produce seeds.
--Dom--
Active Member
To me it would be really strange if he had male hop plants. I don't think it's even possible he could have accidentally got male hop rhizomes when he got his rhizomes. Male plants don't produce any lupulin or seeds. Female plants produce lupulin unless they're in the presence of male plants. In a crazy scenario I guess it's possible there could be wild male hop plants growing nearby and pollinating the female plants but most likely he just harvested too soon, or for some reason his hops didn't get proper nutrients/water to produce lupulin. That combined with them sitting at room temperature for a long time is probably the problem.
Again - is there a PROBLEM with those hops being added late in the boil of my latest batch, OR is it just that they won't produce the aroma I anticipated? I can deal with that - I just don't want anything funky going on.
"I don't think it's even possible he could have accidentally got male hop rhizomes when he got his rhizomes."
When stressed, a female hop plant can turn male; not often, but it does happen.
The aroma of hops is not due to the lupin, it's the oils in the flower petals. If poorly stored, the oils can evaporate/decompose completely.
When stressed, a female hop plant can turn male; not often, but it does happen.
The aroma of hops is not due to the lupin, it's the oils in the flower petals. If poorly stored, the oils can evaporate/decompose completely.
chickypad
lupulin shift victim
Sounds like it was just a storage problem - whole cones from last year's harvest stored for months possibly at room temp and probably not vacuum sealed, right? I assume they didn't look green and fresh. As long as they didn't smell off or cheesy there shouldn't be a problem, like you said just might not get much from them.
They were not vacuum sealed, no. I don't now at what temp my brother-in-law stored them at before I got them and froze them once I did. They were still very green, just didn't smell like much of anything - certainly not the hop smell I'm used to from pellet hops I get online or at the LHBS. Should the smells be the same? They did not smell off or cheesy - just very, very mild.
Oh - in addition to probably losing out on aroma, would I also be losing out on the IBU's? The beersmith recipe had me at 43 IBU's with these hops. When I deleted the hops from the beersmith recipe it went to 29. I'm hoping for at least mid-upper 30's for this APA.
Theres a chance they were grown with too much nitrogen, particularly once the bines started setting cones. They need more phosphorus and calcium at that point to grow better flowers. I had this exact thing happen to me when I grew cascades, link in my sig. Very healthy bines but the cones were worthless for brewing.
FWIW theres endless amounts of literature on this stuff but you won't find it written on hops. Its all written about hops close cousin cannabis. The concept is pretty much the same though your trying to support the plant in a way that produces the highest quality flowers possible.
FWIW theres endless amounts of literature on this stuff but you won't find it written on hops. Its all written about hops close cousin cannabis. The concept is pretty much the same though your trying to support the plant in a way that produces the highest quality flowers possible.
blackschnauzer
Active Member
Yesterday I brewed for the first time with my own homegrown chinook hops, I picked them about a week ago, and I thought I was too late because some cones were already turning brown. I almost didn't use them because they did not smell a whole lot, but after putting them in a hop bag and squeezing the bag a few times, I got some good aroma to come out. So what the heck, we'll see what happens! Btw these were grown in Orange County, ca.
Well, I took a gravity reading yesterday and I'm happy to report that there was a nice, mild hop aroma and the beer tasted good. So, at this point at least - I'm confident the batch will turn out pretty nicely. I'll let it sit one more week (at least) in primary and then I'm debating on whether or not to dry hop it.
I'll let it sit one more week (at least) in primary and then I'm debating on whether or not to dry hop it.
I harvested my challenger hops for the first time last year. The were stored frozen, but in ziploc bags rather than vacuum sealed. The lost all flavor and aroma. I think it was due to the storage method and also that they were picked too late in the season. I believe challenger reaches maturity mid season and we picked late season. I now have a vacuum sealer and will be paying closer attention this year to harvest times. Fingers crossed I get some decent hops.
Just hoping the gravity drops a few points between my gravity sample day and when I end up bottling or dry hopping. I have not decided yet if I'll dry hop. It was 1.015-1.016 after eight days. Used one pack of Safale 05. I thought it would be a little lower (and it could still drop a few points, I hope) but maybe I mashed a LITTLE warm. It's not too off though, so I'm not going to freak out over a few lousy gravity points. That being said, I'd rather that FG be for a stout/Oktoberfest than a pale ale. I love a good ol' full bodied stout / Oktoberfest.
