hops from the forest, gonna brew a very simple beer to dryhop and see if they're any good.

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Kharnynb

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Found a hopplant 2 years ago in a piece of forest near our house after the electric company had dug up a trench for putting all the wiring underground(finally after several storm-related blackouts).

From historical maps, I found out there used to be a farm there before our neighbourhood was build after the second world war to house refugees from karelia.
Part of todays harvest from a plant I took and planted in the backyard, part from the forest, 110 grams in total(wet).
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I've heard that wild hops are no good, so at first I was thinking, good luck but don't expect much... The fact that there was a farm there before gives me hope for you though. Good luck!!
 
Why are wild hops no good?

Actually, now that I think about it, I think I'd heard that about the ornamental varieties, not wild hops. Some of those supposedly have a flavor profile that doesn't go well in beer. Of course, that's anecdotal and probably something I just read from who knows where, so what do I know...
 
Surely worth giving a try! Nice to brew as a small side beer to a bigger batch.

Just for reference to how big a batch to brew, 110g of wet hops is about the equivalent of a 5th of dry ones, so about 22 grams dry. Keep that in mind. Not much to go with.

I'd probably bitter that small batch (or save some boiled, but not flavor-hopped wort out from your main batch) with a neutral hop such as Magnum (perhaps Warrior) to about 20-30 IBU and use this harvest as the flavor/aroma hops in a reduced temperature hopstand/whirlpool for 10-30' (depending on the temperature).
 
The idea is to make a 20 liter marris otter ale, but take 5 liters to the side and dryhop with this. using northern brewer for bittering and lemon drop in the other 15 liters.
 
I once found a wild hop bine, picked them all and froze them in bags, used them for dry hopping, they produced some of the best ales I have made, a chew on one will tell you what to expect.
good luck
 
What state are you in. I live in California and I have heard of some wild hops here but I haven’t found any. I’m super fascinated in finding some and maybe returning to pull some rhizomes to add to my hop yard at home!
 
I live in Finland, we have a lot of old farmhouses that historically grew hops, since it was required when we were still part of the swedish empire.
That is so cool, I can't wait to hear how the hops worked out.

EDIT: What types of hops did they produce around there? Would be awesome to see a short list of the likely strains.
 
I love the idea of finding wild or lost farm hops! I had been told about an old location that had some hops I believe were planted back in the early 1900s. So I went out to search for them and low and behold not long into my walk and I found the hops of lore. They were tangled amongst brambles of Black Berries

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They have a strong citrusy lemony aroma to them. I’m not sure the type or strain they are. I might have them DNA tested.

I want to get some of the rhizomes for the back yard. My question is it too early to harvest some of the rhizomes? Should I wait until the hops are done for the season? I was planning to go get some this weekend.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think only female, unpollinated plants can be used successfully. And I wouldn't count on either of these properties with a random plant...
 
I went back and harvested a few more this weekend.

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Combined this harvest with last weekend’s harvest for a total of 3.4oz. Not a lot but still worth harvesting. Left a bunch to ripen and grow so will be going back.


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Kept a couple bines to try propagating cut to include two nodes each. I also harvested some of the rhizomes (no pics).

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Not far from me there's a batch of what I think are wild hops. ||I've grabben a few cones once or twice, but when I go back for more they're always gone; I presume another nearby homebrewer grabs them.

LOL Yup probably the case. Maybe setup a trail cam hidden somewhere.
 
LOL Yup probably the case. Maybe setup a trail cam hidden somewhere.
LOL. Goodthougt. Thoughit they are wild, then they are up for grabs. If I ever get a chane, maybe I'll explore the woods behine there, see if there are any more back there.
As an aside, basically across the street from me there is a stream that, before being renamed some years back, was called Hop Brook. I'll give you 3 guesses what I call my homebrewery...
 
i've brewed with wild hops just one time. incredible grapefruit aroma in the boil, but once it was kegged up, not a trace of hop aroma or flavor.

use as much as you can!
 
I second IslandLizard's suggestion of bittering with known neutral hops to 20 IBU or so. My experience brewing about half a dozen fresh hop ales over the past 4-5 years has zero'd in on
1. Use commercial hops to bitter as a base. Maybe 20 IBu or a BU/GU ratio around .6-.8
2. For 5 gallons/19 liters, I typically use at least 1#/0.5kg of fresh hops
3. 1/4 at 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes and 0 minutes, respectively
4. no rush to chill the wort (I do a simple water bath)

I have also tried just flame out dry hopping with all the hops, treating like a normal boil but use 5-7x the amount of fresh hops, commerical hops and then dry hopping, and maybe others I can't remember off hand. The above has produced by far the best results for me.
 
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