I decided to brew the hop-forward Pilsner lager from the Sept/Oct. 2015 Zymurgy. It's a simple pilsner with four late additions of Ultra hops (10, 5, whirlpool, and dry hop).
The recipe calls for each Ultra addition to be 2 oz of 3%AA Ultra hops.
I ordered 8 oz. of Ultra at a super price. They are, however, from the 2014 harvest. They come from a great retailer and I assume they've been well-cared for and stored properly.
Here's the dilemma: The hops listed are 7.5%AA. If they're stronger than the 3%AA in the recipe, that would mean I'd need 1 oz at each addition rather than the 2 called for in the recipe. Running them through a hop age calculator, however, shows that they would have lost about half their potency even with proper storage and that they should be around 3.5%AA now.
So whaddya think? Should I go with the assumption that the formerly 7.5%AA hops are now 3.5%AA and use 2 oz at every addition? Thanks much!
The recipe calls for each Ultra addition to be 2 oz of 3%AA Ultra hops.
I ordered 8 oz. of Ultra at a super price. They are, however, from the 2014 harvest. They come from a great retailer and I assume they've been well-cared for and stored properly.
Here's the dilemma: The hops listed are 7.5%AA. If they're stronger than the 3%AA in the recipe, that would mean I'd need 1 oz at each addition rather than the 2 called for in the recipe. Running them through a hop age calculator, however, shows that they would have lost about half their potency even with proper storage and that they should be around 3.5%AA now.
So whaddya think? Should I go with the assumption that the formerly 7.5%AA hops are now 3.5%AA and use 2 oz at every addition? Thanks much!