What the hell do I do with a pound of 1.2% AA hops?

[Bosh]

Last year there was a sale on random old hops for $5/pound and I picked up a lot and piled them into the freezer. While rooting through the freezer I noticed that the pound of Strisselsplat has all of 1.2% alpha acids.

What the hell do you do with hops that weak?

Was thinking of making a really really old school IPA (which used **** tons of weak hops) and throw the lot into one batch of beer and am thinking about how best to use them.

I know that putting in lots and lots of weak hops in at flame out or in the dry hop gives you a grassy flavor but then some reaaaaally old IPA recipes have as much as four oz of hops per gallon so was thinking something along these lines:

60 min: bittering charge of Bravo.
20 min: 1/4 pound of Strisselsplat.
10 min: 1/4 pound of Strisselsplat.
5 min: 1/4 pound of Strisselsplat.
Hop stand: 1/4 pound of Strisselsplat.

Think that would be decent or a grass bomb?

For dry hop or anything else I have the following hops on hand if that'd be helpful: Millenium, Chinook, Summit, Bravo, Junga, Opal, Northern Brewer, ADHA 527 (which is apparently similar to Azacca) and Delta. A lot of them were bought at the same $5/pound sale and are pretty old but have been in sealed bags in a freezer the whole time.

Any other ideas to get rid of all the weak ass hops?

 

[rhys333]

I wouldn't try using strisselspalt for IBUs. They're great in saison. You won't go wrong with just a simple grain bill, bittering charge of a neutral high alpha and a couple ounces of Strisselspalt as finishing hops.

 

[FatDragon]

Isn't Strisselspalt a common hop for Euro lagers and Saisons? I've never tried them, but I'd probably use them in some saisons rather than tossing them all into an IPA. Then again, I like dank, citrusy, fruity AIPAs, so an IPA using a pound of a more noble/Euro hop in the boil sounds patently uninteresting to me, the one IPA I've had that featured a traditional European hop (Saaz) was also quite possibly the worst fresh, non-infected IPA I've ever had.

The main thing with these is to recognize that you're not using Strisselspalt for bitterness. It's 100% aroma/flavor hop, and it's Old World so using it in a more New World application might not give you the best results.

Then again, an IPA with a pound of late Strisselspalt might be incredible. I've never done it, so what do I know. If you do it, I would suggest shifting 4-6oz out of the boil and dry hopping with it in order to give the beer the best chance of coming out well. It may be a bit less historical (let's be honest, though, historical IPAs weren't made with French hops), but historical =/= good.

 

[Bosh]

From what I've read (but never experienced in person) lots of hop stand or dry hop noble hops make a beer taste like grass. Hence lots of hops at the end of the boil.

The closest I've done to this was using four oz. of Saaz as finishing hops on a (fairly malty and low IBU) bitter. Tasted fine but didn't get as much flavor as I wanted out of the Saaz.

This would be doing something similar and stepping it up a bit.

 

[FatDragon]

From what I've read (but never experienced in person) lots of hop stand or dry hop noble hops make a beer taste like grass. Hence lots of hops at the end of the boil.

I would venture to guess that this is simply the result of using a lot of noble hops in general. All hops are grassy at heart, but most New World varieties mask that with the strength and nature of their flavor/aroma profiles. Noble and other Old World varieties are less flavorful and aromatic in general and the profiles don't mask grassiness as well. I'm probably wrong, scientifically if not also practically, but that's my instinct on the matter. Either way, I would dry hop anything I brewed under the IPA moniker. Maybe you can limit it to a one- or two-day dry hop in order to prevent over-extraction of whatever compounds give the grassiness from extended dry hopping.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Dry hop. Hoppy goodness without bitterness.
Regards, GF.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

After reading the YHC descriptor of this hop, I thought that sounds like traditional AIPA hop character so go for it. After reading that it is compared to Hersbrucker though, you may want to tread lightly with Strisselspalt. Like the others said this hop seems tailor made for a saison. I have some experience with Saaz and none of the descriptors for Strisselspalt say earthy so I'm not sure these two are euro apples and apples so to speak.

 

[bigplunkett]

If u dont wanna waste money and time on grain snd u think they smell good, troe a quarter pound into a cider as hops cheap and easy.

 

[Bosh]

I would venture to guess that this is simply the result of using a lot of noble hops in general. All hops are grassy at heart, but most New World varieties mask that with the strength and nature of their flavor/aroma profiles. Noble and other Old World varieties are less flavorful and aromatic in general and the profiles don't mask grassiness as well. I'm probably wrong, scientifically if not also practically, but that's my instinct on the matter. Either way, I would dry hop anything I brewed under the IPA moniker. Maybe you can limit it to a one- or two-day dry hop in order to prevent over-extraction of whatever compounds give the grassiness from extended dry hopping.

I got zero grass from a quarter pound of Saaz but different hop and a quarter pound to a full pound is a big jump.

So maybe dial down the bittering charge well below IPA levels and throw the pound of hops in a 10 gallon split batch with different yeast, probably some combination of Notty, Brett-C and Saison yeast.

 

[markstache]

Honestly, if just throw them out. Hops lose AA over time. If these were old to begin with....

If you're committed, I think your idea for an old timey English beer is a good one. Also consider a barley wine or October ale. No doubt these were made with low alpha hops, and probably continental landrace hops as the good stuff would be used for hop forward or mild (young) beers.

 

[Gar]

forgive me if someone said this or the fact im to buzzed to read anything but are not aged low alfa hops good for sours? always a good thing to have a funky brew going

 

[JKaranka]

That's way too low AA for making an old fashioned IPA. British hops were in the 4-7% AA range pretty much as they still are (lots of Goldings cultivars and stuff); in addition to that brewers put lots of care in stopping ingress of air (big tightly packed bales of hops), used the freshest hops possible, and used cold storage to keep them in. If you put 16oz of those 1.2% AA hops a the beginning of the boil you will barely hit 60IBU in a 1.055OG beer.

I guess my shortlist of things that could work:
- Lager, preferably with a bit of a bittering addition from Magnum or similar to not fill your beer with hops.
- Old fashioned stout / porter / old ale - just chuck the whole lot in at the beginning of the boil in a beer with an OG between 1.060 and 1.090 with your favourite grist. Maybe add some Brett secondary to make it proper stale.
- Saison / Belgian ales, possibly with some other complimentary hop. You could easily add 6oz of these hops as a flavour addition at 20m in almost any Belgian style.

 

[JKaranka]

I.e., for a nice sipping modern old ale (like Old Tom) you could look at something as simple as 14lb pale malt, 5oz chocolate malt, 1lb of your favourite form of sugar (invert #2 / #3 would be just the ticket). 16oz of Striss at 60m for an OG ~1.080 and ~55IBU. Some nice, clean British yeast (M07 / M42, Nottingham, Fullers), a bit of brewers' caramel to darken the colour to a deep mahogany / ruby and sorted.

 

[Bosh]

Well I went and brewed this.

7.5 gallons actually bottled (minus god knows how much trub).

Bittering charge of bravo and then the whole pound of strisselsplat in at flameout.

6.5% ABV with a grainbill of 20% Vienna and 80% pilsner.

Half fermented with just I Can't Believe It's Not Brett (WLP644) and the other half fermented with WLP644 with some WLP648 (actual brett) added after the krausen dropped.

Drank the first bit of the just WLP644 half and it tastes like a much lighter beer, with a lovely herbal hop taste. Goes down so easy. Nothing too special just a nice old fashioned pale that's full of flavor but that you can share with the neighbors.

We'll see how the brett half progresses, gravity sample tasted of tangy fruit which was nice.

Think I'll use the 20% Vienna 80% Pilsner grainbill in the future. Was perfect for a light golden beer.

 

[Mackster]

Lambic

 

[acarter5251]

Definitely would be good for sours if you're into that

 

[Bosh]

Definitely would be good for sours if you're into that

Already brewed it. Ended up using them as simply a massive amount of finishing hops with a quite simple pale ale recipe. Worked out great (except for all of the trub which was annoying to deal with).

 

[FatDragon]

It's been a bit over a month now, any updates on how this turned out?

 

[Bosh]

It's been a bit over a month now, any updates on how this turned out?

Of the two halves of the split batch I already drank all of the stuff that only had WLP644 yeast and it was tasty.

The other half with the brett still needs more aging, pretty pronounced fruity/tangy yeast that's still rough around the edges.

If I make something like this again I'll add more bittering hops.

 

[Bosh]

Update, brett flavor continues to develop. Friend tasted it and said it tastes like "cabbage or beets or some vegetable" so there's a vegetal flavor in there I just can't taste it, most of the flavor I get is brett, brett and more brett.