Wild hops from the family farm

[fun4stuff]

So every year there are a ton of wild hops at the family farm that go to waste. How would I go about using them? Smah ipa? Just dry hop a small amount to lightly hopped ale?

Don't have any pics from last year... They're old though. Possibly planted by my great uncle or great great grandfather (northern Michigan) in early 1900s.

 

[orionol73]

I use some wild hops that I have found around me and have done fairly well with it. I have used exclusively the wild hop in a beer, but to do so I made sure I was making a pale ale and shooting for 30-40 ibu, not knowing what they were capable of. Usually you can get an idea by smelling them.
I have some whole wet cones frozen from last fall still that I will bitter with magnum to about 30 ibu and then do a 30min hop stand with the wild hops next to see how that comes out.

 

[MrHopScotch]

Because you don't know much about the alpha acid content, you might use a buttering charge of commercial hops, then hit late in the boil with the wild ones so there is less potential IBU variation

 

[IslandLizard]

You could use them for bittering too, just brew a few small batches, doubling the bittering charge on each one in succession and see what they yield.

For wet cones, use 5-7 times the amount as dry ones or pellets.

 

[fun4stuff]

So I harvested the hops. They smell really good. I dried them on a screen for a few days. I plan on freezng them until I'm ready to brew in a couple weeks.

I was just going to find a pale ale recipe and use a commercial hop for bittering, then use the wild hops for aroma, flavor and dry hop. How much should I use? 2 oz for each?

 

[thehaze]

I would say use more than 2 oz each if you have it.

2 oz is a really, really small amount, especially for dry hopping. I would say 3 oz for whirlpool and 5 for dry hopping. At least...

 

[fun4stuff]

I would say use more than 2 oz each if you have it.

2 oz is a really, really small amount, especially for dry hopping. I would say 3 oz for whirlpool and 5 for dry hopping. At least...

I was thinking I had a ton of hops based on the large bag we filled... Then I weighed them (after my last post). Its only 5 oz! Maybe I'll split it between whirlpool and dry hops. If the beer turns out, will have to do a better job at trellis'ing them next year

 

[thehaze]

I was thinking I had a ton of hops based on the large bag we filled... Then I weighed them (after my last post). Its only 5 oz! Maybe I'll split it between whirlpool and dry hops. If the beer turns out, will have to do a better job at trellis'ing them next year

5 oz will also suffice for a batch of beer.

2 for Whirlpool and 3 for dry hopping. Should be enough for a 3-5 gallons batch.

 

[GPP33]

Not enough hops. I brewed a SMASH with Centennial last year using home grown/dried/frozen hops. Used 2.5 oz for FWH, 2oz at 10 and 2oz at flame out. Then added 3oz of commercial pellets for dry hop. It was good but fell short of where I was hoping it would. We'll do another batch this year only using twice as much. I might use pellets for the bittering as well and just dedicate all of the home grown to late additions and do cryo for the dry.

 

[fun4stuff]

Not enough hops. I brewed a SMASH with Centennial last year using home grown/dried/frozen hops. Used 2.5 oz for FWH, 2oz at 10 and 2oz at flame out. Then added 3oz of commercial pellets for dry hop. It was good but fell short of where I was hoping it would. We'll do another batch this year only using twice as much. I might use pellets for the bittering as well and just dedicate all of the home grown to late additions and do cryo for the dry.

Yeah I'm definitely using a commercial hops for bittering.