Wet Hops

[Ally Mcg]

Thanks to crabbey I've got a bunch of wet hops that I'm thinking of making a Harvest Ale with (mostly inspired by Macs Brewjolais). Has anyone used wet hops in their beer? Whats the best time to add them - hop as normal at 60,15 and 0 or chuck them in as a late addition? I've read a few forums out the US about it, but can't find anything resembling a consensus.
I'm thinking a few at 60 and the lions share in as a late addition and see what happens but keen to hear thoughts.

[Horace]

As you probably won't know the A Acid content I would add mostly at the end, as you say, flavour/aroma additions. Use something with a known bitterness at the start. I can't say I've tried it but that is the way I'd go

[denimglen]

I've never done it either but I would do as Horace said.

Also remember that dried hops have lost about 80% of their moisture, so you'll want to factor that into your equations.

[Ally Mcg]

Cheers guys. I'll throw in some bittering hops at 60 and then late boil the rest and see what happens. Looks like the challenge is to keep it from getting too grassy. Should be a fun brew

[Tilt]

Its pretty close to harvest time so I thought I'd exhume an old thread to pick collective brains on wet  hopping and harvest ales. 

My first season Danscade have done better than expected and I'm keen to use the crop in the best way possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To summarise the Brew Strong show (which was pretty light on detail):

• use a known, simple recipe.
• add a pellet bittering addtion to achieve a known bitterness level
• add the wet hops from 10 mins onwards in amounts 4-6 times by weight of the usual pellet additions.

So any tips from experienced wet hop brewers - especially from anyone who's experimented with Dansacde?

 

 

[Dave Rea]

They look really impressive Tilt, well done

[Tilt]

Thanks Dave - but I can't take the credit, they pretty much did that by themselves - tough buggars of plants they are.

[Matt Smith]

That is epic, I'm so happy I have some babies from this plant.

I would personally make a pale ale, about 1.052, around 35-40 ibu with just base malt and a little Caramalt. Not sure how big your harvest is, but I'd hop equivalent to 40g at 10, 40g at 0, 40g dry hop (so about 200g wet hops for each addition). I think that would showcase your hops really well

[Tilt]

Hope those babies have grown legs by now Matt - this one was a weedy little cutting 12 months ago.  More than happy to share other cuttings with potential growers by the way...I'd prefer people to pick up though - PM me if interested.

Good suggestions on the recipe.

I was considering something similar...

90% Pale Ale, 5% Caramalt with 5% Med Crystal mashed at 68 degrees for 23L @ 1050.  I figured a bit of sweetness and dextrine would be good if the hop grassiness turns out to be on the high side.

35 IBUs bitterness sounds good - I thought Pacific Jade as a FWH for background flavour and a smooth bitterness.

I've read first year crops can have lacklustre flavour and aroma so thought I'd go bigger - Wet hop additions 200g @ 5min, 300g @ 0min and another 300g 5min into the whirlpool.  I'd guesstimate there's a kilo of flowers on these bines after picking 150g last night to dry hop half a current keg of boring PA and not noticing the gaps afterwards.

[Matt Smith]

That really is a lot of flowers for a first year crop. What did you do with your cuttings over the winter? And did you split a few up and spread them apart?

The tips of the bines you gave me have died, but the lower two thirds of each bine is looking healthy, growing new leaves and tiny little laterals. 

Those additions sound good. I used 150g or so of wet smoothcone at whirlpool in a Saison and couldn't pick up much.

[Tilt]

Hey good to hear the cuttings have taken off.  I had two cuttings to start with - both had tiny roots on them so I chucked them in pots of potting mix last Jan/Feb.  They grew a bit then died off in May or so.  They'd formed little rhizomes (say 4-5cm long) which I put in the ground in September when the buds started to emerge.  No dividing though. 

The garden bed faces due north and the soil was pretty well composted from previous plantings so I hoped the growing conditions would suit.  Seems as if they like their new home.  They did get a sprinkle of nitrophoska as a Christmas present and a poke with the hose over the last few weeks but nothing special.

The first round of flowers is drying on racks as of tonight - my fingers are still sticky with the resins and they smell fantastic - mandarin peel and apricot jam with light fresh cut grass.  I got 850g wet and I reckon there's a similar amount to go in a few days time.

Now the most important thing -  to make a decent beer with them...

[Ralph]

Not much experience, but I would make sure your brew was quite a few liters bigger than what you usually do to account for the extra wort the flowers will steal...

[Tilt]

Good point - but I thought wet hops might not have much effect.  If wet hops are 70-80% water then I thought they'd leave a lot of material in the kettle but not soak up much wort.  Happy to stand corrected though.