mystery german hops recipes

[Ollie Goulden]

i have just harvested about 500g of home grown mystery german hops. what sort of beer would you guys recommend putting them in. i dont have lagering capabilities so i was thinking like a basic pilsner recipe fermented with kolsch or us-05 yeast. ideas?

[Hamish Jones]

If its the same mystery German I have used don't use anything with too big a malt backbone as the hops are kind of wasted as they aren't that high in AA for bittering and don't impart much in the way of flavour,

a subtle faux pils fermented with some wlp029 will be what I am doing when I use mine again, I made the mistake of using Munich at about 95% with wlp036 and between them they buried the hop character

[Cain Harland]

I wish I knew what my hops are? I have a heap on the plant and no idea what to do with them.

I'm kind of thinking about just picking them while I brew then dumping a heap of them in just before flame out and maybe a 68 degree hop stand in an otherwise all centennial APA . Given the few varieties that it could be does anyone think this is likely to be a disaster.

[Nathan]

Id be willing to sample that and give you feedback if needed....

[Cain Harland]

Any time your in the bay pop round for a beer or 2

[Jozsef B Beverly]

Sounds pretty safe to me. If they smell nice, that's the only thing that matters much for late additions. I add most of my wet hops at flame out, then stir vigorously while running the immersion chiller. I like hop stands with pellets but you have to take into account that whole cones have lower utilisation- this applies to oils not just to the acids.

[Richard Jack]

Yeah I'm also wondering. Mine are about to get harvested, they have a nicer aroma than I was expecting, feijoa/lemon/weed/ sweat... Was thinking about bittering a pale ale with pac-jade, then 25% of the cones at 15, and the remainder as a hot stand.

[Cain Harland]

Mine smell a little piney. Won't make the mistake of putting them in the freezer in non sealed bags again, some things don't taste right with hop aroma in them. The pies were the worst and they were at the bottom of a vertical freezer with the hops at the top but that hop taste got right into the pastry.

[Rhys Williams]

Last year I used 200g in 26L. I used 150g as a first wort hop - adding after sparging while the wort is coming to the boil. I then added the the remaining 50g at 10 mins.

Here is my recipe:

http://wilberforce.co.nz/2014/03/09/green-hop-pale-ale-2/

resh hops 200g harvested from next door yesterday

Green hop pale ale
50g acidulated
200g med crystal
300g aurora
5.5 ale malt

3g CaSo4
1.5g CaCl2
.3g MgSo1 Camden tablet

1/2 mash
1/2 sparge water

Mashed for 90 mins.

pH 5.05 not temp adjusted

Sparge water pH 6.8
Added .3 citric acid now 5.35

1.042 at 35c – 1.046
Pitched yeast from Foriegn stout

150g first wort hop
60 min boil

50g at 8 minutes

Kegged 23 mar 2014
1.010 4.8%

Cheers

Rhys

[Ollie Goulden]

nice, how did it turn out?

[Rhys Williams]

I was very happy with it, enough bitterness to match the malt, and the hops coming through. It was a little vegetal the first 2 weeks, however this calmed down.

[Steve Shorts]

From what I have read here, I wonder if I have chanced upon the "mystery german with hops I found growing wild in Geraldine last year and got stem cuttings that produced a heap of hops this year (2.5kg dried hops from 2 plants). I added 200g freshly dried at 8 min to a 22l  brew I put down  just 5 days ago in a 1042 OG UK style ale (MJ Buton union yeast  - sadly very little hop flavour or bittering - s hoping for 35-45 IBU). I have other strains only planted this year also in my garden (Cascade + Danscade courtesy of James P, Green Bullet)  and 2 yo smoothcone that is very leafy but not many cones so I am going to evict it. Anyway the long and the short of it is that I am looking to get a more spicy type hop plant in the yard eg fuggle or even  better challenger) to complement the  above types. If anyone knows of where I might be able to get any of the UK types I would be most interested to hear. More than happy to split off rhizomes of any of the above for anyone interested and like Joey Zap would be even keener to get hold of a male plant to have a dabble at breeding something novel.

Cheers

Steve

[Hamish Jones]

This mystery hop wasn't growing besides the entrance to a brewery down that way was it as I just so happened to end up with a cutting that's growing and if its another mystery German will uproot it and give it a new home 

I've got an English strain that I swapped with Joe last year if your keen to swap a Danscade/Cascade when its time for some rhizome harvesting