Fresh Hops - Is There Something Wrong With Mine?

[alkos]

Just picked 500g of fresh Hersbrucker and 850g Perle from the back garden. Made a quick hop tea comparison to estimate bitterness against dried commercial hops... and to my surprise, found they made the infusion very milky and apart from bitterness, there is strong, stinging sensation at the back of the throat, resinous and mega spicy.

Is it normal? Can I brew with them - will it disappear in boiling/maturation?

 

[Acasta]

did you dry them out first?

 

[alkos]

Nope - and I'm not intending to. Used 5x the amount of dried and the bitterness seems to be within expectations. Hersbrucker approx. 4%, Perle ~8%.

 

[Bizier]

Yep, that resin will make you cough if you manage to get it down fresh. Normal. Brew.

 

[alkos]

Thanks, but after tasting this weirdo I'm still not convinced ;-)

Made a small pilot batch yesterday - 2 litres @ 1.050 with DME, fresh Perle to get 35ibu. I'll update the topic in two weeks

 

[brettprevans]

Your trying to compare dry pelletized hops with fresh wet hops. Chalk and cheese my friend. Even if u were to compare dry flowers with fresh flowers it completely differant. All that fresh wet lupin etc would make ur teeth melt! But yeah sure report back. We r always interested in experiments.

 

[black_labb]

I've read that fresh hops need to be dried otherwise its very resinous and grassy. Are you not drying to experiment with the idea, or is this just being lazy?

I'm all for experimentation but I'd encourage a side by side brew with the same hops dried.

 

[felten]

you can use wet hops in beer, its called a harvest ale

 

[Bizier]

IMO The best use for wet hops is for your super late aroma additions. With that in mind, I would suggest brewing the type of beer that wants loads of late hops, i.e. an IPA. If you are using Perle, I hope you aren't doing a lager or anything, because it might not be what you want.

I had a tank sample of a 100% Centennial wet hop beer in the US and it was really amazing, giving all sorts of nuances of the aromatics that are lost when they are dried & pelletised, which is the only form I have brewed with.

Check this article for some usage suggestions.

 

[black_labb]

I was thinking that it was probably a good idea for an american IPA or APA but perle and hershbrucker dont exactly scream american hops (though I'm just starting to drink a APA with some perle like sierra nevada pale ale apparently has and enjoy it)

 

[Bribie G]

Using hop flowers and a french press, the hop tea comes out looking like this:

Yours sounds quite normal, and as to the astringent taste, yes if you take a sip you will go around for the next half hour saying "loove brootney aloon you boostoords" :lol:

 

[QldKev]

Using hop flowers and a french press, the hop tea comes out looking like this:

Yours sounds quite normal, and as to the astringent taste, yes if you take a sip you will go around for the next half hour saying "loove brootney aloon you boostoords" :lol:

Hey BribieG

"That noo how you make porrige!"


QldKev

 

[Bizier]

I was thinking that it was probably a good idea for an american IPA or APA but perle and hershbrucker dont exactly scream american hops (though I'm just starting to drink a APA with some perle like sierra nevada pale ale apparently has and enjoy it)

According to the bottle, Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted uses Hersbrucker.

My homegrown Hersbrucker has an amplified lemon type of citrus, which I can only put down to a more intense climate than German hops would normally recieve.

I have used Hersbrucker in a fresh hopped IPA and it worked great. I am definitely not the only one to use Northern Brewer in hoppy US style ales. These hops play a good support role to American hops, and can stop the beer tasting like 'fruit cup crush'.

 

[alkos]

Just tasted first bottle from the pilot batch. Hmmm!!! Quite delicious, there is indeed something special in it - and its only 5days from bottling! The astringency is almost completely gone (just a hint at the back of the tongue) and will hopefully fade away completely in a week or so.

Hooray :-D