Hop leaves?

[StuartD]

Hi folks. I've been on the hunt for whole, fresh hop leaves for a while, and thought I'd try my luck here in this forum.

Basically, I've recently started making cheese at home, and one of the cheeses I'd like to make is a beer-washed rind that is then wrapped and aged in whole hop leaves. It might sound like a bit of a crazy idea, but I've read that young hop leaves are edible, and it makes more sense to wrap a beer-washed rind cheese in hop leaves rather than grape vine leaves (at least to me).

I live in Brisbane, so if there's anyone local that might have a hop plant growing and is willing to spare some leaves to fuel my crazy idea, I'd be happy to pay for them too. I'm not a brewer, but from what I understand the leaves aren't used in brewing at all.

Otherwise, if anyone knows of a company (either in Brisbane or anywhere else in Australia) that sells hop leaves, please let me know.

Cheers.

 

[barls]

growing season is about to start so you might be in luck and able to grab some from a brewer who grows up near you.

 

[TimT]

I've read that fresh hop leaves can be used in salads too. Why not. Actually, it might be worth throwing in hop leaves into the beer during the boil.... Might get some more tannins and some tea-like flavours that way.

I hope you find some, Stu D. Our hops are just poking up at the moment so we don't have substantial leaves yet; maybe up your way some hop vines will be more advanced. In fact, there might be some local Brisbane brewers reading this right now....

I want to wrap a cheese in nettles some time, like they do with Cornish Yarg. Made a Caerphilly that I wrapped in cabbage once, and the damned thing got mould! A beer-brined cheese is a fantastic idea but I'd be careful to use one that has no yeast left in it, as yeast can contaminate cheese.

Check out this for a hop-cheese combo!

 

[StuartD]

Thanks guys. I didn't even think about whether it was hop vine growing season or not! But good to know my timing's not too far off.

Tim, I've checked out that Hereford Hop cheese and it looks pretty amazing. As does this Hopyard Cheddar by Rogue Creamery! http://www.roguecreamery.com/store/product/3100/Hopyard-Cheddar/

 

[Florian]

How many leaves do you roughly need and what sizes? I'd imagine you would want them as big as possible to wrap cheese in them?

Mine have started sprouting a few weeks ago but leaves are still very small.
Also, you wouldn't want to rip too many leaves of a young plant as that obviously limits the chance of survival.

Roughly whereabouts in Brisbane are you located?

 

[StuartD]

Hi Florian. I'm not too sure about sizes, but basically I'll take whatever I can get. I don't know a lot about hops (except that they're great in beer!), but from what I understand it's best to use the leaves before they get too old because they can cause irritation to the skin. So not too young, not too old. And I'd probably be using several leaves to wrap one cheese, so I don't need them to be huge either.

I'm located on the southside, in Tarragindi.

 

[TimT]

They vary in size but for an idea, think of the leaves on grape vines.

How are you going to wrap the cheese? Like, tie it up in the leaves? A Cornish Yarg gets covered in nettle leaves which are, I think, pasted on somehow. Probably they're soaked a little in water or brine and then pasted on to the surface of the cheese with the same brine while the cheese is still fresh and moist.

 

[Florian]

I'd be happy take a few off the lesser favoured varieties once they have reached a certain height, but I'm on the northside so a bit of a drive just for a few hop leaves.
There should be plenty of hop growers on the southside so maybe someone closer volunteers?

Let me know if you get stuck, but I reckon it'll be at least 6 or so weeks off, maybe longer.

Have a look through this thread or maybe better this one to get an idea on leave sizes.

 

[StuartD]

Tim, I'll probably do something similar to this recipe for stuffed hop leaves: http://archive.maltosefalcons.com/food/stuffedhopleaves.php

So basically giving them a quick blanch to soften them up and make them pliable. I don't think it will be a problem getting them to stick to the cheese, as it will be a soft washed rind that will already have a fairly sticky surface. But I will tie them with something to make sure it all stays together.

 

[TimT]

Cool. Very interested in this one because I want to do that sort of trick with my cheeses some time.

 

[Donske]

I know Nathanmadness has decent sized hop garden on the south side but haven't seen him post in a while, you could probably shoot him a PM, I can donate some in a couple of months time but I'm on the north side so same issue as Florian's offer, bit far just to grab some hop leaves.

 

[Florian]

Or I guess I could always stick them in an envelope if that works for you, maybe in foil or wet paper or similar.

 

[StuartD]

Yeah, an envelope could definitely work. Just wrapped in a bit of newspaper would do fine. Would be happy to pay for postage too. Anyway, I'll get back in touch in few weeks when the leaves are a bit bigger. Cheers!

 

[StuartD]

Hi folks. Just thought I'd check back in, seeing as how it's been 5 weeks, and see if anyone's hop leaves have grown to a big enough size yet?

Cheers!
Stuart.

 

[lukiferj]

Hey man. I'm southside (Rocehdale South) but my plants are still pretty small. Would be happy to share some leaves once they are a bit bigger.

 

[StuartD]

Hi folks. Just thought I'd give you a little update on my cheese.

One of the forum members who lives not far from me kindly donated some of his hop leaves for my experiment, and it worked out really well. As I mentioned in my original post, it's a soft, beer-washed rind cheese, washed with Green Beacon Wayfarer USA wheat ale. Once the funk came on and it got nice and orange, I wrapped it in the hop leaves, which I had previously blanched and then frozen. They stuck to the cheese nicely, and I let them sit for another week to let the leaves become colonised by the culture and start to break down a bit.

The pics below are of the last of the 4 cheeses I made in this style. The hop leaves are quite edible and soft, and the cheese is stinky but still has some aroma and taste from the beer. Couldn't be happier with how it turned out, and I'm looking forward to doing it again next hop season.

 

[gap]

Congratulation, look great.
I make my own cheese and am about to venture into washed rind cheeses.

Graeme