Wild hops

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Manngold
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Location: Bromley

Wild hops

Post by Manngold » Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:32 pm

Found a lot of wild hops in a local park.

I don't have time to brew but want to use them. I have a Golden Ale kit from Wilko, could I bring that to the boil with 5 l water, and 1.5kg of dme, and add the hops for a 10 minute and 5 minute boil and then strain into a fermenter? Top up with 15l of cold water? I won't be able to brew for 4 weeks realistically on my Grainfather.

Thanks

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gr_baker
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Joined: Tue May 13, 2008 1:52 pm

Re: Wild hops

Post by gr_baker » Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:43 pm

you could but bear in mind that fresh hops contain a lot of water so weigh a lot more than dried hops. You need about 6 to 8 times the weight of dried hops to get the same effect.

So that's a lot of hops and you're planning on boiling in 5 litres of wort. I'm not sure you'll have any room for the hops in that amount of wort. Why not add the extra 15 litres of water before boiling? Since you have a Grainfather you could use it as a boiler.

Alternatively you could try drying the hops. I've done this but not with much success, mine turned brown, but others on here may have done it successfully.

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