AG#57 - Green Hop

[IronBlue]

I planted a Cascade rhizome in my garden last year and it's gone crazy since the outset. I dried the hops last year but it was a pain, so this year we are going green...




About half the plant is ready to harvest, I figure that should be enough for the kilo i want. (The other half is slightly more shaded and about a week behind.) I'm picking these whilst the grains are mashing, so they will be in the kettle within 2 hours. The gloves may look daft, but I didn't wear any last year and it took about a week to stop itching and for my fingerprints to grow back! :




The plan is to taste the beer as it ferments over the next week, and if it tastes good, to harvest the other half of the crop and make the beer again in 10 days time pitching on the yeast cake...

Quite a simple recipe to let the fresh hops shine, I'm using Magnum to keep the bitterness under control and adding the kilo of wet hops in the last 10 minutes. (I use Propino as the base malt as a friendly local brewery lets me buy a 25kg sack for £12)

Boil Size: 55.50 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 42.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated IBU: 35.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 79.00 %
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Amt Name
6.43 kg Propino WHOLE (5.7 EBC) 85.0 %
0.76 kg Munich Malt WHOLE (20.0 EBC) 10.0 %
0.38 kg Wheat, Torrified WHOLE (3.0 EBC) 5.0 %
26.00 g Magnum [10.50 %] - Boil 75.0 min
200.00 g Cascade GREEN - Boil 10.0 min
300.00 g Cascade GREEN - Boil 5.0 min
500.00 g Cascade GREEN - Boil 0 min
1.0 pkg Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007)

Step Temperature Step Time
66.0 C 90 min

Water - RO, built to Yellow Bitter profile
------------------------------------------------------------

55 litres ready to boil:



Second fresh hop drop of 300g:



Final drop of 500g:



370B cells of WLP007, and ready to go:



1.045 on the nose (for a change), and the other half of the hops in the background:



I have no idea what this is going to be like, first time for me. Fingers crossed the samples taste good and we'll go again in 10 days with possibly a slightly different grain bill....

[windrider]

Look forward to hearing how it comes out. Given me inspiration to grow some hops around my shed next year

p.s. that burner looks a beast. Where did you get it from?

[IronBlue]

It's a Blichmann burner and this was it's maiden voyage - my other 'normal' burner was struggling with larger batch sizes. The Blichmann took 55 litres from mash temp to boil in 19 minutes, the previous one took 45!

Sadly not available in the UK, the brew shops aren't allowed to sell it as it doesn't have UK certification. I imported mine from the States (Great Fermentations), the shipping cost was slightly hard to justify, but it's stainless and should last forever, and it's very shiny etc. etc.

[mb]

I've had my eye on one of those burners for a while, the 7.5KW Hamilton one I have is terrific for 23L batches but I've been thinking of up-sizing and I doubt it'll manage with 60-70L.

does the blichmann connection fit on a Calor gas bottle or did you have to adapt it? they aren't cheap but then neither are 2 x 3KW elements and an electrician to wire them up.

[IronBlue]

You need a US/UK adapter for the propane bottle, cost about £10 (the brass bit):



US price for burner is $149 (£98) which is a bargain compared to the £70 I paid for my crappy standard 8kW burner. (The Blichmann is over twice as fast to the boil as my standard 8kW burner for 55 litres) Sadly think another £50 shipping + VAT and import duty....

[mb]

thanks, it's not cheap then but not silly and well worth considering and as you say it'll last a lifetime.

[seymour]

Gorgeous recipe, nice work. Can't wait to hear how it turns out!

[DaveyT]

That looks great. Did they soak up any wort?

[IronBlue]

Here we go, in the FV for 2 weeks, and now 2 days in corny kegs:



It tastes stunning, my best beer to date of this basic pale ale style. I got lucky on the hop quantities, it's very hoppy without being OTT, a good balance for my tastes. This was 1kg in 42 litre batch size. Tastes of super fresh tropical fruit juice, no grassy element at all.

I didn't get to make the other beer last weekend, so I have 1.6kg of 'green' hops filling up the freezer. The whole lot is going in an APA next weekend....

[asd]

That looks great. Did they soak up any wort?

I've found with my limited experience (2 brews) that they don't seem to soak up any wort, - I think because they are "wet" themselves, holding as much water as they are able to.

[IronBlue]

Yeah, they didn't soak up much at all, they were already 'full size' - guess that's why the rule of thumb is to use 4 to 6 times the dry weight as the moisture is already in there....