Home grown fuggle recipe

[T5FAU]

Hello all,

Im after some re-assurance that my recipe is sound. Last week i harvested around 600g (wet) from my Fuggle plant. Its dried through the week so hoping to use it this weekend. I like the addition of a little torrified wheat and crystal to my bitters so have come up with the following. I have guessed the fuggle will be about 3% AA:


Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 13 lbs. 13.9 oz 6290 grams 82%
Munich Malt 20 EBC 1 lbs. 1.6 oz 495 grams 6.5%
Torrefied Wheat 4 EBC 1 lbs. 1.6 oz 495 grams 6.5%
Crystal Malt 130 EBC 0 lbs. 13.5 oz 380 grams 5%

Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio
Fuggle Whole 3 % 90 mins 0 lbs. 5.8 oz 165 grams 80%
Fuggle Whole 3 % 30 mins 0 lbs. 2.0 oz 57 grams 20%

Final Volume: 38 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: 1.011
Alcohol Content: 4.4% ABV
Total Liquor: 52.5 Litres
Mash Liquor: 19.2 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 42 EBU
Colour: 18 EBC


Can any major issue be seen by anyone ? Opinions ?

Thanks

[seymour]

Looks pretty ideal to me. My only thought: be sure to take into consideration the moisture content of your home-grown hops. If they aren't as thoroughly dried as commercial hops, you'll need more of them in order to equal the stated alpha acid utilization.
To test: take a cone end-to-end between your thumb and pointer finger and pinch, if it's all the way dry, the spine usually crumbles. Repeat a couple times. If they're not that dry, no problem! Fresh hop beers are delicious, you have the chance to make something most breweries can't, simply due to market realities...but compensate by using proportionally more at each addition.
Good luck!

[far9410]

Hi good luck with this see my post

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=53825

I used my northdown hops straight from the bine its not scientific but when else do you get the chance to do this? I worked on the basis that dried hops are 25% of weight of wet equivalent.
Incidentally how did you get the AA% of your hops?

[T5FAU]

Hi good luck with this see my post

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=53825

I used my northdown hops straight from the bine its not scientific but when else do you get the chance to do this? I worked on the basis that dried hops are 25% of weight of wet equivalent.
Incidentally how did you get the AA% of your hops?

Your hops look great. I have dried mine, so i wont be using them wet.
I used a very scientific guess of the AA, Fuggles according to BYOBRA are 4.4% i believe, so i guessed at 3% for mine...

I've dug through BYOBRA and found the Gales Festival Mild (One of my best past brews) contains Crystal, Torrified and some Black malt, with only using Fuggles. So ill be using this recipe i think, uping the quantity of Fuggles to account for the reduction in AA. And while im at it, i may as well do a double batch to use up the crop i have !

Ill report back my findings

[seymour]

...I used a very scientific guess of the AA, Fuggles according to BYOBRA are 4.4% i believe, so i guessed at 3% for mine...

That's very noble of you, but don't sell yourself short! Unless you have a definite reason to think it's significantly lower (and grower inexperience is not a good reason, the plant mostly knows what to do without you) then stick closer to the true ranges. All Fuggles, almost irregardless of year or country of origin, display Alpha Acid percentages between 4-5.5%. Another thing to consider is that in hot/drought seasons like we've had this year, overall growth is retarded, but many times the percentage of essential oils goes up, not down (consider how much hotter chili peppers are when grown in hot climates, it's not coincidental.)

If you insist on self-deprication at least change your math to the 4% bottom-end. Otherwise I fear you're going to have an unexpectedly bitter batch (which isn't the end of the world, of course.)

[far9410]

Your hops look great. I have dried mine, so i wont be using them wet.
I used a very scientific guess of the AA, Fuggles according to BYOBRA are 4.4% i believe, so i guessed at 3% for mine...

Go for it !!

[Barley Water]

If I grew hops (which I don't) and had no way to test for the alpha acid % I think what I would do is use commerical hops for bittering and my homegrown hops for the later additions. That way, you can better control the bitterness in the beer you are brewing and saving the nice fresh stuff for aroma and flavor where it won't make as much difference if your guess is off or not. Also, I think I would brew a more hop focused beer if I had a bunch of fresh hops so I could feature them, IPA anyone?

[BitterTed]

I have grown and used homegrown hops for about 8 years, in that time I have come to the conclusion that they typically fall into the normal range for that particular hop. But that depends on the season, for instance, last year here in the States most commercial hops were higher than normal for aa%, so I figured mine to be higher as well, basically stick to the trend. I see no reason why you can't use your hops throughout your batch with good success. For now I would figure them to be in the middle of the advertised range for that hop until you see what the commercial ones get rated for this season, then adjust if you have any left or adjust based on the results you are getting. It appears you are making a nice well hopped bitter, which IMO is a perfect brew to assess your hops.

[seymour]

That's what I was trying to say, too, but BitterTed said it better. Sure, AA% varies, but mostly year to year and continent to continent. It doesn't tend to vary as much between growers in the same year and same continent. Cheers!

[T5FAU]

Thanks for all your responses, much info gained. Ill scale down the hops a tad by upping their AA in the recipe to about 4% and see how i go. I was kinda hoping to use all my 185g in one 38 litre batch, maybe that may been too much, ill see tonight when i stick it into Beer Engine.

What bitterness would people suggest is the most you can go to in a standard bitter before it gets too bitter ?, or into IPA/APA territory ?

[T5FAU]

...I used a very scientific guess of the AA, Fuggles according to BYOBRA are 4.4% i believe, so i guessed at 3% for mine...

That's very noble of you, but don't sell yourself short! Unless you have a definite reason to think it's significantly lower (and grower inexperience is not a good reason, the plant mostly knows what to do without you) then stick closer to the true ranges. All Fuggles, almost irregardless of year or country of origin, display Alpha Acid percentages between 4-5.5%. Another thing to consider is that in hot/drought seasons like we've had this year, overall growth is retarded, but many times the percentage of essential oils goes up, not down (consider how much hotter chili peppers are when grown in hot climates, it's not coincidental.)

If you insist on self-deprication at least change your math to the 4% bottom-end. Otherwise I fear you're going to have an unexpectedly bitter batch (which isn't the end of the world, of course.)

Thanks for your concerns, ill take due note and up my AA to 4.

Retarded growth, not from where i live, my fuggle in its first year grew really well, giving about 600g wet from it. Next year, it may reach the house roof.

[seymour]

What bitterness would people suggest is the most you can go to in a standard bitter before it gets too bitter ?, or into IPA/APA territory ?

BJCP breaks bitters into three categories, ESB being the most bitter which has an IBU range of 30-50, English IPA is 40-60. But keep in mind late hops additions don't add much, if any bitterness. So as long as you keep your IBU around say, 40, you can use as many as you want around 15 minutes, at flame-out, steeped after boil, dry-hopped, "Randall-ized", etc. for lots of fresh hop aroma.

...my fuggle in its first year grew really well, giving about 600g wet from it. Next year, it may reach the house roof.

Wow, that's really good. Nice growing! I only get that kind of results from Cascade, which is easy. My Fuggles have never taken off.