I have at least a pound each of Zeus and Cascade dried and vacuum sealed in the freezer. These came from the bines I planted last spring. It looks like I may be able to get a little more from the bines before the end of the season.
Since I’ve never used leaf hops before (only pellets) what are some things I need to consider when brewing with them?
I want to make a big ol’ IPA with them.
They tend to soak up a lot of wort. I like to put them in muslin bags for easy retrieval. I put them in a colander and let them drain all of that sweet goodness after cooling. Whole hops are known for their freshness if handled properly. If you’re using a false bottom then I would just toss them in the boil and let them act a pre-filter bed on the false bottom to filter out some trub upon cooling.
Good to the last drop. 
Nice, that’s a great harvest for first years!
Hop socks are really helpful if you don’t have a tight and secure false bottom.
I picked my Mt. Hood, CTZ, Cascade and Willamettes last Sunday. Mt. Hood definitely was the top producer for me this year. They’re drying in the garage for a couple more days.
I account for 6 oz. of wort being soaked up for each oz. of whole hops I use.
Wow, that’s a lot. I recently bottled a Pliny clone and all the dry pellet hops sucked up at least a half gallon.
I just make sure I produce enough wort to account for it.
If these are first year hops, I would be careful. First year hops are different than normal hops. If you want to chance it, I would try them as late hops or as dry hops. They might be marvelous. In general, I don’t use my homegrown hops as the primary bittering hops as I don’t know the %AA.
Well thanks for the responses. I figured since I didn’t know the stats I would just take the low range and make an ipa with it. That way if they’re stronger i won’t mind… Bring on the bitter!
Sent from the future…
Can you elaborate on why first year hops are different? I’ve got first year Centennial and Hallertau growing. The harvest won’t be too big and I was actually wondering if it was even worth it or not to harvest. If there is a flavor concern I may not even harvest them.
Thanks,
Ron
When do hops become “normal”? More information please.
Hops taste different in their first year. They should taste normal in the second year. Different doesn’t mean bad. I have no personal experience because I never got enough hops in my first year to make it worth my while to harvest and use them.