Anyone use fresh “wet” hops as a dry hop?
I did it once…chlorophyll city.
Thanks!
I’m planning to make a fresh hop beer real soon. My plan is to use fresh cascade right off the vine in a hopstand, steep some of the fresh picked hops in alcohol in a French press to make a tincture, dry the remaining hops, dry hop with some of them, and use the extract at bottling. The aim is a lot of fresh hop flavor sans chlorophyll and “grassiness”.
Have you made a tincture like that before?
Yes I did last year and loved it. I dosed individual beers with it and also flavored soda water with it when I didn’t want to drink alcohol but wanted a tasty night time beverage.
I am also going to make a wet hop IPA soon. I have tasted several at the Fresh Hop Ale Fest, both commercial and Homebrew - I don’t recall any grassiness. I can’t imagine all of them were done with the tincture method…
I also have the handouts from a presentation by Bale Breaker brewery that was given to our Homebrew club. there was no mention of special processes to avoid chlorophyll/grassiness.
Would it be cheating to throw them on a fan overnight and dry them out?
That’s what I do; actually 36-48 hours. I still call it a “fresh hop” beer, just not a “wet hop” beer. I think you can get away with wet hops in the hot side but, like denny said, chlorophyll city when dry hopping with wet hops. I prefer not to have the grassy character you get from excessive wet hops.
Not if you don’t enter them in a Fresh Hop competition. The Fresh Hop Ale Fest says no drying is allowed for beers entered in their competition.