Brü It Yourself | Wet Hop Ale

Author: Jake Huolihan

It doesn’t take long for new homebrewers to realize that making beer, particularly certain styles, comes not without its fair share of expenses. Of the various things one can do to help cut down on the costs, many have taken to growing their own hops, adding yet another level of DIY to the brewing process. In early spring of every year, small pieces of hop roots called rhizomes are made available to homebrewers for a nominal fee. With a bit of tender loving care, these rhizomes can produce vast amounts of free hops year after year.

My journey into brewing coincided with the purchase of my first house. After moving in, we had to address an ugly dead tree on a raised retaining wall in the back corner of our property, and I convinced my wife a pergola would be an absolutely perfect replacement! Of course, I had ulterior motives, and for the last few years, we’ve enjoyed the shade provided the hops while sipping pints of tasty homebrewed beer.

The process of growing hops differs a little bit based on region and available space, but in general, each plant requires something it can climb such as a trellis or twine that’s 10-20 feet/3-6 meters tall. In most climates, hop cones will begin to form around mid-summer the middle and be ready for harvesting sometime in the early to middle part of fall. It’s at this point the cones are usually dried to create the whole cone hops brewers are familiar with, a process that, when paired with proper packaging, prolongs shelf-life. However, it’s become increasingly common for brewers to use freshly picked “wet” hops to craft unique beers that can only be brewed on a seasonal basis.

I love my hop plants and have continued to tend to them over the years, but given the experimental nature of my brewing lately, I rarely harvest the hops for use these days. However, inspired by the tales of tasty wet hop beers told by Marshall, Brian, and Malcolm after their trip to Yakima during hop harvest, I decided to throw my own fresh hop fest right here Denver.

| Brewing Centennial Wet Hop Ale |

Brewing a wet hop beer with homegrown hops takes a certain level of planning, a couple of years, in fact. I planted my Centennial and Mt. Hood hops in 2015, and while they grew up nicely that first year, the yield was rather paltry. The second year was better, but the plants really hit their stride this year, producing enough cones for me to feel comfortable using them for more than just bittering.

Wet hops spoil quickly, and hence its imperative to use them for brewing as soon after they’re picked as possible to ensure freshness. When my hops were ready for harvest, I enlisted the help of my buddy, Dave, who assisted in the brewing of my first ever continuously wet hopped ale. We designed a recipe with an old school IPA grist including a decent charge of Caramel malt that we hoped would balance the fresh Centennial hops.

Centennial Wet Hop Ale

I started out this batch the evening prior to brewing by collecting the water and adjusting it to my desired profile before setting my heat stick to turn on the next morning.

I then weighed out and milled the grains.

I awoke the following morning to  hot strike water and mashed in to hit my desired temperature.

During the mash rest, I began the arduous and messy process of cutting down the Centennial bines that contained hop cones.

After a 60 minute rest, the mash step was complete and we began collecting the sweet wort.

While the wort was heating to a boil, Dave and I plucked the hop cones from the bines, collecting a total of 1.6 lbs/0.73 kg. Based on commonly discussed wet to dry hop ratios, this was equivalent to about 5 oz/142 g of dried hops. Not too much, hence the 60 minute Magnum bittering addition.

We designed a recipe that called for continuous wet hop additions during the latter half of the boil, something we’d talked about for years. Once the wort reached a boil, we tossed in the small dose of Magnum then left it alone for 30 minutes. We then began adding a handful of hops every minute for the next 15 minutes, after which we increased the amount to 2 handfuls every minute until the boil was complete. Following a 20 minute hop stand at 150°F/66°C, the wort was quickly chilled to pitching temperature.

A refractometer reading revealed we’d hit our target OG.

After racking the chilled wort to a sanitized Brew Bucket, a pouch of Imperial Yeast G03 Dieter was pitched directly into it.

After a week at 66°F/19°C, visible fermentation activity was absent and a hydrometer measurement revealed FG had been reached.

Seeing as all of my Centennial wet hops were used up, we decided to skip dry hopping and proceeded with transferring the beer to a sanitized and CO2 purged keg.

The keg was placed in my cool keezer and burst carbonated overnight before I reduced the gas to serving pressure. After a couple days of cold conditioning, the beer was carbonated and ready to serve.

| IMPRESSIONS |

As an infrequent consumer of IPA, I experience little excitement about having one on tap. But that wasn’t the case for this this batch, I was unusually eager to taste this beer made from Centennial hops I’d grown in my own backyard! Upon initial tastings as soon as the beer was ready to drink, just a few days after it was kegged, I perceived crazy floral and grapefruit notes that nicely balanced the more characterful malt bill. This was easily the best IPA I’ve had on tap in recent memory. Corroborating reports I’d heard from others who brew wet hop beers, the hop character seemed to fade fairly quickly over time, giving way to a more caramelly malt flavor that, while different, was still rather enjoyable.

The feedback I received from the numerous friends and family I shared this beer was surprisingly positive with common descriptors including floral, juicy, and fruity. For a beer of such ABV, it was considerably easy to drink and a joy to have around.

Wet hop beers are unique both in their limited availability as well as their overall character. Living in Denver, fresh commercial examples aren’t easy to come by, and based on what I’ve heard about wet hops imparting vegetal characteristics, I’ve never felt too compelled to seek one out. Having the hops in my backyard allowed me to shelf my bias and give it a go, and the experience was a mind changer, I definitely plan to make brewing with homegrown wet hops an annual tradition. In addition to enjoying the beer more than expected, harvesting the hops and brewing with my friend was an all around fantastic experience.

If you have thoughts about this recipe or experience making hard cider yourself, please feel free to share in the comments section below!

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