#20 Cascade Wet Hop Harvest Ale

The American Wheat Ale with Willamette Wet Hops

Seeing as my first attempt at growing hops did not result in the yield I had hoped for (three dead hop rhizomes and no hops) I thought that there would be no chance to make a true "Hop Harvest" beer, a style common during the months of August and September. The end of summer and beginning of fall is the perfect time to harvest hops, and many homebrewers/craft brewers often use all or a portion of their fresh hops in hop harvest ales.

Wet Hops still on the bine before picking

I was lucky enough to have my local homebrew show owner, Todd Tilton of the Fermentation Station, give me a huge crop of Cascade wet hops that he was unable to harvest. After hours of picking, I was able to fill a five gallon bucket just under the brim. Half of the hops went to Todd, and my half yielded roughly 43 ounces of wet hops. Wet hops can weigh anywhere from 7 times to 5 times as much as dried hops. Based on an estimated 6:1 ratio of wet weight to dry weight, I yielded roughly 7.16 ounces of dried hops, had they been dried rather than used as wet hops.

Using this many wet hops proved to be difficult as I had no idea of their alpha acid percentage and my true dried weight yield. In order to get my IBUs within the correct range for an American IPA, the majority of the bittering came from the Columbus hop addition at 90 min. Knowing the alpha acid content for this particular hop allowed me to get my IBU value within the accepted range for an IPA. The only potential for variance in my actual IBU level will be the ten minute addition of the wet Cascade hops, which will result in very little influence in the overall bitterness of the beer.

Wet Hops after picking

In the future, when brewing with wet hops, I hope to brew with them closer to the time at which they are harvested. I got these hops a couple days after they were harvested, it took me a few days to pick them all, and it took me a few days to actually get to brew the beer. Likely during this time I lost some of the aromatics of the hops, and this could result in a beer that lacks the intensity of aroma I was hoping for. However I believe that since my hop additions of the wet hops were so large, this will likely compensate for any loss in aromatic potency. During storage, these hops did begin to mold as well, and the aroma in the bags in which I stored the hops took on a very vegetal, tea like aroma. I don't think this will contribute much to the aroma of the final beer due to the boiling of the wort and evolution of this aroma, but it is something I am very worried about tasting in the final beer.

Cascade Wet Hop Harvest Ale

Batch Volume (Gal): 6.0

Pre-Boil Volume (Gal): 6.33

Total Grain (Lbs): 14.26

OG: 1.060 

Anticipated FG: ~1.012   

Anticipated ABV: ~6.33%

IBUs: 55.2 - 65.1 

(estimated at 63.4)

SRM: 9.6

Brewhouse Efficiency: 71%

Boil Duration: 95

Grain                                                 (Lbs/oz.) (%)

Malteurop North American 2-row       12     84.2

Crystal 40                                                 1          7

Munich Malt                                         6.5 oz.   2.8

Victory Malt                                           6 oz.     2.6

Crystal 60                                            4.15 oz.   1.8

Rye Malt                                               3.5 oz.     1.5

Hops         (AA%) (IBU)                (Oz.)                   (Boil[min])

Columbus    14       54.1                  0.9                            90

Cascade    ~5.75    0-9.9 ~2 oz. dry (12 oz. wet)            10

Columbus    14        1.1                    0.1                            10

Cascade        ~          0  ~5.16 oz. dry (40 oz. wet)          0

Yeast

Harvested 1056 American Ale yeast from O Hike Ale, built up yeast in two starters, and separated yeast from majority of hop/trub material from the O Hike Ale. Pitched ~125 mL of fresh yeast with moderate amount of hop material in slurry.

Water

Ca: 123 Mg: 2 SO4: 242 Na: 16 Cl: 38 HCO3: 59 

(targeted Randy Mosher Pale Ale water profile)

1 Whirlfloc tablet (10 min)   1/2 tsp yeast nutrient (10 min)

Mash Schedule:

Single Infusion   60 min (top of mash lower than 150 F) middle of mash 151-152 F, 10 min mashout at 170 F

1 g Baking Soda (NaHCO3), 10 g SO4, 1.5 g CaCl2, 

2.5 mL Lactic Acid (60 min), 1 mL Lactic Acid (50 min)

(all in mash); ~5.4 pH (55 min), ~5.1 - 5.0 pH (45 min), ~5.2 pH (15 min)

Measuring original gravity of the wort

It'll be interesting to see how this beer turns out due to all the variables and unknowns I experienced during the brewday. The hops are a big question; not sure how well they will produce aroma in the final beer, and there could be an off flavor produced by the fact that the hops had started to spoil on the day I brewed with them. 

My malt mill screwed up my first attempt to brew this beer the day before, and after milling 2/3rds of my total grain bill, I was forced to stop. On what ended up being my actual brewday, I finished the milling of the grains to find that the grains I had wet milled the day prior had started to get a little funky, most likely from the moisture, the cracked and exposed starch, and the bacteria (I think lactobacillus) that exist naturally on barley husk. After tasting the wort and some of the grains, there didn't seem to be any flavor from this possibly souring of the grains, but there may be some influence perceived in the final beer. 

Trying to avoid a boil over during the hot break

My measurements of the mash were also confusing, as I decided that I should begin to measure mash temperature in multiple locations within the mash itself. Using brewing software, I typically add two degrees to my strike water's temperature in addition to the temperature calculated by the software. This has often allowed me to hit my mash temperature exactly; however, I've begun to think that it has only been necessary for me to compensate by adding two degrees simply because I measure my mash temperature at the top of the grain bed where the mash is likely to be a bit colder. This is not entirely significant, as the purpose for measuring mash temperature is simply for consistency's sake, and evaluation of whether a mash temp should be changed is simply due to the final taste of the beer. After brewing the O Hike test batch and the final batch and discovering that both beers finished higher than I had hoped, I began to think that this could ultimately be due to an inaccurate measure of my mash temperature. I submerged one thermometer while also measuring mash temperature on the top of the grain bed as I usually do, and I found the temperatures to differ widely. The top of the grain bed (even though I had aimed for 152 F) was below 150 F, while the interior of the mash was measured anywhere from 151 F to 154 F at one point. I can't exactly find a reasonable average for the temperatures I observed, so it will only be after tasting the finished product that I will be able to come to some conclusion about my mash temperature. I will have to monitor this variable much closer in the next few brews, and hopefully I will come to more of an understanding about the temperatures I should be aiming for.

Just after adding the 10 minute addition of wet Cascade hops

Mash pH was another variable I found to be inconsistent during the duration of the mash. Initially I had hit a fairly high pH (~5.4 pH at mash temp, ~5.7 pH room temp). The software I use to predict mash pH has mentioned that it may take up to 15 minutes for mash pH to equilibrate, and therefore this high pH measure may have been taken too soon. I chose to add an additional mL of Lactic acid to try and bring the mash pH down, and soon after it appeared mash pH had dropped to ~5.1 (the value I have been aiming for ever since realizing that 5.1 pH at mash temp is equivalent to 5.4 pH mash temp at room temperature, which is ideal). Towards the end of the mash I chose to measure pH once more and found that it had risen slightly to 5.2. However, all these measurements are taken using pH test strips, which due to their color coding are difficult to get a definitive measurement of pH. As with mash temperature, I'll just have to observe pH in the next few brews, and see if I can come to understand mash pH a bit more than I do currently.

Chilling the wort

Overall however, I'm fairly confident that this beer will turn out well. This beer was my first time brewing with American 2-row malt which will make for an interesting comparison with my prior beers that have used only British 2-row. I also aimed for the Pale Ale water profile described by Randy Mosher, and so I am excited to see how my salt additions will influence the final beer. I have never had my calcium levels as high and I have yet to add sodium in a beer, so it will be interesting to see just how these ions influence the final flavor. If I can find epsom salt (MgSO4), I should finally have all the tools necessary to more closely mimic various water profiles, something that I increasingly believe is (behind fermentation variables) the variable in beer that will turn a good beer into a great beer. Since the fermentation chamber has done so well maintaining proper fermentation temperatures for the O Hike final batch and currently the Harvest Ale (fermenting at 66 F), I feel like I am getting closer to ideal fermentations (provided that my yeast pitching is sufficient as well), and therefore water profiles will become more important in my efforts to make even better beer.

O Hike Ale test batch