This past harvest, my Willamette and Centennial hop plants yielded about five pounds of fresh cones.  Gregory and I brewed two fresh hop IPAs on the same day — one with more Willamette hops and a blend of clean yeasts I made, the other with about equal amounts of the two hop varietals and Fermentis US-05 yeast.

As I anticipated in last year’s fresh hop post, I opted to use packaged hops for the bittering and dry hop additions, using the fresh hops where their qualities make the most impact — the late-boil flavor and aroma additions.  This method returned much better results, with none of the overly vegetal and grassy notes witnessed in last year’s 100% fresh hop ale.

Though both beers turned out well, to my surprise, I prefer the IPA that is more heavily hopped with Willamette.  Since the two beers are so similar, I’m going to post the recipe and tasting notes for my preferred version.  In addition to these homegrown brews, we produced one more fresh hop IPA (of a very different kind), which I will detail later.  Until then, find the recipe and tasting notes below:

Homegrown Fresh Hop IPA (2016)

Recipe Specifics

Batch Size (Gal): 5.5
Total Grain (Lbs): 13.00
Anticipated OG: 1.065
Anticipated SRM: 4.0
Anticipated IBU: 40
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75%
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Grain

46.15% — 6.00 Lbs. US 2-Row
23.08% — 3.00 Lbs. Maris Otter Pale
15.38% — 2.00 Lbs. Wheat Malt
07.69% — 1.00 Lbs. Flaked Rye
07.69% — 1.00 Lbs. Golden Naked Oats

Hops

1.25 oz. Willamette (Fresh, N/A AA) @ 75 min. (First Wort)
0.25 oz. Centennial (Pellet, 7.6% AA) @ 75 min. (First Wort)
0.25 oz. Willamette (Pellet, 4.1% AA) @ 75 min. (First Wort)
0.35 oz. Columbus (Pellet, 16.0% AA) @ 60 min.
6.00 oz. Willamette (Fresh, N/A AA) @ 15 min.
8.00 oz. Willamette (Fresh, N/A AA) @ 5 min.
25.00 oz. Willamette (Fresh, N/A AA) @ 0 min.
2.00 oz. Centennial (Pellet, 7.6% AA) @ 5 days (Dry Hop)
2.00 oz. Willamette (Pellet, 4.1% AA) @ 5 days (Dry Hop)

Extras

1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 min.

Yeast

Imperial A09 — Pub Yeast
Imperial A20 — Citrus Yeast

Water Profile

Seattle
1.00 g Calcium Chloride
1.50 g Gypsum

Mash Schedule

Single Infusion – 90 min @ 152F

Notes

08.24.16 — Made a 1L starter from rinsed #1 Summer Jam slurry

Brewed on 08.25.16 with Gregory

08.25.16 — Chilled wort to 80F and pitched the slurry after 20 minute hop stand with 2 minute whirlpool

08.26.16 — Signs of vigorous fermentation activity 9 hrs after pitch

08.30.16 — Added half of the dry hops to primary

09.02.16 — Transferred to secondary and added the rest of the dry hops

09.07.16 — Kegged the entire batch and began force carbonating at 10 PSI

Tasting Notes — 09. 29.16 (poured off tap)

Slightly hazy pale yellow-straw color with a moderate white head which laces thin.  Floral notes on the nose reminiscent of wisteria, lemon balm, and green tea.  Flavors follow the nose with an additional note of honeysuckle mid-palate.  The Centennials offer some hints of citrusy lemon pith and a firm, round bitterness akin to pine needles.  Refreshing finish that ends dry with a lingering bitterness.

Calculated OG: 1.050
Calculated FG: 1.010
Approx. ABV: 5.2%