Hop Harvest Pale

Hops on Harvest Day

Brewed today with my good friend from college, Mark. It's been too long bro!! We decided to put together a recipe highlighting the homegrown Cascade hops I harvested last month. The hops are only from a 2nd year plant so I'm not expecting amazing things. After cracking open the vaccu-sealed mason jars we found the hops to have a very 'grassy' aroma and they seemed more moist than when I packed them in there after harvesting. Rubbing them between my hands still resulted in a sticky feeling and pungent aroma. Here's hoping they impart a uniquely delightful character in the beer rather than a uniquely grassy flavor. Regardless, I'm sure we'll learn a lot about homegrown hops by the end of this experiment.

Recipe Notes
Style: Pale Ale

Batch Volume: 4 gal.
Color: 9 SRM
Target Bitterness: 50 IBU
Target OG: 1.051

Grist
6 lb. 2-Row
1 lb. Crystal 20L
8 oz. Crystal 40L

8 oz. Flaked Oats

0.3 oz. Cascade 6.6% (FWH)

0.6 oz. Centennial 9.0% (FWH)

2 oz. Homegrown Cascade ?% (10 min.)

1 oz. Homegrown Cascade (0 min.)

S-04 Yeast

Brew Notes
Brew Date: 10/12/14
Mash Temp: 152F
Mash Time: 60 min.
Boil Time: 60 min.
Fermenter Volume: 4 gal
Measured OG: 1.052 (1.050 @ 85°F)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72%

The temps in northern Virginia have cooled to the point where I actually want to brew outdoors again. So we fired up the old propane burner, put the NFL RedZone channel on the iPhone, and got down to it. Brought 5 gal. of water up to 156 and doughed in. Temp dropped to 152 and remained there for the duration of the mash. Ended up with 4 gallons after pulling the grain bag and 4.5 after squeezing the daylights out of it. Decided to do the early hop additions as 'first wort' because I like that there's no 60 minute addition to fuel the hot break into a possible boil over. Things just go more smoothly.

After the boil, we brought 4 gallons of hot wort inside and chilled down to 85 with the immersion coil. Strained the wort through the grain bag while pouring into the fermenter. Took a gravity sample and put the wort in my keezer before pitching yeast. Total brew day was only 4 hours. Gotta love cooking w/gas.

Pitched 11am the following morning at 58 degrees.

Update 11/4/14 - Dry hopped with remaining 1.4 oz. of homegrown Cascade. Divided between two sanitized hop bags and smushed them into the better bottle. Gravity sample reads 1.008.

Kegging Notes
Measured FG: 1.008
Attenuation: 85%
ABV: 5.8%
Calories:169 per 12oz.
Carbonation: 2.5 volumes

Update 11/11/14 - Kegged at 10 psi after seven days of dry hopping.

Update 11/21/14 - So yeah the beer definitely just has a grassy/vegetal aroma and flavor. Not great. None of the Cascade citrus aroma is present. Maybe the hops were picked to young? Whatever the problem this was a major disappointment :(