Craft Beers, Microbreweries and Homebrewing

Insanity

A braggot perhaps then, honey mead with some malt, vs. a malted beer with some honey.
Made a fine ale once with 6lbs honey added, so long ago, must remake.

Qapla'

nismaratwork

I love honey, and ale is... well... it's freakin' ale, yum! I think I'll go on a hunt for a braggot while I'm hunting some daiginjo sake.

Insanity

Thinking of brewing a spiced ale this week, chamomile, rosehips, grains of paradise????
Probably make a Koelsch for the base, as I got the right amount of grains on hand.

dlgoff

I know, I know. I've been putting off drinking any of the beer I bought this morning since I know what will happen if I try to drink just one or two.

Oh what the heck. I think I waited long enough.

nismaratwork

Oh hell yes to the grains! I tried a Sam Adams summer ale a while back brewed with that... like a rich black pepper with deeper fruit notes. A pal brewed a rapberry lambic with them too, and the tart-sweet-spicey was... oh it was GOOD.

Insanity

Hops on hand; centennial, cascade, hallertau, saaz and an unknown variety.

nismaratwork

Wow, you don't mess around with your hops!

Insanity

barely touched the local shop selection, last time I counted 28 varieties there.

dlgoff

Dear Beer Guru,

How long can you store hops? And how do you store it?

btw: I knew I couldn't just drink one.

nismaratwork

Hmmm... yet another similarity between hops and marijuana... tons of varieties raised to what seems a mystical level.

dlgoff

If I wanted to start some hops this spring (I've got a perfect spot). Would this be an okay one?

http://seedrack.com/indiv/humulus_lu...FYvsKgodpj64EA

Expensive little seeds aren't they?

turbo

They look nice, Don. And not too pricey compared to what I pay for chili seeds. Give them a shot. I have no idea what hops my old neighbor had growing up the side of his horse-barn years ago when I was making beer, but they looked quite similar. I'd gather the hops, boil the the crap out of them to make a strong astringent tea, and add it to the crock with all the other cooled ingredients. Hop-tea seemed to go best with a corn-malt or corn/barley-malt base. Lots of people preferred the richer and less hoppy all-barley-malt brew in the winter, though it was brewed in cold temperatures and took a long time to mature. I only did that a couple of years and didn't have time to learn the proper lessons.

nismaratwork

Given how much they'll yield, I'd sy go for it.

Insanity

Doesn't really say what type they are, all hops are Humulus lupulus. They could be Cascade, Apollo, Amarillo, Fuggles, Kent Goldings, doesn't say there as far I saw. I'd ask them if possible.

$3.62 / 50 seeds really isn't bad for the potential number of plants. Local shop usually sells hops rhizomes $7.50 each, so if you could get half to grow, you did quite well.

I'd get them soon, not sure what the seasons are like near you, but might be good to get seedlings going before actual planting time. A little headstart.

**Edit: sent them an email, depending on the answer, I may get some.

nismaratwork

How long to do the seeds keep? Could I buy some and plant next season?

turbo

Yield is quite low compared to fruits, vegetables, berries, etc. Those little hop-fruits are very light, so you need a lot of plants in a sunny location to satisfy a home-brewer.

When you see claims of $$$/lb in bulk, remember that those little pine-cone shaped fruits weigh not much more than a cotton ball. You need a lot of them to get money from your crops, so there is a need for (fixed or replaceable) structures to support the vines in acres and acres of fields, and you need to figure out how to till, fertilize, tend, and harvest them efficiently.

I hope to buy back my brewing equipment and give it another shot, but I won't need much more than a couple of sunny walls and trellises to start tinkering with hops again. It will be slow going, but I hope to have the time to tune in some decent beers.

Insanity

Other then I know the germination percentage drops the longer seeds in general are kept, don't know. A year may not hurt.

Looks like I am Zone 5b/6a, those may do well here.