Saturday, September 12, 2009

Hops update

All my second year hops are picked, dried, packaged, and in the freezer. I ended up with 12 1/2 pounds:
  • 8 1/2 pounds Cascade
  • 2 pounds Willamette
  • 2 pounds Chinook

The first year hops will probably only yield a few more ounces. Those are Nugget, Mt Hood, and some more Chinook.

Update: I got the Mt Hood picked, just under 9 oz dried and in the freezer. I also picked another pound of Chinook and about 5 ounces of Nugget. Total for the year is just over 14 lbs.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Hops update

I finally finished picking all my Cascades. I ended up with 133 oz total. Those are all dried and packed in freezer bags and in the freezer now. I picked all the Willamettes this morning. The Willamettes are a lot more vine and less hops than the Cascades, so I only expect to get about a pound and a half out of them. Chinooks are next, I might get those done this evening.

A wheelbarrow full of Cascade:


About 10 gallons:


My oast is just a screen door and a fan:

Friday, September 4, 2009

Batch 79, The Pounder


This recipe was designed to finish off my Cascades from last year. The grain bill is lame, that's because it's what I had on hand and I didn't feel like taking a trip to the homebrew store.

"The Pounder"

10 gallon batch

23 lbs 2-row
1 lb wheat
2 oz chocolate for color

3 oz Cascade, whole leaf, FWH
1 oz Cascade at 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5 minutes
3 oz Cascade at flameout

That's a pound of hops, hence "The Pounder".

Wyeast 1272

OG: 1.067, actual 1.066
FG: 1.017
SRM: 10
IBU: 92
ABV: 6.5%

Oct 20: This has been on tap for a couple of weeks, and is just now becoming an excellent beer. The hops are strong, but smooth. This is perhaps the hoppiest beer I've ever made, definitely hoppier than Arrogant Bastard.