Hops dried on the vine - useable?

Ingredients
1

A neighbor has some hops (thinks they’re centennial) in her back yard.
I’ve only brewed 3 extract batches so far, but I wanted to dry & freeze these for when I have more experience under my belt.
I believe you’re supposed to harvest when they’re just starting to get brown at the tips, but all of these are already dry & completely brown.
After messing around picking them for about an hour, it occurred to me that they might not even be useable.
I found a lot of conflicting info on the internet (as usual). What do you guys think?

Thanks!

2

Based on many years of experience growing hops, I don’t think they’ll be any good to use.

3

Darn.

Okay, to the compost they go.

Thanks for helping to prevent a lousy batch!

4

Interesting. I respect your experience; have you tried any batches with bine dried hops?

Just wondering, because I have often thought about trying it.

5

Every year when I get around to taking my poles down, there’s always a few cones left that didn’t get picked. And every year I can’t resist just one last whiff before they make their way to the compost pile. They still smell pretty good, but you can tell some oxidation has occurred. I tend to go my the old saying, “picked at the peak of perfection” when harvesting anything, as I feel there is a point in time, for every crop, when they just don’t get any better. Possibly using them in a belgian would be an idea - but they may even be a little too fresh for that. A little more ‘cheese’ please!

6

Interesting. I respect your experience; have you tried any batches with bine dried hops?

Just wondering, because I have often thought about trying it.[/quote]

Nope. Just smelling them told me there was no point. They were brown, dry, and brittle and the only aroma they has was kinda like dead leaves.

7

Interesting. I respect your experience; have you tried any batches with bine dried hops?
Just wondering, because I have often thought about trying it.[/quote]

Nope. Just smelling them told me there was no point. They were brown, dry, and brittle and the only aroma they has was kinda like dead leaves.[/quote]

I guess I am not ready to dismiss it out of hand because mine still have considerable aroma and stickyness even though they are dried on the bine. If I did not have so many harvested hops to burn through, I might be willing to try it.

Over winter, yes these qualities diminish as they age and weather as B-Hoppy points out, time and the oxidation process takes over and hops degenerate over time.

[quote=“skipbittman2”]After messing around picking them for about an hour, it occurred to me that they might not even be useable.
I found a lot of conflicting info on the internet (as usual). What do you guys think?[/quote]

:slight_smile: What, more conflicting info on the internet? Sorry about that. I would probally follow Dennys advice, but just curious…did they smell good when you mashed a few between finger and thumb?

8

Ya know, if they still smell like hops and not dead leaves, it might be worth a shot.

9

I let one plant get away from me this year, and neglected to harvest. The cones are dry and brown, but only a couple weeks past prime. I crushed one the other day and it still smelled very hoppy. They’re an unknown variety, but probably Chinook. The main problem is that they’re so crumbly and dry. The petals fall off very easily, taking the lupulin right with them. Harvesting would be nearly impossible.

And, like pinnah, I have a glut of hops from this year and last, so I won’t miss them.

Seriously, we need a smiling hops cone smiley.

10

I’ll give a dollar to the first person who makes a Dead Leaf Pale Ale.

The Dead Leaf character should be moderately American with some oak and maple aromatics. :slight_smile: