Big beer fan, Newbie to brewing my own- Edmonton, Ab

cabercrooner

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I'm an old hat making my own wine, and made my own for about 10 years. Got away from it and never tried making beer because, frankly, the homebrews i had tasted from friends "kits" tasted like swill. But with the explosion of craft beers here in Alberta and a recent trip to Europe, I went against my wife's best interests and decided to dive into a new hobby.
In addition, I have my parents farming some hops for me out in British Columbia, and I want to give brewing a go with my own harvests. Big fan of White IPAs, Belgians, and American IPAs. Cheers.

Wes
 
Happy days wes well I'm sure you'll acieve more than swill with the help you'll recieve here. And congratulations on choosing an all consuming and rewarding hobby:).
 
Happy days wes well I'm sure you'll acieve more than swill with the help you'll recieve here. And congratulations on choosing an all consuming and rewarding hobby:).
Thank you. Loving every aspect of this so far
 
What kind of hops are they growing for you?
 
What kind of hops are they growing for you?
Currently, we have 5 varieties. Mt. Hood, Galena, Magnum, Centennial and Willamette. For the first year of having Rhizomes in the ground, we are very happy with the volume and growth. I have many ziplock bags of dried whole hops stashed in my freezer. I would like to try a few more varieties next year as we have a couple empty acres, however acquiring rhizomes in Canada can be a bit of a challenge as I have to use Canadian suppliers
 
Currently, we have 5 varieties. Mt. Hood, Galena, Magnum, Centennial and Willamette. For the first year of having Rhizomes in the ground, we are very happy with the volume and growth. I have many ziplock bags of dried whole hops stashed in my freezer. I would like to try a few more varieties next year as we have a couple empty acres, however acquiring rhizomes in Canada can be a bit of a challenge as I have to use Canadian suppliers
How do you go about figuring out the alpha acid content? Sorry for all the questions but I find it interesting.
 
How do you go about figuring out the alpha acid content? Sorry for all the questions but I find it interesting.
No problem, - I have just going by the Alpha levels that each variety has as an average in the calculators that Brewer's Friend provides. There are several testing agencies that will give you specific Alpha analysis if you send them samples, but until it is commercially viable as a grower, I plan to brew lots of "test" 5 gallon batches and do my own trial-and-error analysis! :)
 
On this alpha acid subject I have found my bitterness sweet spot after about ten brews. I think 30 ibu to me contributes just enough of that bitter bight on the tongue and throut. 20ibu seems just not enough in my book.

So using the ibu calculator on brewersfriend as an estimated indicator for alpha acid percentage you can determine what bitterness to set as par for you:rolleyes:o_O.

Eg what I perceive as bitter may be mild to someone else and visa versa;),same for styles as with most German lagers the par is around 20ibu but I'll be upping to 30 to get that nice bitterness.
 
No problem, - I have just going by the Alpha levels that each variety has as an average in the calculators that Brewer's Friend provides. There are several testing agencies that will give you specific Alpha analysis if you send them samples, but until it is commercially viable as a grower, I plan to brew lots of "test" 5 gallon batches and do my own trial-and-error analysis! :)
have you thought about making a hop tea instead ? for example using 10 g of bought hops with a known AA% in 2 litres of water then see how much of your home grown cones you need to match it ?
 
have you thought about making a hop tea instead ? for example using 10 g of bought hops with a known AA% in 2 litres of water then see how much of your home grown cones you need to match it ?
I suppose that is a good idea to give you a rough idea if your home-grown hops would be more or less in Alpha Acids than a store-bought brand. That is assuming the grower had their hops professionally analyzed. From what I can tell, many commercial hops suppliers package material from several different growers, and the AA is based upon the average for that specific variety. I am just learning about hops cultivation so I may not be totally correct... but I DO KNOW that I like to drink beer more than tea, so I'll probably go that route. LOL
 

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