Help With First SMaSH Attempt - Maris Otter and Tettnang

[jglazer]

So I just harvested Tettnang off my first year bine, about 5.3 oz dried. I want to brew a SMaSH to get a feel for the bittering and flavor/aroma of the hops being I don't have any #s on them. I am attempting a 3 gallon batch first.

Any advice as to figuring out how much hops should go in throughout the boil? I have no idea how to even start to calculate how many oz at 60, 30, 0, flameout, first wort, dry hop, etc... Guidance/experience would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I tend to like things on the hoppier side so even though this is Tettnang, anyone have experience with dry hopping with a lot of tettnang and know if that just turns grassy or spicy/earthy or something else?

Thanks!

 

[badlee]

First thing that springs to mind is that Tettnang is great for bittering( I ma very jealous)
Second is that generally speaking folks who grow their own hops tend to just use them as late additions.
If you were to buy an oz of Tettnang to bitter with, then add an oz of yours each at 20,15,10 and 5, then dry hop with whats left,you should be on to a winner.

 

[jglazer]

I am a little worried because they were homegrown here in North Carolina, and because our nights don't get that cold, sometimes hops can be more vegetable/grassy and less aromatic than standard store bought. Either way my current plan after talking with some folk and some preliminary research is:

Tettnang (oz) 1 First Wort Hop
Tettnang (oz) 1 15
Tettnang (oz) 1 10
Tettnang (oz) 1 5
Tettnang (oz) 1 0

Then I will dry hop with freshly picked (non dried) tettnang when that time rolls around. I still have probably close to 3-4 lbs (wet) of tettnang on the bines.

I'll let you know how it turns out

 

[roastquake]

Where in NC?

heres what I did to to test my cascades: I made a simple pale ale mash (2-row, caramel) 2 gallons boiled separately. I got all my early havest cascades which measured out to 24 grams dry, and 24 grams of store bought cascades at 6.2 AA. I hopped each of the gallons at the same time with 8 grams each at 60, 30 and 5 minutes. when I taste them I should be able to estimate my homegrown AA% based on the relativity to the store bought. It should also tell me what the diffeences of bittering/flavor/aroma are between cascades grown in the pacific NW and the SC midlands

 

[Polboy]

My experience with homegrown hops is rather limited (1st harvest from 1st season hops was last year) but i used default AA% from beersmith and i would say bitternes was very close what was predicted by software.
I also used tettnang (commercial) in last 3 batches where i replaced saaz and i have to say i am disappointed, its not terrible but i dont know why ppl suggest to use it as a substitution for saaz, it has much stronger character and flavor that i call pungent/burnt so now i just use it as 60min addition and its much better

 

[jglazer]

Where in NC?

heres what I did to to test my cascades: I made a simple pale ale mash (2-row, caramel) 2 gallons boiled separately. I got all my early havest cascades which measured out to 24 grams dry, and 24 grams of store bought cascades at 6.2 AA. I hopped each of the gallons at the same time with 8 grams each at 60, 30 and 5 minutes. when I taste them I should be able to estimate my homegrown AA% based on the relativity to the store bought. It should also tell me what the diffeences of bittering/flavor/aroma are between cascades grown in the pacific NW and the SC midlands

Thats a good idea, I may have to try that with other hops I have. I am growing them in Durham

 

[jglazer]

My experience with homegrown hops is rather limited (1st harvest from 1st season hops was last year) but i used default AA% from beersmith and i would say bitternes was very close what was predicted by software.
I also used tettnang (commercial) in last 3 batches where i replaced saaz and i have to say i am disappointed, its not terrible but i dont know why ppl suggest to use it as a substitution for saaz, it has much stronger character and flavor that i call pungent/burnt so now i just use it as 60min addition and its much better

Yea I dont have high hopes for the tettnang, I am only brewing a 3 gal batch and may split that up into 3 1 gallon jugs and experiment with different amounts of dry hops

 

[roastquake]

Thats a good idea, I may have to try that with other hops I have. I am growing them in Durham

I may have to try and grow some Tettnang then, I've always been reluctant to grow German varieties in my area, but yours are doing good then I may need to try. My Goldings have never had any hops for 3 years, I dont think they are suited for the Carolina midlands. I was afraid you would say you're in the mountains. In the up-country they can grow more varieties, I know Highland Brewing grows thier own.

 

[jglazer]

Here are my tettnang plants. The second photo is up close on the one that is doing the best. Since taking this picture the plant has probably doubled in size and continues to produce more and more cones. The first shot is of both tettnangs, and then if you follow the fence to the left I have 3 cascades that are also doing awesome. I think what helps is there are 30+ chickens roaming all the time and there is a ton of chicken **** in the soil that really helps.

 

[roastquake]

Nice! I use some pretty old cow s^$# for my fertilizer, this is my 2nd year cascade