Recipe to Showcase Michigan Fresh Hops?

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

My wife ran into a hop farmer from Empire Michigan and she'll be picking up 1 - 2 lbs of fresh Empire hops from him in a few weeks. Looking at their site these are considered an Aroma hop "possessing a pleasing fruity blend and flowers with soft woody tones."

Any suggestions as to how I should use them?

My initial thought is a Pale Ale (using 2 Row (95%) and Crystal 60 (5%), with Safale US-05. As they're calling them an Aroma hop, I'm thinking they should be used at 15 min, Flameout and for a Dry Hop. Not sure what hops to use for bittering or flavor? I'm looking for something "neutral."

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

I've never even heard of Empire hops- sorry, I got nothin'.

 

[tjpfeister]

I would contact them via the "shout" link at the bottom and inquire about this year's AA% and if they know the cohumulone content. If cohumulone is low and alphas are nearer the high end stated, I'd use all Empire. $.02
http://empirehopsfarm.com/varieties/

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

Good call, Feister! Just sent them a message.

 

[davemattb]

I ordered some of these, what beers did they turn out well in.

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

I stuck to the recipe above. Solid Pale Ale! OG was 1.053. Total IBUs were under 50.

 

[davemattb]

Sweet! I might try them in some sort of blonde ale. I just ordered some wild harvested lager yeast from craft cultures at ebrewsupply and other Michigan hops. I'll be set for a while.

 

[Revvy]

Whenever I'm testing a new hop (and by the way I have some of those two, but I have yet to try them) I go for the simplest recipe possible so I can focus on the hops. If it's a delicate hop it might be a light as a Kolsch- but usually it's just a simple SMaSh, or two row with some crystal.

I got a box of free Great Lakes Hops to try out, every variety imaginable including empire- and some of others I haven't heard of before.

You're up in Cedar? One of my favorite areas of the state.

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

You're up in Cedar? One of my favorite areas of the state.

Yep. Been up here for about 2 years now. Grew up near Flint. Went to college at Oakland. Moved to Traverse City for 8 years. Went down to Detroit for a bit and missed being Up North, so we came back.

Next time you're up here, check out Big Cat Brewing Co. https://www.bigcatbrewingco.com/ It's a restaurant/brewery in Cedar and I brew there a few times a month.

 

[65C]

I go for the simplest recipe possible so I can focus on the hops. If it's a delicate hop it might be a light as a Kolsch- but usually it's just a simple SMaSh, or two row with some crystal.

I've got some hops coming soon (they grow wild all over the place here) - I heard about people going easy on the bitter side when testing - interested in any thoughts on how to test a new/unknown hop