Wild hops

Janet | Sept. 7, 2021, 3:22 p.m.

Wild hops should be milled with a hand grinder and not be taken directly from the bottle or bag into your fermenter. If using bags or packages, shake or blow dry them before storing them.

Avoid trying to use hops only described by IBUs. You can get better results by adding actual hops instead. The more extract and sugars come from the hops in the recipe, the better. Adding several grams of sugar per wort will give you great results just by making the hops easier to reach. However, adding the brewer's choice adjunct can add complexity to beers that they may not otherwise be able to, so read the advice below so you don't create a beer you wouldn't want to drink. Adding any hop flavor adjunct is going to create flavor from a variety of plants, so it's not a great idea to do just to add anything for flavor.

The flavor added by hops can range from bitter to sweet, so make sure no one has used a similar amount without taste. These hops have to be put away though, like all hops.

How much should you add?

The same technique to use for dry hopping beer is equally applicable for all brewed beers. However, since it's harder to estimate how much you add for the bittering hops in a light beer should probably be less than a light beer with no hops added. The same goes for the flavor addition to a pale ale without malt additions.

A good rule of thumb for bitterness in a light beer is to drink 100 ml of beer without bitterness, such as a lager or mild amber lager. This is usually enough to get an idea of  how much bitterness to add as it's usually difficult to estimate how much beer to give without bitterness. In other words, once you get bored with your beer, you just don't want to kill it by adding more bitterness unless you're feeling like it. This is especially important in the case of a light American lager or high gravity brew like an American IPA. Your beer does not need a ton of bitterness added, but it should at least indicate that you put in enough hops when dry hopping.

Cough syrup isn't something I recommend for the bittering additions. It has one important thing in common with the bittering additions to light beers, that's you have no idea what the final taste is going to be unless you make it yourself or your mother makes it for you.

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