I have a few bines growing, and Centennial was way earlier than the rest this year. I harvested them when they became light yellow-green and were obviously papery in texture. I did notice that they had a subtle garlicy smell though. I brewed with them anyway and the beer smells like oranges. I haven’t tried it yet since I started dry hopping today. But generally it seems the garlic did not come through.
The conventional wisdom is confusing me. I picked when they were papery but I still got the off-aroma of garlic. My understanding is this is a bad thing, so I’m looking to pick my other hops earlier. My Chinook went from obviously grassy to now smelling absolutely incredible! But the texture is sort of damp paper. Still drier than an immature hop, but still has some moisture. Is it time to harvest? Do I wait a little longer until they actually start turning brown around the edges? Picture of the Chinook:
Weather here in the Bay Area in California is hot around this time, if it matters.
The conventional wisdom is confusing me. I picked when they were papery but I still got the off-aroma of garlic. My understanding is this is a bad thing, so I’m looking to pick my other hops earlier. My Chinook went from obviously grassy to now smelling absolutely incredible! But the texture is sort of damp paper. Still drier than an immature hop, but still has some moisture. Is it time to harvest? Do I wait a little longer until they actually start turning brown around the edges? Picture of the Chinook:
Weather here in the Bay Area in California is hot around this time, if it matters.