UK hop wine

[jaroporter]

so the harvest just ended and i haven't quite the freezer space to accommodate all the hops that've made it my way. so i'm gonna chuck a load in some wine and see what happens. when i last (years ago) made wine it was a very "rustic" process using "generic yeast". since i started brewing ale i realised the importance of yeast selection, so i guess the question(s) are as follows..

1) what yeast?! i have NO idea at all about wine yeasts. i'd presume some kind of white wine yeast would be best but there appear to be a few of those..

2) i think i'll use targets as the hop, but also have a load of EKGs. anyone put forward a strong argument for using one or the other, or a blend?

i'll appreciate any advice if anyone has any recommendations

cheers!

[seymour]

I don't understand the question. Are you saying you have tons of grapes too, or easier access to wine grapes than malted grain? I have some info about wine yeasts (Montrachet is a cool one) but I have no idea what to recommend for a hopped wine.

I've made Welsh braggot (a hopped malt and honey mead recipe) using Champagne yeast that turned out well, if that helps.

[jaroporter]

sorry, to clarify - wine made with hops as the main ingredient, much like other flower hedgerow wines. there'd probably be some grape concentrate thrown in there to help give it more body and wine-feel too, though.

hop champagne sounds nice actually..

EDIT: something along these lines really..

one gallon recipe:
hops 3oz
bruised ginger 1oz
sugar 2.25 lbs
orange 1
lemon 1
water 1 gallon
yeast and nutrient

there's actually a one hour boil with the yeast and hops there before adding the rest of the ingredients.

[seymour]

Gotcha. Well, hops won't provide any sugar content, of course, so like other flower wines you'll likely need lots of table sugar. Do you plan to boil them at all to release some bitterness? If not, then I would build a recipe around the aroma aspects alone. Targets have a fairly intense combination of Northern Brewer and Goldings aromas. Your EKGs likely have a more classic and harmonious fruity/citrusy/earthy/flowery aroma. You could always keep them separate and do a batch of each for comparison.

EDIT: I see now you've already got that all figured out. Cheers!

[scuppeteer]

Target for me. Had a couple of pints of green hop beer in my local, which was brewed with Target. Absolutely cracking pint. Made all the nicer by the farmer, who grew the hops, joining us for a beer as well.

[jaroporter]

damn green hop beer! i had almost suppressed it from my ćonscious! now is not the time to be spending a couple of weeks away from kent..

oh god i'm torturing myself looking at the list of the beers and the farms they came from!!!!