[jrhomebrewing]

I live in Montana I had a guy recently tell me I could come pick his hops. I asked what kind they were and he didnt know. All he could tell me is that they have been at the house since the prohibition days. Does anyone have any idea what kind of hops they could be? Or how you would find out?

[hopfenundmalz]

A good guess would be Cluster. Wild hops could be a possibility.

[rjharper]

Given the timeframe I would lean towards Cluster or wild too. None of the West coast lines date back that far to my knowledge, and Cluster is considered the classic hop for pre-prohibition recipes.

[denny]

I'm not sure if Cluster was ever grown out west.  I'm also not sure it wasn't!

[tommymorris]

Cool. Probably planted by a homebrewer driven to the hobby by the Volstead act.

[hopfenundmalz]

I'm not sure if Cluster was ever grown out west.  I'm also not sure it wasn't!

There was California Cluster. That is pretty west.

[jrhomebrewing]

so if it is cluster hops can they be substituted for some other kind of hop? It would be fun to use them in some beer!! 

[pete b]

You could steep a couple cones in hot water and taste and smell to determine if they would be better for bittering or aroma. If you think you know what kind it is you could do a side by side test.

[erockrph]

If you want to taste test them, I'd just brew a small batch of a basic Pale Ale recipe. Bitter to about 35-40 IBU's with a clean bittering hop like Magnum. Then use about 1oz/gallon of the dried cones at flameout, or better yet as a hop stand at about 170F. That will generally net you a drinkable beer and give you a good idea about what the hops are like.

[denny]

I'm not sure if Cluster was ever grown out west.  I'm also not sure it wasn't!

There was California Cluster. That is pretty west.

Thanks for expanding my knowledge base, Jeff!