Dry hopping with Fresh hops?

[casalingo_brewers]

Hello Brewers. I was lucky enough to get a little harvest of my Centennial hop plant this year: 1.5 kg!
Problem of course is that I do not know how strong it is regarding Alpha-Acid content. It smells wonderful though!
I froze the hops immediately in several ziplock-bags and now I'd like to do a Centennial single-hop IPA with dry hopping.
Question 1: Can I use the fresh hops from the garden for dry hopping?
What is the infection risk?
Question 2: do I need to cut the hops open in order to release the Lupillin better?

Thanks for your input

 

[casalingo_brewers]

So, in the end I tried it without input - and it was GREAT !!!

1: Fresh hops from the garden were fine. No infection!
No idea about alpha-Acid, but assumed 30% weaker than pellet equivalent.

2: while the hops were still frozen, I put them into a little hand-blender to open up. I had noticed, that the buds close on contact with liquid, so I thought that the lupilin cannot release into the beer. Worked great (but do this before defrost, or you get a sticky mess...)

People called me last week by phone to tell me it was the best beer they ever drank!
(Yes I know: who still uses a phone at this day and age? )

 

[BOB357]

Alpha Acid % makes almost no difference when dry hopping. What does make a big difference when using fresh hops is the amount of their weight that is moisture. About 80% of dry hop weight is water so, as a rule of thumb, you need about 5 times the weight than when using dried hops.

 

[Dragonwood Brewing]

To add to other replies.
1. Generally hops do not need treatment for infection as they have natural antiseptic properties.

2. Allow for extra wort volume as you will get increase in volume loss due to whole-cone/leaf absorption during dry hopping.