The majority of crock-style pickle recipes I have seen (and many for the "canned" type) call for grape leaves to keep the pickles crisp. I don't know where I'd find grape leaves locally, but I've been told that hops are very closely related to grapes, and I have hops growing in my yard. Can you tell me if I can substitute the hop leaves for the grape leaves in these recipes?

It appears as though the leaves are edible as there are recipes for hop-leaf-tea and stuffed hop leaves on the Internet. I know finding the proper amount to use might take some experimentation, but I'm willing to try as long as I know it is safe to do so.

Thanks for any advice you can give.