Hey there,
I am a first year hop grower, actually second, but my first year didn't get much of a harvest. Anyways I have a great harvest coming on my Cascades. Big, heavy cones!! The problem is that they have virtually no aroma. They are getting nice and "papery" and have lots of golden lupulin. The aroma is very slight though. I picked 10 oz wet today. They were papery, crushable, and just starting to turn brown on the tips. They seemed more "grassy" than hoppy. Certainly not the pure hoppiness that I was hoping for!! Is this just a case of "Relax......" or wil the drying process enhance the aroma? Thanks.
to test the aroma you will eventually get by drying, take a cone and smash it by rubbing it vigorously between your hands. It will still be quite grassy, but you'll get an idea of the final smell.
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mine are doing the same thing. not to much smell. I let them really dry out on the vine then i picked them there was alittle more smell but not like what i was expecting. I guess we got to learn how to dry and cure them the right way
I kinda think the whole 'brown around the edge' thing is overrated as there are many things that can cause hops to do that - not always a good indicator of ripeness. Give them another week then pick a few to rip and rub and see if there is a difference from what you experienced a week earlier. This will also enable you to help see the progression of ripeness. If the petals are almost breaking away from the strig you're probably real close. Determining when they're 'done' is not real easy, just ask the guys that do it for a living. It's a whole 'live and learn' episode which may take a few years for you to become comfortable with. Keep at it!
My hops have very little aroma??
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