How hearty are the hop plants? I live in the frozen tundra of South Dakota and we just experienced a February to forget...subzero and single digit temps for weeks...last week we hit 20 below. Will hop plants make it through a stubborn winter like this? You mentioned they can grow...
This might be redundant, but once you clean it, don't forget to repaint it with a good solid rust-resistant paint. All that fresh metal will rust like crazy.
Like malkore said. Double check your set up first for leaks. I found out the hard way that temperature differences can exagerate weak parts and cause substantial leaks.