Recent content by Shovhed1

I recently picked 1/2 of a brown paper shopping bag of hallerteau hops. Dried them for 5 days, then packed them into a ziplock bag (very sticky and aromatic). The bag weighed 2 ounces. Not that much for all those hops.

The hop plants are 4 year old hallerteau. They are not the only thing goin crazy around here. Vegtable garden goin stronger than usual. Trees and lawn are almost out of control. Probably has to do with warm weather in march and april, and the lack of a late frost. We are also way ahead on...

The reason I picked them is because the tips of the leaves was turning brown and papery. When I pull one apart, the lupulin glands are large and yellow, and very sticky. The hops I picked have been on the vine for 2 months now, and were not getting any larger. A month ago, they had no odor. Now...

I'm in Pittsburgh and just picked my first batch. I only picked the largest ones (about the size of my thumb) and ended up with about half a shopping bag. They smell great and are on the drying rack right now. Cant wait to use them. I left about 2/3 of the cones on the vine. I hope they get as...

My 3 year old Hallerteu hops are loaded and the cones are big. I tore one apart, not ready yet. Completely oderless. Maybe a week or so.

My 4 year old Hallertau hops have passed the 8' mark. They are growing about 4" per day. I'm goin to have to extend the trellis upward sooner than I expected. This years plantings are only 3' tall.

I made 1 out of a burner from a old hot water heater. It's only 35000 btu's so its only good up to 5 gallon batches. Works great and cost nothing.

3/4" galvanized steel electric conduit. cheap, light, strong, can be easily welded. $4 for a 10' length at home depot

The book "Small scale organic hops production" states that you can propagate hops 3 ways. Rhizomes, cuttings, and seeds, with seeds being the least desireable due to male plants. The cuttings I took from the plant appeared to be dead branches, but there was evidence of small buds at the joints...

Put a few 16' 2x4's in the ground directly below the gutter and put 1 screw into the upper lip of the gutter. Run your strings up past the roof to the top of the 2x4. You can sit on the roof to pick the hops. They wont do well laying on the shingles.

The first week in Jan. I cut some of the above ground branches from my 3 year old hop plant. I cut the branches into pieces about 6" long and put them in water. They rooted in about 2 weeks and I potted them a week later. The plants are growing so fast (2-4 inches per day) that I have to cut...

When I peeked in, there was no sign of activity, so I pitched 2 tubes of ale yeast in it. It's rockin and rollin now! I'll never brew again without makin a starter.

Yep, seal is good. I'm gonna add some yeast if nothing happens soon. Do I need to oxygenate the wort again, or just sneek the yeast in.

I brewed a Raushbier 48 hours ago and have no airlock activity yet. The smack pack yeast I used was dated 11/07, and seemed to be puffing up nicely when pitched. I've been brewing for 4 years and this is a 1st for me. I dont usually brew from kits, but this was a X-mas gift. I have plenty of...

Thanks for your timely response. In the future, I'll check my hops inventory before I start boiling water. I used the kent goldings. It's rockin & rollin 12 hrs. after pitchin.