Hops in Minnesota - if you could only grow 2

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crstevens15

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Hey everyone, I've been lurking on HBT for a while now. The info is great.

Anyway I'm thinking about planting a couple varieties of hops this year and was wondering how people would answer this question:

If you could only grow two varieties, what would they be?

I'm leaning towards cascade and centennial but not completely sold on centennial.

Also any suggestions for varieties that do well in Minnesota?
 
+1

My friend I brew with ordered hops this year from Northwest Hops and he is a first time grower. He read a couple books and a whole bunch of threads, and decided on going with Cascade and Centennial like you had mentioned. He was debating between Chinook, Kent Goldings and Centennial but ended up going with centennial because of availability and he can always brew a Two Hearted Ale to use them up.

If I were you I would make a list of beer styles you tend to brew and drink the most and choose the hop variety that can produce as many as those beers as possible.
 
Both are great varieties for pale ale's and IPA's. If that's what you primarily brew then go for it. They both do well in MN I believe. Look especially closely at hops you use in late additions and dry hops. Using fresh whole leaf hops here helps a lot (and are more expensive than pellet bittering hops). I still plan on using the store bought pellet hops for beers where bittering is critical (w/ lab AAU%'s).

I put cascade, williamette, and hallertau in the ground last spring. Got some decent production out of the first 2. Hope to get much more this year, especially considering the longer growing season we're about to have. I like to brew a variety of American, English, and German brews. So I found that many of these recipes used late additions or dry hopping of these varieties.

I'm now wishing I had a centennial as well since I really loved the B2H clone that I made this winter. I'll keep that in mind for next year and possibly add one more variety. Give myself some time to see how the current varieties go as well.
 
Thanks for the thoughts. One of the reasons I'm looking for insight is that im fairly new, 3 batches under my belt.

Thus far I'm into American styles, first was an American brown, and I'm just cracking into the American amber I recently brewed as my first AG.

My hesitation is that cascades and centennials seem to be very similar and I'd like a little diversity.
 
Two cascades. I love IPAs and they're good for any stage of the brew, plus they're pretty hard to screw up and you get big yields.
 
agreed that centennial are relatively similar to cascade - i'd consider something from the noble hops family/persuasion for some variety. Perle, Spalt Select, Sterling and Santiam fit this bill. check out the spreadsheet in my signature for more info.
 
It really depends on what you like to brew. If you are just starting out, variety might be nice to push you to try new things. There are generally 3 families of hop flavor: citrus, floral, and spicy. The C hops are citrus, British varieties are more floral and earthy, and German are usually spicy.
 
In my area, I've had great luck with hallertauer, cascade and chinook growing exceedingly well. Centennial is doing better than ok, willamette is barely surviving. We're in zone 3/4 here.
 
I'm in the northern half of the twin cities. Chinook and cascade have done really well. My centenials first year went well enough. We'll see how it does this year.
 
Well, I can assure you that Cascade can grow well in MN. Here's my second year Cascade plant from today which looks like it's about to take over to neighborhood.

Didn't have any luck with Chinook, however.

FdSzw.jpg
 
This will be my first year I'm going to put chinook centennial and Willamette. I live in se mn any one else in se mn growing hops or brewing?
 
I'm in the northern twin cities as well.

I went with cascade, nugget and willamette. We'll se how it goes,
 
I'm out on the west side, west of Eden Prairie and I grow Cascade, Chinook and Centennial.
 
I currently have Horizon & either Sterling or Liberty (I can't recall.)
The ones I can't recall have never flowered, in 4 years.
They will get replaced with Northern Brewer.
The Horizon do quite well.
 
I peeked under the skirt of my 2nd year hops this past weekend (under the leaf bedding). No growth yet. Hard freeze this morning in the Walker area so it's just as well. I hope they can hibernate a bit longer.
 
I have a 3rd year Cascade that's 4' tall already!
And here is my 2nd year magnum as of yesterday, or two days ago.
2012-04-02191541.jpg
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Just got my trellis all built and my hops planted now just waiting for this frost to go away

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I'm in the northern burbs and have had great luck with Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Columbus, Zeus, and Nugget. Not so much luck with Fuggle yet though.
 
ONE YEAR LATER.... how did those yeilds go for you Minnesotans in the Fall of 2012? I am a first time grower, and have just ordered a bunch of crowns from Great Lakes Hops. 3 Columbus, 3 Glacier, and 2 Nugget. Can't wait to get them in the ground. I have heard great things about crowns from GL Hops and hope for some yeild this fall (even though they are 1st year). Any tips??
 
I had great growth out of my Cascade, Hallertau, and Williamette last year. All got to or near the top of the rope/eye bolt that's 22' up the tree. Willliamette wandered a little further up the tree. But because of the dry condtions in August/Sept my cones were smaller than I would have liked. I can only give supplemental watering when we travel north, which is about every other weekend. Maybe a couple of dry oz per variety for last years harvest.

This upcoming growing season is year 3, so from this point forward the plants should be considered mature I guess. Now I'm looking to add a few more: Centennial, Chinook, and a bittering hop like Nugget or Columbus. If any of you Mn guys want to trade rhizo's let me know (have Williamette, Hallertau, and Cascade for potential trade). I will be up north at our property again in a few weeks to dig.

I'm thinking about bringing a Cascade home to grow along our wood fence. Would provide some extra green if nothing else.
 
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