mwill07
Well-Known Member
I've recently gotten the gardening bug. I had a mildly successful garden last year and now I'm taking it up a level: building a couple of raised beds and having a couple yards of compost trucked in to fill them up.
While I'm doing all of this for vegetables, it only makes sense to get some hops in the ground too - unfortunately, the hops will not be in the vegetable garden - I don't want any perennials in there so I can till it all up at the end of the season.
The hop plan is to screw an eyelet into a rafter off of the overhang of my roof, and fixing a rope between the eyelet and a stake (screw?) in the ground below, using some sort of pulley system whereby I can lower the rope for harvest without getting up on the ladder. I'm hoping that the rope can be a good foot or so away from the house to prevent any vines from trying to grow underneath my siding. The overhang is about 20 feet up (2 story house), so there should be enough room for the hops to stretch out. I feel pretty good about the concept so far.
I want to start out with four plants, in two varieties. if successful (i.e. wife acceptance), I can add additional plants later on. I'd like two of each variety for some redundancy.
My concern is what can grow in this region. I know they recommend hops grow north of the 35th parallel - my exact latitude at my house is 34.93 (35 deg N is actually about 4 or 5 miles north. I figure I'm close enough to make this work). However, I'm concerned about our Carolina heat and humidity. I'm just south of Charlotte to be more exact.
I want to select hops that have been proven to grow in southern climates, and I want hops that are very versatile. I've seen from Zulu's blog that he's been successful with Cascade, Centennial, Golding, Mt Hood, Nugget and Willamette, and that's not far from me.
I've pretty much nailed down that I want to grow Cascade to start with, and I'd like something else to compliment. I want something that can be used with cascade (i.e. bitter w/ cascade, aroma with ____), as well as a foundation for other beers as well. As far as my tastes in what I like to brew - I like non-dark ales: pales, bitters, browns, strong, etc. I'm not so much into stouts/porters, and I don't have capabilities (yet) for lagers.
So - long story short - pls suggest a versatile hop that will grow well in southern climates that can compliment cascade.
TIA
While I'm doing all of this for vegetables, it only makes sense to get some hops in the ground too - unfortunately, the hops will not be in the vegetable garden - I don't want any perennials in there so I can till it all up at the end of the season.
The hop plan is to screw an eyelet into a rafter off of the overhang of my roof, and fixing a rope between the eyelet and a stake (screw?) in the ground below, using some sort of pulley system whereby I can lower the rope for harvest without getting up on the ladder. I'm hoping that the rope can be a good foot or so away from the house to prevent any vines from trying to grow underneath my siding. The overhang is about 20 feet up (2 story house), so there should be enough room for the hops to stretch out. I feel pretty good about the concept so far.
I want to start out with four plants, in two varieties. if successful (i.e. wife acceptance), I can add additional plants later on. I'd like two of each variety for some redundancy.
My concern is what can grow in this region. I know they recommend hops grow north of the 35th parallel - my exact latitude at my house is 34.93 (35 deg N is actually about 4 or 5 miles north. I figure I'm close enough to make this work). However, I'm concerned about our Carolina heat and humidity. I'm just south of Charlotte to be more exact.
I want to select hops that have been proven to grow in southern climates, and I want hops that are very versatile. I've seen from Zulu's blog that he's been successful with Cascade, Centennial, Golding, Mt Hood, Nugget and Willamette, and that's not far from me.
I've pretty much nailed down that I want to grow Cascade to start with, and I'd like something else to compliment. I want something that can be used with cascade (i.e. bitter w/ cascade, aroma with ____), as well as a foundation for other beers as well. As far as my tastes in what I like to brew - I like non-dark ales: pales, bitters, browns, strong, etc. I'm not so much into stouts/porters, and I don't have capabilities (yet) for lagers.
So - long story short - pls suggest a versatile hop that will grow well in southern climates that can compliment cascade.
TIA
