when to harvest hops
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uechikid
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PM me or email me and I'll send you a good book on growing hops.
So I picked some cones yesterday because they were really papery feeling and sprung back pretty quickly when squeezed. There is a fair amount of yellow lupin on the inside too.
The problem is that there is little to no aroma from these Cascades. These are 1st year hops and just wondering if I picked too soon or what?
They were almost dried out on the vine, the outside started opening and not as slender as the young ones that are still there. I will try and post a picture later.
The problem is that there is little to no aroma from these Cascades. These are 1st year hops and just wondering if I picked too soon or what?
They were almost dried out on the vine, the outside started opening and not as slender as the young ones that are still there. I will try and post a picture later.
The Pol
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You dont want them to spring back...
Well, I guess I waited too long then, I thought they were suppose to spring back like in this video. (starts at 4 minutes in )
YouTube - Harvesting Home Grown Hops
The Pol
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I have always seen where my GREEN hops will spring back since they are green, tight and bouncey... my dry hops are not, the leaves will not spring back when crushed when they are dry... like a tree leaf in the summer, as opposed to late fall.
The bract leaves at the base, should be turning brown at the tips...
The bract leaves at the base, should be turning brown at the tips...
CoalBrew
Active Member
oooh, ooooh, I need to know also... I live in KS and have some Chinooks, and some Cascades, both first years... I have noticed some of the outside leaves just starting to brown up on the larger cones... I also have some smaller less mature cones that seem to be in a different stage... Do you typically harvest all the cones at the same time??? Does the brown around the edges tell you to start checking for "spring-back"????
samc
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Sounds like you did not wait long enough.
The Pol
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If the bract leaves are browning, they are probably ready. Check one of those hops, smell it, look at the lupulin glands at the base of the leaves... it should be bright yellow and fragrant. If the leaves are starting to brown, they are probably ready, but pinch them to see if they are papery, or if they are very green and spring back. You want them papery, not dense and green.
Also, you do not pick them all, only pick those that are ready. I just harvested 2 oz. from my first harvest on the main bine, the side arms have flowered and there is probably about 4oz on them that are the second harvest and no where near ready to pick.
I live in SE Mass (Marion) and harvested most of my hops last week. However, my wife says I harvested too early. I'm not sure how she knows. I harvested when I saw some brown around the edges on some of them. This should not be the only criteria as I understand bug problems can brown your hops. I brought in the Hallertauer, Sterling, Willamette and Kent Golding. All of these varieties have an early/medium maturity designation. It does seem like I harvested earlier this year. Perhaps due to vacation schedule or all the rain we got?
My Cascades are still on the vine. I notice that USDA has them as medium/late. The cascades have turned light green as they should, but I haven't seen any brown on the edges yet.
Also check out the thread on growing hops in Massachusetts. You may get some other advice.
uechikid
Well-Known Member
That video was very helpful. Thanks
I was at a hop farm picking Cascades this morning. The farmer recommended looking for many of the same things that were mentioned in previous posts. Namely, the hop should feel dry/papery. If you tear one in half, the lupulin should be gold near the center of the hop cone, as opposed to bright yellow. He also said to look for the hops that have some of the leaves on the cone turning brown. Some cones were almost solid brown, but had a ton of lupulin and smelled wonderful.
Wingnutj
Well-Known Member
Good stuff here... I'm waiting for my second year to get here....
BREW ON!
BREW ON!
