Varieties to start with

Myself and d missus after many years of searching have bought a house in the countryside which has some ground that i can get growing on.

I'm just lookin for some recommendations for getting started. I really like what varieties like citra and amarillo do for aroma/flavour in my pale ales. I realise however, that these varieties are proprietary ones so I wont be getting my hands on them. Suggestions for other available varieties that are good for late additions & dry hopping?

Other than that i'm definitely getting some german lager hops. Saaz, hallertauer etc.

Cheers

read the hops comparison sticky and see if that helps any.

Cascade is one of my favorites, and it grows well in my cool climate. Kent Goldings may grow well for you, and those are nice in English beers.

Centennial is a nice citrusy/floral hop and it grows fine for me as well.

Hallertauer is a "low yield" hop, but it grows like a weed and is almost invasive so I get tons of hops off of one plant. I have to keep hacking it back during the summer with a machete, as it would overtake my yard!

Another vote for Cascade. I might also recommend Fuggles, which I think can grow well in your climate.

I really just posted because we share the same name

I haven't anything to add, but my wife and I just spent a number of days in Kilkenny last month. Beautiful part of the world.

Centennial, cascade & nugget fit the citrus profile. My newport hops smell of grapefruit, but I don't know if that's common.

Centennial, Columbus, Chinook, Summit, Nugget, Horizon, Northern Brewer

Thanks for all the replies folks. Just looking into sourcing them at the mo. Some varieties will be difficult to source over here, cascade is all that seems to be available. Does any body know of a supplier that offers international shipping from the U.S.

The Drizzle said:

I haven't anything to add, but my wife and I just spent a number of days in Kilkenny last month. Beautiful part of the world.

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Yup it's nice here but the weather has been a bit schizo during the last month. I was driving somewhere last week and the cars temp readout was 38F, at 2 in the afternoon, in April!!! Hope it didn't put too much of dampener on your holiday

Brewer Gerard said:

Thanks for all the replies folks. Just looking into sourcing them at the mo. Some varieties will be difficult to source over here, cascade is all that seems to be available. Does any body know of a supplier that offers international shipping from the U.S.

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countries tend to be very picky about what live plant material does and doesn't (emphasis on doesn't) enter their borders. i'd concentrate on finding an irish- or UK-based supplier.

cascade, btw, is a solid choice, as is centennial. both are classic american-style IPA hops.

check out the spreadsheet in my signature for some additional thoughts on what hops to grow.

Cheers i actually already had that printed out! Looks like cascade should do fine over here. Have a cutting arriving tomorrow, any tips for giving it the best start?

Hopefully this equals hops next year! I went for cascade as this was all i could get that was recommended.

I sat down one day to figure out what was in the majority if the recipes I like and brew, I ended up planting 2 chinooks, 2 cascades, willamette, centenial, east kent golding...

hopefully get yield on them this year

Cascade is such a great hop. I find it to be the hardiest and most productive of my vines. It's also quite a versatile hop. I've used it in everything from pales to stouts. Fuggles would probably be my 2nd choice. Not a great producer though, at least not where I live.

Once i get a bit of time i'm going to organise my hop yard for next season. After having a thumb through the homebrewers garden I think i'll use the tent pole trellis that was outlined. My plan is to use some tree trunks from some very big leyland cyprus that are growing around the perimeter at my place. I'm thinkin of burying them about 4 feet down with the bark left on.

Any potential pitfalls here? Will this type of wood be ok buried in the ground?

I've got a Cascade, a Liberty, and a Willamette in my back yard. The strongest producer by a long shot is the Cascade. This year I got a lawn service and the Cascade hill got a little shot of weed killer, which took out about half the hill. The Willy was almost completely wiped, although after I clipped out all the dying bines it sent up a few more healthy ones. No cones this year, but I think it will live.

The Liberty didn't send up as many bines as the Cascade but for whatever reason was way faster...I think at one point the Liberty had one bine at 8', one at 6' while the tallest bine on the Cascade was about 3'. Pruning would probably help that one though.

I think my favorite of the three when dropped into the kettle is the Willy, but the Cascade is versatile enough that we use it up. I keep trying to convince my brew buddy that we need to a pilsner with all home-grown Cascades.

If you are finding it too difficult to purchase rhizomes, you may be able to convince one or two of the home hop growers here to bury some late bines to cultivate rhizomes and send you a couple.

Is that a hardwood? Doesn't seem to be. If you are going to put that into the ground you will want to protect the portion you put into the ground. Remove as much bark as you can and coat it in a tar at least a foot past the part you are putting into the ground.

Brewer Gerard said:

Once i get a bit of time i'm going to organise my hop yard for next season. After having a thumb through the homebrewers garden I think i'll use the tent pole trellis that was outlined. My plan is to use some tree trunks from some very big leyland cyprus that are growing around the perimeter at my place. I'm thinkin of burying them about 4 feet down with the bark left on.

Any potential pitfalls here? Will this type of wood be ok buried in the ground?

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Hmmmm

I dont think i was very clear in what I was trying to articulate in my last post as i was in a desperate rush when i was writing it! I will try to summarize the situation.

I started the thread looking for recommendations for suitable varieties. I acquired 3 varieties including cascade and have successfully planted them.

So now my bines, as they seem to be called are starting to grow and i'll need to erect something for them to climb. I was having a read through "the homebrewers garden", a book some may be familiar with! One of the trellis systems outlined in this book is a tent pole trellis. This is where a pole is erected and the hops mounds are placed in a circular layout around this central pole.

My concern is if I used a tree trunk as the central pole for this system could there be any potential downsides. Would it be sturdy enough if buried 3-4feet down? Could it possibly rot even if I leave the bark on?

Just looking for some opinions!

Depending on the wood. If it was a hard wood, which I dont think Cyprus is, the wood will rot and leave you with a down tent of hops. If you were to use the trunk the suggestion of coating the bottome 5 feet with tar will prevent anything from rotting. If you can get a treated 20' 4x4 that would work better. Another suggestion is to place a bicycle wheel rim at the top of the pole then tie your guy lines from that to the ground, but really toeach their own. whatever yoy choose make sure there is plenty of sun, feed and weed, and you will be neck deep in cones before you know it! Good luck!

I'll be sure to tar it up so. Yes i meant to say i was going to incorporate guy lines too. cheers for the reply