What is my hops?

When I arrived in my new house I realized that there were hops grown in my backyard. The only thing I know is that the hops are planted at this location for 10 years. I talk to the previous owners but they do not know what variety they planted. Is there a way to know what variety it is? Is there a place where I can send a sample to find out what variety it is?

this may help but its extreemely difficult to identify which varietal it is....im at a loss
varieties

Take some pictures and post them. There are some differences not only in cone size and shape, but in the leaves as well. I'm sure there is a school with an AG department somewhere that should be able to help with identification.

There are only a few hops distinctive enough to identify by the cones and leaves. If you like the way they smell, use them for flavor/aroma adds.

You could try getting some of the ripe hops to experienced brewers and ask them to identify by smell & taste. They could make a tea to get the tase and aroma.

If you brew, try them out and see what they are like. Most likely they will be good for something anyway.

Here is the leaf . The plan dont have cones at this moment !

Once you get cones, if you're highly motivated, you could try and get some whole leaf samples from many different hops varieties from your local homebrew shop, and then do a smelling session and try to compare what you've got to the samples. But that would be hard as some varieties are distinctive, but many are similar to each other. If anything, it would be a pleasant experience. I find the smell of hops intoxicating.

Brew a pale ale with them as the only hops. It won't tell you exactly what you have but it'll give you an idea of the character of the hop and how it would best be used.

Local AG college will tell you exactly what you have... You'd be surprised how many professors would love a challenge... Heck might make it a class project.. Especially if you tell them you brew...

I have hops growing in my back yard too and am afraid to brew with them until I know what I have (don't want to jazz up a batch). Through another blog, I found reference to a book on hops printed by S.S. Steiner (a major hops supplier) that I understand contains good photos, as well as verbal descriptions of the cones from various hop varieties, etc. Maybe that will help.

I looked at your leaf pic. Looks different than mine, so I guess the leaves and/or cones from the various types may have noticable differences.

Hope this helps.

Dr. C

I think you can narrow down the possibilities due to the fact that you are in Quebec and the hops are 10 years old. By this I mean that many of the varieties grown and availible as rhizomes now were simply not around 10 years ago. Do a little research, find out what grows around you and call a well established homebrew shop, they may be able to help... I have a story like yours:

I had a similar issue with a neighbors hops. He had no use for his hops and I wanted to use them for brewing...he had no idea what they were. I got ahold of the local homebrew store and asked them what hops varieties were most commonly grown in our area 20 years ago (in my case) they gave me a short list and then I brought in a sample of the cones...they were able to determine that they were a German noble hop: either Tettnanger or Mt. Hood they guessed. That is close enough for me, I use them in appropriate beers for late additions.

Good luck!

the real problem is that there seems to be 4 varietals native to america. lupuloides, neomexicanus, lupulus, and pubesence(sp) and all but the neomexicanus could have been growing in your area. also i have so far been unable to find a identification chart or pics that would help with them.

i personally have found 3 different sites with 'wild' hops growing and am hunting for something a little more definitive for id than 'oh this is what grew here 20yrs ago'.

Hi Quebec OP,

The problem with the picture is that there is no scale by it. I can't tell if it is big or small but it looks fairly large. It looks familiar, but I'm not at home right now to compare with what I have. Try looking at the Freshops site. They have specifics on their varieties that include some descriptions including side arm length. Certain hops branch to the side more than others. I think on their site they mention that they got their goldings hop from British Columbia - a way from you of course, but you might look into seeing if that is a possibility.