Hop Bottom wild hops

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Funnyfarm

Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2010
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Hop Bottom, PA
I live just outside a little town called Hop bottom In Ne Pennsylvania. Many years back it was where all the hops was grown for all the local breweries ( and there were a ton of them at one point) Anyhow I planted my 1st hops last year and its doing great.I was walking through my yard from the barn and just happened to look at what i always considered to be just some ratty over grown vine and bang there they are a ton of hops cones been growing there the whole time. Now I'm wondering if anyone would know what variety they are.
hmm? can't seem to post pics of them but I'll work on it
 
Do you know what year they would have been planted? Most likely they are some version of English cluster.

Actually, they have probably gone feral by now and acquired their own flavor. Harvest a few, make a tea and see what they taste like.
 
Hopefully someone with some historical information on your area will chime in, but your best bet will be to scour local records.

An even better idea; BREW with them! If you open them up and see some lupulin just throw them in a batch. I've found five different "wild" plants in my area near roadways. I made a smash with one of them that I harvested a good amount from last year recently and although it wasn't nearly as hoppy as the amount used would dictate, it was still beer and very drinkable. You're really just pissing into the wind right now as far as finding out variety. Just make a simple beer and decide from there if it's something you'd like to put the work into drying and packaging on a yearly basis. JMHO.
 
Hmm? curious was just reading a little on the history of the area and it said the hops was growing here when the settlers arrived. So i'm guessing that the wild hops here is truly a native hops... Not that i'm an expert lol i think i'm going to take some of it to my garden and feed and propagate it and see what i get
 
Try a beer with them before you put them in. Trust me. If they brew a nice beer they'll still be there next year to bring home.
 
they are already on my property so they aren't going anywhere. i suppose its a bit nostalgic for me lots of stuff we grow here on the farm is stuff should be here anyhow aka ginseng that was wiped out by over picking... American chestnut which was wiped out by blight... So to have a few hops plants going that are likely related to the hops grown here for 200 yrs with a town named after hops. i've got plenty of room and just because they may or may not be tasty as they are right now doesn't mean after a few years of good care and plenty of composted manure they won't go back to being something worthy. At the least i'll be able to say i'm keeping the strain alive and make a joke about how awful they taste lol.
 
I know what you're saying funny. I have a two plants growing less than five minutes from my new home along the road that I harvested last year. They were very healthy plants and I'm thinking they're probalby the same strain since they grow about 100 yards from each other on the oppisite side of the road.

My point in the above post was that if they're doing well, leaves look good with abundant cones for harvesting, why try to propogate? I get the nostolgia but you can brew with them as is, from your property, and decide if it's a variety that you'd like to have on hand all the while growing varieties that you know make good beer. Just my .02
 
My point in the above post was that if they're doing well, leaves look good with abundant cones for harvesting, why try to propogate?
They are not growing in the most ideal location. Currently harvesting would time consuming and slightly dangerous. If i were to move them into the field with the rest of my hops i could put them on a pole... more easily fertilize and care for them etc...
 
I know what you're saying funny. I have a two plants growing less than five minutes from my new home along the road that I harvested last year. They were very healthy plants and I'm thinking they're probalby the same strain since they grow about 100 yards from each other on the oppisite side of the road.

My point in the above post was that if they're doing well, leaves look good with abundant cones for harvesting, why try to propogate?

They are not growing in the most ideal location. Currently harvesting would time consuming and slightly dangerous. If i were to move them into the field with the rest of my hops i could put them on a pole... more easily fertilize and care for them etc...
 
Back
Top