Homegrown Hops

ian said:

Hey you North Carolina guys, I'm growing my first hops this year and am not really sure when to harvest. The Cascades are looking really good in size and appearance but when I pick one I get pretty much no aroma. Is this normal for this area and time of year? I was wondering how strong they'd be before drying?

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The texture of the cones should be "papery". When you break one open the lupulin should be yellowy/orange, like that of a school Xing sign. If the lupulin is light yellow they're not ready to pick yet. Crush it between your thumb and forefinger and give it a whiff, your Cascades should smell like grapefruit and leave your fingers nice and resiny.
Jeff

I didn't get mine in this weekend, so they'll have to wait till next as I'm off to sunny Sveeden. Hey Jeff, think about me ~10:07am Raleigh time on Friday when I'm teeing off on the local Swedish course in the 65-70F weather and I'll think about you!

You know you can hire a cute Swedish gal to caddie for you, she'll even wash your balls. Have fun.
Jeff

BostonBrewin', love the damn title you gave yourself, love the avatar. Can't WAITfor the season to start.

Yeah, I guess the Sox avatar had to go...

In re:Swedish caddy, I was quite disappointed to find out there aren't any beer girls. OTOH, beer is like $8/pint over there. Barbarians.

the_bird said:

BostonBrewin', love the damn title you gave yourself, love the avatar. Can't WAITfor the season to start.

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Yeah, after the asswhoopin' the damn Yankees gave us I can't wait for football season either

They're just lucky it wasn't a BEST OF ELEVEN series, we would have had their asses. Whodathunk, we'd get the best-pitched game from Boomer and Foulky?

They just really suck right now. Can't beat TB, can't beat KC, can't beat NY. Only bright spot is Papi's run at the MVP.