Brand New - Complete Newbie Questions - Pt. 2 - Growing HOPS

Ok, so this is my second thread (can you tell?).

I am starting brewing. Planning on homebrewing in March.

Firstly, I know I won't be able to brew all with just my own grown hops, and I know if I only start growing them this year I can't use them if I start brewing in March.

BUT.... I am looking into making this all as much home-grown stuff as possible.

I want to use as much homegrown ingredients as possible. (Vegetables/fruits, hops, etc.)

What hops do you recommend for that? What will I use most, and will grow best? I am in the Hershey-Harrisburg-Carlisle area of Pennsylvania. Anyone in the area grow hops and know which varieties grow best in this area?

Also what are some other good ingredients I can grow at home that I will be using in beer, or can possibly use in different beers.


Thanks all!

I admire your passion.

That said, you are months away from homebrewing for the first time; might it not make more sense to get a few brews under your belt, figure out if you really like it or not, determine what kinds of hops you'd be most interested in growing, and then looking into hop growing?

Hops won't be able to start until April or whenever your last frost is (I believe early May here in Denver). First year can be hit or miss if they'll produce cones, so realistically you're looking at October 2018 for a beer made with only your hops. You might get a few batches per bine if you do something with a reasonable amount of hops.

This book may be interesting to you, it came out within the last month or two:

http://www.brewerspublications.com/books/brewinglocal/

I agree with mongoose33, get a few batches under your belt. Learn your way around your equipment, hit your target gravity, and make sure you can keep everything sanitary. Any reason for waiting until march? You could even get a 1 gallon setup for your stove to play around and get the hang of things without too much equipment cost and storage.

As far as which hops, most the normal ones should grow well in the US (cascade, chinook, nugget, magnum, etc). Look for some hop farms in the surrounding area and give them a call, I'm sure they'd be happy to chat now that the season is winding down.