Small scale Hop production

So I’m looking into starting a small production for myself on some unused land I have. My question is realistically how many hop plants can one person manage on their own by hand (no machines). From care/ maintenance to harvest and packaging? Let me know what you guys are doing and what kind of time is involved?

I am intrested in finding out also.

Nickeldeposit said:

So I’m looking into starting a small production for myself on some unused land I have. My question is realistically how many hop plants can one person manage on their own by hand (no machines). From care/ maintenance to harvest and packaging? Let me know what you guys are doing and what kind of time is involved?

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I've got 14 plants distributed on 2 parallel lines (about 30 ft long)... it's about all I can handle in addition to all my other "duties". Initial stringing in the spring (i don't leave my coir rope out on the lines all winter) and harvest/drying are the most time consuming things. Otherwise it is monitoring, training, trimming excess bines, digging up the crown every couple years and trimming it...

That’s the info I was looking for. I was thinking 12-16 plants. What varieties have you got and what kind of production do you get from each plant/ variety?

Are you in this by yourself or could you get/hire some decent help?

You have two big hurtles to overcome. First is setting up the hopyard and the second is harvesting. Watering, nutrients and other maintenance is easy enough.

You can imagine the amount of time you will spend planting 20 foot poles 4 feet in the ground, running cabeling, tying off twine, etc. If you are putting in more than a handful, you probably also want to put in some form of irrigation so you don't end up spending your entire summer watering.

For harvest, we've seen around 20 to 30 minutes to harvest a fully mature bine by hand. That's assuming you have dedicated motivated labor that is paid to produce. If you are talking volunteers, don't expect to see that unless they are only doing 1 to 2 bines.

Depending on how you plant, on an acre you can fit 1,000 to 1,200 rhizomes. do the math on the time and labor rate and you will discover hand harvesting is not necessarily economically sustainable. The good news is that mechanical harvesting equipment is fairly easy to manufacture. Separation of leaves and stems from the cones though is a bit harder. I don't have that 100% figured out.

Other nuggets of wisdom for you:

- Almost forget about doing it for this year. WA isn't selling rhizomes in mass out of the state, so its almost impossible to get more than a dozen rhizomes of any kind.

- That's OK, because that gives you a year to set up your trellis, amend your soil and get ready.

- What are you going to do for sales/processing? Some brewers will take whole cone (sometimes even for a wetharvest ale, so no drying) but its rare. You need to figure out a way to pelletize or at least make hop plugs and then vacuum pack them.

I'm not trying to dissuade you. Raising hops commercially is a blast. We've been doing it for a couple of years now. I just wish I could go back in time and warn myself of all the mistakes I was about to make and the "little" things I was about to overlook.

GVH Dan:

Thanks for the great info and facts. But I'm not looking at getting into the market of large scale operation. I'm just running one trellis line (80') for now with a few varieties spaced as needed for my own/ friends use. The time to de-cone per plant is really helpful though.

Thanks

Nickeldeposit said:

That’s the info I was looking for. I was thinking 12-16 plants. What varieties have you got and what kind of production do you get from each plant/ variety?

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Mine will be 3rd year and this will be my first full season on the trellis (late installation last year after being staked the 1st year). I had a few ounces dried from each. Of the 14 plants I think I have:
2x Centennial
2x Nugget
2x Golding
2x Fuggle
Mt Hood
Willamette
Magnum
Cascade
Chinook
Crystal

If I get full production this year I will likely need to build an oast of some kind and have a general plan for that.


and I +1 vote for Dan's suggestion about drip irrigation. Not terribly expensive or time consuming to set up if you have a readily available water source and it will help immensely if you have dry spells.


And if you can get rhizomes this year, get 2 of the smaller ones (the ones they sell at NB or Midwest) per mound or one of the Jumbo from freshops per mound. Even if you don't get a trellis up this year and stake them on 6-8 ft poles, it will give the root system a good head start and the next year will be better than starting from scratch IMO.

Dan may be seeing some commercial quantity restrictions or volume issues for rhizomes, but NB, Freshops, and Midwest all have decent selections still available.

I personally have been happiest with my orders from Freshops and I have ordered from Thyme garden (my #2 preference), NB, Midwest, and one other place I can't recall in order to get the varieties I wanted.

http://www.freshops.com/cgi-bin/sho...s=all&template=PDGCommTemplates/rhizomes.html

http://www.thymegarden.com/site/561124/page/217466

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-ingredients/hops/hop-rhizomes.html

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...rhizomes?SID=0f6d05ff641ae5bf8ca8a5b3dbe6bc58


The percentage of dead or without growth bud rhizomes received from both Midwest and NB was unacceptable, IMO. Better off dealing directly with the supplier at the source.

I just want the snow gone and the sun to step forward.

Nickeldeposit said:

I just want the snow gone and the sun to step forward.

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Amen, brother.

In Ames you ought to be able to get some composted manure if your soil isn't already pretty awesome, no?

I'm not sure if I could improve my soil any j/k. It’s black and rich and the top soil layer has to be over 18”-24” deep plus. I’ll be working with a few local farmers to get some of their manure just to enrich the soil even more. Iowa may not be the coolest place to live but it’s easy to get stuff to grow great. Hopefully my hops like it.

Nickeldeposit said:

I'm not sure if I could improve my soil any j/k. It’s black and rich and the top soil layer has to be over 18”-24” deep plus. I’ll be working with a few local farmers to get some of their manure just to enrich the soil even more. Iowa may not be the coolest place to live but it’s easy to get stuff to grow great. Hopefully my hops like it.

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That's what I thought... Those hops are gonna go nuts. I wouldn't even worry about amending it much for the first year, but use composted manure during the course of the season as top-dressing/mulch and continue to do so and you will have tall and happy hops with lots of cones.

I started last year with 4 varieties (2 rhizomes ea) and an 80' long patch.
One pole on each end and a center at 40' spaced 6' between like varieties and 16' between varieties. This will allow for splitting next year and 3' between like for 16 climbers in year 3.

I may add 4 more varieties in a parallel patch, for more hop variety, but 16 will be plenty for now.

Hallertauer, Cascade, Centenial and Nugget.

8 first year plants gave me enough for 3 5gal batches. This year with better production I anticipate enough hops for 8-10 5 gal batches. 16 plants and I'll have more than enough for my needs when they are fully developed.

The second row of 8-16 plants would be for variety and to share with my neighbors whom I'm hoping to get into brewing by then... They are interested, just not yet ready to take the leap. I may have to help them out with some old equipment gifts... as I proceed with my brewing desires.

Randar, do you have any pics of your set up? I'm in Aurora IL, so were 'neighbors'. I'd like to add 8 different hops to the 4 I'm already growing. I'm trying to negotiate 'perfect trellis' with don't tick off my neighbors. I know there are a million threads here on trellis's but you've got a lot and were in the same region/climate. I'd like to role model someone local if possible as we share the same weather/insect/soil issues.

Any tips majorly appreciated.

Retrofit said:

Randar, do you have any pics of your set up? I'm in Aurora IL, so were 'neighbors'. I'd like to add 8 different hops to the 4 I'm already growing. I'm trying to negotiate 'perfect trellis' with don't tick off my neighbors. I know there are a million threads here on trellis's but you've got a lot and were in the same region/climate. I'd like to role model someone local if possible as we share the same weather/insect/soil issues.

Any tips majorly appreciated.

Click to expand...

Sure, no problem. For my trellis I scored 6"x6"x16' poles for 2 bucks each at a local home depot because someone had ordered them and rejected them for delivery. They are normally more than $50 each. It was dumb luck on my part. I used galvanized wire rope with inline turnbuckle tensioners and anchored them in 2 30' runs (2 parallel runs) with 40" earth anchors.

With our soil 3-3.5' deep is plenty deep, but you'll want to get a 2-man post hole auger.

Wish I had better pictures here at work. I will see what I can find at home.

As for the neighbors? Good luck! My nosey neighbor called the village on me and I had inspectors, planning/zoning commission, and utility people all come look at it before determining it was OK. No code for a "garden trellis" in my village thankfully.

The original inspectors came by to ask what it was, a couple of guys in their 50's. When I told them I grew hops, the one guy asked "what?". The other guy goes: "He grows his own hops... he makes his own beer... it must be awesome!"

So we had a good laugh. In the end I had to do very little. Check your local code for such things, call Julie to have your utilities marked, and then let any of your grumpy neighbors know what you're going to do so they aren't busting your balls about it.

I'm pretty close to Palwaukee airport (Chicago Executive), so my wife always gives me a hard time we should put warning lights on it!

Oh, and with the wind and mild summers the past couple years, I have not had any real disease issues. Just keep them well fed and top-dress with manure if you can get it for free!

Japanese beetles are the only thing to really watch out for. If you and your neighbors are good about applying grub killer on your lawns and flower beds, you will not be too bad. Otherwise, plant some pole beans nearby (they much prefer pole beans and rose bushes) or put a japanese beetle trap in some neighbor's tree downwind of you by a couple hundred yards!

Thanks. My immediate neighbor is a part time gardner and loves the hops. Some of my neighbors have grumbled that my current hops may not be approved by our association guildelines. The guidlines dont say anything.

I'm going to plant pole beans, twice I've got that tip here. The traps work well for me as well. I'll go to Home Depot, see if I can figure out what you got and either consider it or figure out a substitute.

I was looking at the top pole for steel fences. I bet I could ram that into the ground and wire it to my 6' fence for stablity. Thanks for replying.