Hop Growing in (Northernish) California...

Hi all!

I've been viewing this site, for awhile, and it never ceases to amaze me how ingenious homebrewers are… So I would like your help with this question:

A friend and I are planning on growing hops on his property (near Galt, California). He has separated out enough land to grow 64 plants – with 6-8 feet of space around each plant. He decided to do this after wanting to get back into home brewing after a 25 year hiatus, and then brewing all grain with me and having loads of fun doing it.

He will be taking the hop plants from my home (in Sacramento, California) and planting them in the Galt area – they well do much better there (more sun and he is quite an amazing gardener).

The hops (6) I have are:

Oregon Saaz
Willamette
Chinook
Centennial
Sunbeam
Kent Goldings

Does anyone have any suggestions for additional hops they would/wouldn’t plant, and why?

What hops do you find yourself using more frequently and why?

Also let me know if you would be interested in purchasing said hops – This will help encourage him also I’m sure.

Thanks everyone and I’m looking forward to seeing the responses.

micro108 said:

Does anyone have any suggestions for additional hops they would/wouldn’t plant, and why?

Click to expand...

Cascade!
Great for IPA's and Bitters :rockin:

I use Fuggle and Columbus a fair amount. Northern Brewer is another good one.

He wants to do 32 different varieties - I think that is excessive...

I want to do about 16 - plant some more used hops. His feeling is it is easier to buy "normal" hops (especially in this shortage). But if each plant produces 2 pounds (8 lbs wouldn’t be too hard to get rid of)

I forgot to mention he has two huge hop plants growing wild right now… He thinks they are Willamette, but they appear to be Cascade to me…