Any tips or tricks to growing hops in Iowa?

I live in Iowa and would like to grow hops since this is the most expensive part of the brewing process.

Any tips, trick or strains that work best.

I would like to grow three strains:

Bittering strain
Flavor strain
Aroma strain

Any suggestions?

Check out my blog. I live in Illinois, so it's not too far from you. You'd have to double check your climate zone to see what's best for you, but hops will pretty much survive anywhere. I'd suggest Cascade, simply because it's a widely used hop and it grows in almost any conditions. Nugget seems to grow fairly well. Stick with an american hop strain for your first few years of growing. I find that noble hops are a bit harder to grow since you need to baby them more. Also, the yields have never been as good for me as things like cascade, nugget, centennial, etc.

Hops will do well in Iowa. I am growing hops in Minnesota very successfully. As a beginner, I would start with Cascade, Magnum and Nugget hops. These varieties do well in our area, easy to grow, are resistant to most hop diseases and are bountiful producers of hop cones - not to mention very aromatic(Cascade) and flavorful bittering qualities (Magnum and Nugget).

Always start from Hop rhizomes or hop plants(rare to find) and stay away from hop seeds. Only female hop plants(from rhizomes) produce hop cones (hop flowers) and males can introduce unwanted cross pollinization (both your hops and nearby hops).

Here is a list of where to buy hop rhizomes online. You can also obtain hop rhizomes from local homebrew supply stores, hop growing friends and fellow hop growers in your area. Best of luck.

I want to add that growing hops for bittering is not something that most homebrewers mess with. Since it's impossible to know the AA% of your hops unless you get them tested (expensive), you never really know what you're putting into your beer.