First Harvest

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GilaMinumBeer

Half-fast Prattlarian
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,431
Reaction score
10,793
2709372172_f781c22857.jpg

Doesn't look like much and I haven't bothered to weight them yet. They are still wet. I think I will just wait until they are properly dried and weight them at packaging.

From bottom to top;

Brewers Gold, Cascade, and Zues.

Man, it really looks like a LOT more on the bine than it does in the tray.
I am thrilled nonethless and can only hope that there is truth in the increasing yields as the plants reach their maturity.

This was about all I could fit in this weekend brewing wise (sigh). I did also manage to throw toghether a couple 1 gallon batches of Mead or Melomel to be specific.

1 Gallon Mead with 12 Ounces Apricot Nectar and 1 Gallon Mead with Madagascar Vanilla Beans to be added post fermentation.

I plan to have these ready by time Amelie is borne (unless its a boy and then I dunno what we call him yet). With any luck, not only will they be ready but they will actually be drinkable too.
 
I doubt I will have any yield this year. I had some trouble getting mine started. Hopefully they will be ready to go next year though. I hope to have enough this year to at least pick a few and smell them.
 
A whopping $20.00 street value. ;)

8 total ounces;

4 Zues
2 Cascade
2 Brewers Gold

Ah well, it's 8 ounces more than I had before harvest and next harvest is rapidly approaching.
 
Can you comment on where you got those screens? Did you build them or buy them like that? And I would say 4oz from the Zeus for a 1st year plant for a single picking is not bad at all!
 
I have 7 cascade vines that should be ready to pick in about a month. Last year I got 3 oz off 3 vines and that was the first year for them.
 
Well the other night was my first pick. Its a single first year Hallertau plant.

Sure looked like a lot on the vine....
IMG_2739.jpg


Layed out to dry...
IMG_2740.jpg


Biggest cones...
IMG_2742.jpg


They weighed in at 4.6oz wet....will weigh them tonight dry.

By the way, I picked up on of these for packing my hops...
http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/catalog/HV_Starter_Kit_210x133.jpg

Works great for those who don't have access to a big food-saver type vacuum sealer.

-Todd
 
You CAN actually brew with wet hops. I sure plan to, there is a weight conversion, I plan to find it a little closer to harvest.
 
Can you comment on where you got those screens? Did you build them or buy them like that? And I would say 4oz from the Zeus for a 1st year plant for a single picking is not bad at all!

I built them as part of a stackable oast system that is still under works. I used some salvaged MDF that I ripped to 3-1/2 wide and cut them to 2 foot lengths. The butt jointed ends are glued and pin nailed togther. The screening is a standard aluminum screen from Walmart stapled to the bottom as taught as I could get them.

Once the screening is installed the frames become decently rigid but, given that these are made from MDF I intend to add some plumbers strapping to the corners to ensure that they stay toghether over time.

I will aslo be adding some guide blocks to each of the 4 sides. And I will be building a similar 8" tall base. The frames will stack one atop another and then a plywood lid will cover everything. Once filled, you poke a hair dryer through the hole in the base, turn it on low, and in about 3 to 6 hours (depending oin the heat of the hair dryer) you have dried hops.

It took nearly a week to air dry these guys in my hot a$$ed garage but, It smelled lovely.

And I agree completely that 4 ounces from a first year plant is good but, it is still somewhat dissappointing given the effort growing in Oklahoma requires for so little return. Future years will be better for sure provided we both (the plants and I) survive.
 
Well the other night was my first pick. Its a single first year Hallertau plant.

By the way, I picked up on of these for packing my hops...
http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/catalog/HV_Starter_Kit_210x133.jpg

Works great for those who don't have access to a big food-saver type vacuum sealer.

-Todd

Some damn fine looking hops except that they still appear a little green to me. I am sure they will be fine but it is my practice to wait until the edges of the bracts start to brown. By doing this you ensure that all the Lupulin in the hop will be fully developed.

I have seen those but have opted out because the bags I have seen are too small. Fitting a mere 4 ounces in a 1 gallon bag takes some doing until they are compressed by the vacuum.
 
You CAN actually brew with wet hops. I sure plan to, there is a weight conversion, I plan to find it a little closer to harvest.


IIRC you add 10% more which is odd to me because through the drying process you are removing about 90% of the water weight (shrugs shoulders).
 
I just put my hops in freezer bags and flatten them by putting a board on the bag, kneeling on the board and then sealing the bag. Works well enough.

Wet hops need about 5-8 times as much by weight as dry hops. To make a fresh hop IPA can take two pounds per five gallons.
 
I just put my hops in freezer bags and flatten them by putting a board on the bag, kneeling on the board and then sealing the bag. Works well enough.

Wet hops need about 5-8 times as much by weight as dry hops. To make a fresh hop IPA can take two pounds per five gallons.

That is what I ended up doing too. Calling it the "squozing board".
 
not to hijack, but I weighed out 3.5 ounces of fresh hops today from a harvest, and I have nothing like what you have. They did feel a little brittle, but not too bad
 
Some damn fine looking hops except that they still appear a little green to me. I am sure they will be fine but it is my practice to wait until the edges of the bracts start to brown. By doing this you ensure that all the Lupulin in the hop will be fully developed.

I have seen those but have opted out because the bags I have seen are too small. Fitting a mere 4 ounces in a 1 gallon bag takes some doing until they are compressed by the vacuum.

I'm glad someone else chimed in about this. I keep getting paranoid that all of these pictures are showing hops either greener, or the same as the ones I've yet to pick on my own plants. I keep reading all the different ways to tell, and I am still not convinced that they are ready for picking, even though they look riper than the ones in that picture.

For the first time I sacrificed 2 last night and rubbed them between my hands. While I got a hint of hop smell and stickiness, they just still seemed too young.

Here's a question for the veterans of the hop growing: Is it better to pick slightly earlier or slightly later than the optimal time? I.e. if the perfect harvest day is this coming Sunday, would you be better off picking today or Tuesday if those were your only choices?
 
I'm glad someone else chimed in about this. I keep getting paranoid that all of these pictures are showing hops either greener, or the same as the ones I've yet to pick on my own plants. I keep reading all the different ways to tell, and I am still not convinced that they are ready for picking, even though they look riper than the ones in that picture.

For the first time I sacrificed 2 last night and rubbed them between my hands. While I got a hint of hop smell and stickiness, they just still seemed too young.

Here's a question for the veterans of the hop growing: Is it better to pick slightly earlier or slightly later than the optimal time? I.e. if the perfect harvest day is this coming Sunday, would you be better off picking today or Tuesday if those were your only choices?

I would pick on Tuesday but that is just me. And as for the aroma, it will come through after drying. Not so much before except when you been picking for an hour or two.

I don;t even mess with them until the edges start to brown. By that time there are a couple on the bine that are toast but that's not a big loss. They should feel light, papery, but still be springy yet not crumble between your fingers. Best bet is to keep checking them. You'll know when they are ready.
 
I would pick on Tuesday but that is just me. And as for the aroma, it will come through after drying. Not so much before except when you been picking for an hour or two.

I don;t even mess with them until the edges start to brown. By that time there are a couple on the bine that are toast but that's not a big loss. They should feel light, papery, but still be springy yet not crumble between your fingers. Best bet is to keep checking them. You'll know when they are ready.

Thanks for the reply! These are those types of situations where a picture or actually feeling a properly aged hop is worth a thousand words. Kind of like when all of us 1st-time growers were worrying over the tiniest thing back in spring, I'm sure I'll look back on this as a RAHAHB moment. :tank:
 
Well the other night was my first pick. Its a single first year Hallertau plant.

Is that a bucket from Uline?

Great looking hops. I wish I had that many....

FWIW, if those are 7 or 8 "rows" long, my cascades are 3-4. The biggest ones, are about as long as they are wide (1" perhaps").
 
I just put my hops in freezer bags and flatten them by putting a board on the bag, kneeling on the board and then sealing the bag. Works well enough.

When ever i freeze something I'll take the open ziplock bag and submerge it in a sink full of water sealing it as the top of the bag reaches the water line. The air is squeezed out by the surface tension. Surely not as good as a vacuum sealer, but easy and effective none the less. Maybe next year I'll invest in a vacuum sealer, but for now, I'll use this method.
 
When ever i freeze something I'll take the open ziplock bag and submerge it in a sink full of water sealing it as the top of the bag reaches the water line. The air is squeezed out by the surface tension. Surely not as good as a vacuum sealer, but easy and effective none the less. Maybe next year I'll invest in a vacuum sealer, but for now, I'll use this method.

That's a great idea!
 
Is that a bucket from Uline?

Great looking hops. I wish I had that many....

FWIW, if those are 7 or 8 "rows" long, my cascades are 3-4. The biggest ones, are about as long as they are wide (1" perhaps").

Nope, its an empty extract bucket from Austin Home Brew. :rockin:
 
When ever i freeze something I'll take the open ziplock bag and submerge it in a sink full of water sealing it as the top of the bag reaches the water line. The air is squeezed out by the surface tension. Surely not as good as a vacuum sealer, but easy and effective none the less. Maybe next year I'll invest in a vacuum sealer, but for now, I'll use this method.

Well it's not surface tension that is causing that to happen but it is a great idea! ;)
 
Back
Top