2009 IOWA Hop Report!

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Schlenkerla

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Ok - I just finished my first hop picking off of one plant. I just selected the biggest mofos first...

Here they are, almost as wide as my palm!!!

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These are where I set them down to get my first beer of the day. I liked the backdrop!

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This is the tub of hops. One full refrigerator drawer. ~ 3 gallons.. I picked off about 50% so in about a week I'll get the other half.

This appears to be like last year, where I got ~ 1 lb 8oz.

I am rather pleased! :rockin:

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No signs of cones yet, Starting to loose hope.
There are no signs of cones on any of my plants either - neither on last year's plants that have established root systems, nor on the new plants this year, all of which have grown to monster size. I suspect it's still a little early, especially as over here we've had such a crap, rainy summer, so I'm not giving up hope. I think last year I harvested at the end of September, so there's still a couple of months growing time. Don't give up!
 
Great Job! Mine are all over the place...

I harvested a bunch of Fuggles a few weeks ago - got maybe an ounce dried. Used them in an IPA I brewed a few days ago. I may only get a few more ounces dried off this plant. It never produces a lot of hops, but thats okay. My other established plants seem to be more on a normal schedule, my East Norwalk Goldings seem to be struggling to produce cones. There just aren't a lot of them. The plant seems healthy, just not producing as it did last year. My Nuggett looks like it will have a bumper crop again. It always is one of the last to ripen.

This year I planted 3 new rhizomes and I think I will get a decent harvest from them. The Centennial has some cones that look like they will be ready in another week or so. I should get at least an ounce dried. The Mt Hood's have a bunch of burrs and looks to produce about 3 to 4 times the amount of cones as the Centennial. They're still small so I don't quite have a feel for this one yet.

The real winner looks to be Zeus! This plant is LOADED! It may end up being my most productive plant and I just planted it this year. (Okay - I may be excited, but I think I'll get at least 8 ounces dried when everything is said and done - maybe more! Not bad for a first year plant.) The odd thing about the Zeus is that it has both male and female flowers. Just a few boys, but still kind of odd.
 
Mine are just starting to grow flowers. Noticed them maybe two weeks ago, and they are just now losing that spiky look. TONS of them. Second year plants. I was going to post pics, but forgot to bring in my camera. I should snap a couple with my phone at lunch.
 
Mine are just starting to grow flowers. Noticed them maybe two weeks ago, and they are just now losing that spiky look. TONS of them. Second year plants. I was going to post pics, but forgot to bring in my camera. I should snap a couple with my phone at lunch.

Mine (in Chicago) are flowering too, and I've got a handful of cones. I think we're a couple weeks early right now.
 
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My plants. Just starting to pop. The post is 12' tall I think, and the plants are growing over the top and back down the other side a few feet.


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A close up of the young cone. They look a lot more like a hop cone now. These were taken a week or so ago.
 
I harvested 7 gallons from my first yeat Zues. The aphids were starting to have their way and it looked to be about time so I pulled the plug and picked them all. They are drying on a screen in the rafters of my garage
 
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