Harvesting Hops

Hi

I'm new around here. I've been brewing beer for about 5 years now starting with premade kits to partial mash and finally last year I started doing all grains.

Also last year I planted some hops plant. Now this year I got what seems to me a lot of hops in them. The probleme is that I'm really not sure on when to harvest them. I've tried to read on the subject but everything is unprecise about when the cones are ready.

The first two pictures are my nugget hops and the two next are cascade hop.
What do you think? Are they ready or not? Can someone also give a brief idea of when they are ready? I've search a lot on internet but it was always unclear on what it is.

Thanks a lot

I'm in the same boat! I have some Cascade hops that look to be in the same stage of growth as yours. I'd like to know How to tell when they are ready to harvest. I read somewhere that when the tips op the leafs get a brown tinge they are ready. If somebody with the knowledge could chime in that would be great!

Hey Guys - I'm a 2nd year hop grower and by no means an expert. I have been dealing with the same issue. I pick the hops when I squeeze them and they are dry and sound like crepe paper. I have noticed that if I wait much longer then the tips of the cones start to turn brown.

What I find frustrating is when the cones off of the same vine are at different stages of ripeness. I usually end up harvesting the whole vine at once which means there are definitely some hops that I am grabbing too early.

When you picked them either too ''early'' or with the brown tip, did it change the taste of your beer in anyway?