New hop varieties

[NitrogenWidget]

this yrs harvest would of been more if it weren't for the storm knocking my hops over.
lost maybe a quarter of the side-arms due to falling damage before cones were mature.
just withered on the bine.
after managing to get it back up in the air everything was a mess and cones were buried away from the sun.
still, just vac-sealed 5 oz. got maybe 4 in the oast after drying and buckets still on the plant.
should have them all picked by tomorrow after work.
I hope.

next yr wood 4 post trellis.

no I did not make a plug press for my hops like I said I wanted to last yr.
I just got more freezer space.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

ok. so i've been drying and vacuum packing the hartwhick.
at 2 lbs right now and still have a few oz left in the oast drying.
I'm thinking I lost half a lb dried when the bines fell.

i'm not too cut up about it.

 

[marc_]

Any updates on promising new varieties?
It looks like there will be a bunch of new public varieties released in the coming years... The New Brewer November/December 2020

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

Has anyone who planted Petoskey hops brewed with them yet? Any thoughts on aroma and flavor?

I’m in PA outside of Philly. I planted two of them, one two years ago and another. Year ago. Last year they grew like gangbusters but I didn’t get around to brewing with them. When I rubbed the wet hops in my hands I didn’t smell pineapple. More like faint citrus (lemon, maybe?), floral, grassy. I concluded they’d probably be a good fit for a pale festbier with some clean kveik yeast (so it’d be ready on time).

 

[NitrogenWidget]

i have Hartwick which is also supposed to be an over ripe pineapple hop.
i don't get a lot of pineapple either. just a clean tropical smell.

i've brewed with it using just 1 oz at 60 and another 1 oz dry hop for 5 gallons and people got pineapple from that pale ale, but subtle.
I tried to make an ipa with them and dry hopped with 4 oz and it tasted super grassy and unpleasant. i think i left them in too long for the dry hop.

i did a dark dipa so i could use all of my hops from the previous yr. i put 2oz in the boil and 7 oz whirlpool (afraid of the dry hop) followed by some hop tea at keg time. it tasted awful. for a few months then BOOM. a dark and juicy dipa loved by all. but not too much because it was like 9%. but there wasn't a lot of pineapple just tropical.

I was thinking of petrosky this yr. but i now have 3 hartwicks that produce so many damn hops. hell the 3rd plant is a 2yr old cutting and it gave me damn near 3 lbs of hops wet.

also my 4 cascade, 2 sorachi ace, 1 fuggle produced better than expected last yr.
plus my arcadians throw out a few lbs per plant wet easily.
i'll need one of those home made pickers op made if i decide to go with petrosky.
it takes a lot of time to pick hops by hand.

my advice, make a 5 gal. smash with an oz at 60, an oz at flame out, and an oz dryhop.

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

i have Hartwick which is also supposed to be an over ripe pineapple hop.
i don't get a lot of pineapple either. just a clean tropical smell.

i've brewed with it using just 1 oz at 60 and another 1 oz dry hop for 5 gallons and people got pineapple from that pale ale, but subtle.
I tried to make an ipa with them and dry hopped with 4 oz and it tasted super grassy and unpleasant. i think i left them in too long for the dry hop.

i did a dark dipa so i could use all of my hops from the previous yr. i put 2oz in the boil and 7 oz whirlpool (afraid of the dry hop) followed by some hop tea at keg time. it tasted awful. for a few months then BOOM. a dark and juicy dipa loved by all. but not too much because it was like 9%. but there wasn't a lot of pineapple just tropical.

I was thinking of petrosky this yr. but i now have 3 hartwicks that produce so many damn hops. hell the 3rd plant is a 2yr old cutting and it gave me damn near 3 lbs of hops wet.

also my 4 cascade, 2 sorachi ace, 1 fuggle produced better than expected last yr.
plus my arcadians throw out a few lbs per plant wet easily.
i'll need one of those home made pickers op made if i decide to go with petrosky.
it takes a lot of time to pick hops by hand.

my advice, make a 5 gal. smash with an oz at 60, an oz at flame out, and an oz dryhop.

That’s good advice. My plan was to make a 5.8-6% pale festbier base—90% pils, 5% light munich, 5% carapils—and ferment with lutra kveik. That’ll give me a good idea of aroma and flavor for future harvests.
I also had a grass bomb several years back when I still lived at my dad’s place. I planted centennial and dry hopped with wet cones. Grass bomb. Never, ever again.
I’ve read before that you can dry the cones and then use dry ice to yield just the lupulin and no vegetal matter. That might help you address the issue. Check Reddit, there’s definitely a post on there about it.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

That’s good advice. My plan was to make a 5.8-6% pale festbier base—90% pils, 5% light munich, 5% carapils—and ferment with lutra kveik. That’ll give me a good idea of aroma and flavor for future harvests.
I also had a grass bomb several years back when I still lived at my dad’s place. I planted centennial and dry hopped with wet cones. Grass bomb. Never, ever again.
I’ve read before that you can dry the cones and then use dry ice to yield just the lupulin and no vegetal matter. That might help you address the issue. Check Reddit, there’s definitely a post on there about it.

to avoid any grass flavors i whirlpool and use hop tea to "dry hop" with when it goes into the keg.

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

I may be a little off topic so ignore me if I'm contravening forum conventions. I sprayed one of my petoskey plants down with neem oil last night. It rained overnight. The plant in question already has burrs (mid-late July 2023). I then read after the fact that you're supposed to wash any fruits or veggies you spray with neem oil before consumption. I felt like a dope after reading that. Question: If I'm a good month or so away from harvest, and there's a decent amount of rain between now and then, I'm okay to harvest and brew with them, right?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I may be a little off topic so ignore me if I'm contravening forum conventions. I sprayed one of my petoskey plants down with neem oil last night. It rained overnight. The plant in question already has burrs (mid-late July 2023). I then read after the fact that you're supposed to wash any fruits or veggies you spray with neem oil before consumption. I felt like a dope after reading that. Question: If I'm a good month or so away from harvest, and there's a decent amount of rain between now and then, I'm okay to harvest and brew with them, right?

Yes, I don’t think you want neem oil contributing to the beer. This way if you had something eating your plants they will be deterred. Just my thought, I don’t use anything on my bines, some leaves has been consumed, in my hop yard but the spurs are fine.

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

Yes, I don’t think you want neem oil contributing to the beer. This way if you had something eating your plants they will be deterred. Just my thought, I don’t use anything on my bines, some leaves has been consumed, in my hop yard but the spurs are fine.

OK, thanks. Yeah they're juuuuuust starting to sprout little cones so I wasn't sure if I had sprayed too late.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I use a mixture of neem oil and insecticidal soap on mine whenever i see anything munching my plants.
we usually get rain around harvest time so i don't worry about it.
also, hose on the hops is a good way to wash aphids away early morning or late evening so between that and rain i haven't had any issues.

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

I use a mixture of neem oil and insecticidal soap on mine whenever i see anything munching my plants.
we usually get rain around harvest time so i don't worry about it.
also, hose on the hops is a good way to wash aphids away early morning or late evening so between that and rain i haven't had any issues.

That makes a lot of sense. I'll also share the below for the group/posterity. I emailed Great Lakes Hops since I was wondering what the professionals think about applying neem oil, when to apply, whether it will carry any flavor over into the beer, etc. Here is their comprehensive response:

"The PHI (Pre harvest interval) of Neem oil is 0 days with a re-entry interval of 4 hours. It's used as an organic option of pest control. With that being said, we do not use Neem oil commercially at our production facility but the sentiment online is similar to yours. Brewers chatter about the concerns of the possibility of picking up off flavors or notes in the beer. There doesn't seem to be any consensus on this and I wouldn't think it would be possible unless you were spraying the Neem oil very very close to harvest and even after that you'd have to be using it whole cone in a harvest brew as the drying and or pelletizing process would further breakdown and isomerize any neem oil left. I wouldn't think twice about spraying this all season long if you're planning on stopping applications 2 or more weeks prior to harvest. I don't think there's any possibility of having residual left that would either effect flavor or be toxic. The labeling and directions of use on most types of neem oil have much shorter intervals than many other hop approved pesticides."

 

[Apimyces]

Is neem oil actually registered for use on hops?

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

Sharing my results if my 3rd year and 2nd year Petoskey hops. I used dry ice to separate the lupulin from my Petoskey hops. It worked pretty well, but works best if you get A LOT of dry ice and make sure IT’s thoroughly mixed with the hops. 1.068 OG hazy ipa with Petoskey hop powder, El Dorado lupomax, and Nectaron. Really great floral pineapple and lemon flavors from the Petoskey (a friend of mine’s first reaction was “woah! That’s really floral!”). I kinda have my doubts that it could hold its own in a hazy, but for sure in a more delicate style, it can definitely hold up.