Wrby and I've ild Growing Hops

[devilssoninlaw]

We have some hops growing along a roadside near by and I've transplanted a few rhizomes in the yard and they have grown quite well. I don't know what strain they and my question is this ..... how would you use them?

I'm guessing any hops would work for bittering but maybe not so well for dry hopping? I may be wrong but that's why I came to the experts.

Also, what is a good way to preserve them for future use? Thanks Gents!!!

 

[Soulshine2]

Are you sure they are hops?
I would be very careful using any wild plant in something I'm planning to consume. Its like hunting mushrooms, if i'm not sure 100% ,it stays where I found it.
Once you do find out it is hops , best thing I would suggest is pick and dry and use in a micro batch SMaSH to see what to expect of it.

 

[balrog]

There might be some university/county agricultural folks you could send leaves/cones for ID-ing them.

And I'd heard just the opposite about whether to use wild hops for bittering or flavoring--use for flavor since without testing you've no idea about the percentage of alpha acids to know if you have 2% or 20%.

 

[Apimyces]

Hops are pretty distinctive to the trained eye. You could always share some pictures here and folks will be able to help out.

Dry hopping would probably be the best use of them.

Identifying their origins is pretty much impossible to the layman.

 

[kh54s10]

There are ornamental hops that would not be very good for brewing.

I agree that you won't know the alpha acid content so flavor and aroma use is best.

I also agree that a small SMaSH would be a good way to test them out. You may have something very good or something that is terrible in a beer.

 

[Still Brewn]

https://www.canr.msu.edu/hops/experts

Try contacting one of these people, if they are unable to help you contact the people at the UNL extension office in Lincoln Nebraska, I know they started a research program on hops a couple of years ago and are looking for wild hops. They are trying to find hop varieties that will grow well in Nebraska, looking for new varieties, researching pest and Disease issues. https://agronomy.unl.edu/hop-extension-resources
You might be able to find some helpful info with that link. Most wild hop varieties are useless for anything, that is why it is so exciting when new varieties go into production. I personally have never used whole hops but from what I understand you will need to dry them out first before you use them or you will get a brew that tastes like grass. If you don't want to send them in to be evaluated (a new hop variety can be worth millions) make several small batches of beer with them using them as aroma only, bittering only flavoring only etc. This will give you an idea of what you can use them for. After you have completed your experiments and if you find something worth a damn then contact the appropriate people to have it evaluated and maybe register it. If you find it adds only the flavor of the devils anus, keep looking for other wild hop plants along the road. If you end up not liking anything about it be sure to send it into your extension office anyway, it could be a variety that solves the one of the problems of powdery mildew, Downey mildew, cankers, Verticillium wilt, crown rot, molds and viruses. I know UNL was asking for any wild varieties to be sent in a few years ago. Hope this helps and good luck.

I should note. That not all varieties make beer have a vegital taste and there are number of breweries that use only wet hops.

 

[Still Brewn]

Here is a story that may help inspire you in your quest. https://growlermag.com/wisconsins-northern-discovery-and-the-importance-of-wild-hops/

 

[devilssoninlaw]

Soulshine, they are definitely hops, there's no doubt about that. We have a local University Extension that I'll contact to see if they can ID them.

I'm sorry about the thread title, I have no idea what happened there! : )

 

[Still Brewn]

Cool, I'm glad I clicked on it. Keep us updated and don't give out too much information on location if it ends up being a new hop. Make sure you only tell the extension office that you have it growing in your yard if you want to make some money on it. Also you should be honest with the land owner that you got it from about your find. You said along road side but it was still probably private property even if it was in the right of way along the road.

 

[balrog]

...and be sure to let us help name them if they're a new species!

And "Wirby ILD" is my contribution. I said it first.

 

[Still Brewn]

That variety of hops is now available to the home brewer at silverhops.com if anyone is interested. It is apparently good for bittering, flavoring and aroma.

 

[bracconiere]

...and be sure to let us help name them if they're a new species!

And "Wirby ILD" is my contribution. I said it first.

LOL, i thought it was click bait! so that's my name for em...

CLICKBAIT663292 (since that's the number for the link to this thread....)

 

[devilssoninlaw]

Hahahaha Clickbait Hops will be available in the fall of '19. Top shelf hops aren't cheap!!!

 

[devilssoninlaw]

Cool, I'm glad I clicked on it. Keep us updated and don't give out too much information on location if it ends up being a new hop. Make sure you only tell the extension office that you have it growing in your yard if you want to make some money on it. Also you should be honest with the land owner that you got it from about your find. You said along road side but it was still probably private property even if it was in the right of way along the road.

No problem there, they are growing on state land along a dirt road in a low laying, damp area. When I first saw the vines, they weren't flowering but after checking again I told my wife they were hops. She wondered how they got there and I told her someone had probably tossed a beer can, she bought it!

 

[devilssoninlaw]

For what it's worth, there is a trellis in the courtyard at the hospital where I work and last fall, I was walking by and noticed some very familiar little cones covered in yellow dust! BINGO!!

Do I dig a rhizome or 3 or being on second shift, do I just go out after dark next fall and do a little harvesting?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Now if you can turn that face in your avatar into a hop cone, well, clearly you are a hop hunter.

 

[balrog]

In those hop's case, I dub them "MediWaste" brand, a cross breeding of Bramling Cross and experimental BLU497.

(get it? Blue Cross? I crack myself up)

 

[jrgtr42]

Like others have said, I'd do a 1 gallon SMaSH with them and see what happens.
I pass by a couple stands on my way home from work. I've stopped off to grab a couple cones, they seem to be pretty earthy smelling.
I've meant to grab more than that for a batch, but they're gone before I get to - I presume someone else is grabbing them before I get a chance.
These are definitely wild-growing, though - it's kind of near a house but they're in conservation land, growing through trees and telephone poles.

 

[balrog]

Metrowest, MA, eh, @jrgtr42 .

Those'd be Haahhps, then. For yer bee-ya.

 

[Still Brewn]

For what it's worth, there is a trellis in the courtyard at the hospital where I work and last fall, I was walking by and noticed some very familiar little cones covered in yellow dust! BINGO!!

Do I dig a rhizome or 3 or being on second shift, do I just go out after dark next fall and do a little harvesting?

Ask the grounds keeper....
Anything other would be stealing. I have a huge problem with other people stealing from my gardens, veggies, flowers and whole plants so I can't endorse any action but going to the one in charge and asking. Besides you said it is on a trellis that means the plant will need to be thinned every few years.

No problem there, they are growing on state land along a dirt road in a low laying, damp area. When I first saw the vines, they weren't flowering but after checking again I told my wife they were hops. She wondered how they got there and I told her someone had probably tossed a beer can, she bought it!

Nice! If every beer can ever tossed sprouted a hop plant there would not be room on this earth for humans.
Did you build a trellis for the ones you brought home? We want pictures if it ever warms up here in the Midwest. We are setting record cold temps still.

 

[Still Brewn]

I've been wanting to get out hop hunting ,my cabin sits on a 1000 acres about half of which is forested. I know there are wild hops growing out there but but I had an accident the year I realized it and haven't been out there for a weekend since..... that's 5 years this spring.

 

[jrgtr42]

Metrowest, MA, eh, @jrgtr42 .

Those'd be Haahhps, then. For yer bee-ya.

More like Hawps faw thuh bee-yah.
Haahhps would be closer to New York.
Where are you from to get into the linguistic debate?

 

[balrog]

More like Hawps faw thuh bee-yah.
Haahhps would be closer to New York.
Where are you from to get into the linguistic debate?

Just a hop skip and a jump west of metrowest MA, walking distance from the orig Treehouse, if that helps.