2007 Hop Rhizomes

[CBBaron]

I read these forums too much.
I getting ready to bottle my third brew and I just ordered 4 hop rhizomes from Freshops. I'm planning to plant them on my parents farm. They have lots of room and a great spot for the trellis.
I'm pretty sure I am going to stick with this hobby but now I have a real incentive to continue to brew so I can use some of my own fresh hops.

I have a question. Everything I've read says to dry the hops before using them. Is there any reason you can't use the fresh hops at harvesting time? I thought it would be fun to "dry hop" with hop cones right off the vine.

Craig

 

[Dude]

I read these forums too much.
I getting ready to bottle my third brew and I just ordered 4 hop rhizomes from Freshops. I'm planning to plant them on my parents farm. They have lots of room and a great spot for the trellis.
I'm pretty sure I am going to stick with this hobby but now I have a real incentive to continue to brew so I can use some of my own fresh hops.

I have a question. Everything I've read says to dry the hops before using them. Is there any reason you can't use the fresh hops at harvesting time? I thought it would be fun to "dry hop" with hop cones right off the vine.

Craig

You can definitely brew with wet hops. I did last year and it was an interesting beer.

Really grassy.

 

[the_bird]

Got mine on Friday. They're sitting in the garage so that they stay cold and dormant until I can get them in the ground, hopefully next Saturday.

 

[uuurang]

Well, i just listened to a podcast from basicbrewing.com and Dave Wills of freshops and some of his friends throw a hops harvest party. And that's exactly what they do, throw the fresh hops right into the boil. There's other good stuff too. heres the link for the stream...

http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr04-06-06.mp3

heres link for the page. It's 3\4 of the way down page, april 6...

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=60

 

[jnielsen]

anyone know of a variety that grows well in southern heat? i tried years ago to grow some and it grew well until the hades-like heat kicked in. then disaster. looking for some tips from some southerners.

on the midwest site they list a little info on what hops grow best in certain climates, chinook seems to grow well in hot areas according to them. next year i might try some differeent varietys that freshophops have. ive got the green thumb bug i cant wait to plant mine this week. im going to grow mine up my fence and then string them up and across over to my tree and make a hop canapy i can sit under (hopefully).

2x cascade
2x golding
2x mt hood
2x centennial
2x northern brewer
2x willamette

i wonder if my garden will stink out my unsuspecting neighbors

 

[crown_cres]

here is my source that i bought hop rhizomes from it is a organic micro brew house farm that grows there own they carry the following types golding,fuggle,nugget,mt.hood,willamette,cascade,bullion,centennial, they also have a detailed hope growing manual which descibes the bc climate it is on there website in pdf. the rhizomes are $4.50 cad each and shipping is under 5 $8 5-15 for $16 and 15-25 for $24 .

http://www.crannogales.com/
here is the hop page
http://www.crannogales.com/farm.html
they are located 2 hours from kelowna or 1.5 hours from vernon out by salmonarm in british columbia

they just started digging rhizomes in april.

if anyone has a better source in canada please let me know so i can order from them next year.

 

[olllllo]

I have 2 Cascades, 2 Fuggles and 2 Goldings in the ground against a cinder block wall with an eastern exposure. I'm hoping that late afternoon shade will give them some relief. They'll be on an automatic drip, but there's no telling what 100°F+ temps will do over 3 months.

 

[Desert_Sky]

I planted mine last Saturday

Im in the high desert so hopefully they will do ok. The sun isnt too bad up here

I did a hallatauer and a fuggle

 

[zoebisch01]

I have 2 Cascades, 2 Fuggles and 2 Goldings in the ground against a cinder block wall with an eastern exposure. I'm hoping that late afternoon shade will give them some relief. They'll be on an automatic drip, but there's no telling what 100°F+ temps will do over 3 months.

Well, if it comes down to it you could think about installing some misters as well since you already have the drip system. Just at dusk put them on for a few minutes to help them revive. You might be surprised though, even if they wilt and look horrible they'll probably still be fine as long as they get the water they need every week. I'd be interested in hearing how it goes at any rate.

 

[olllllo]

Well, if it comes down to it you could think about installing some misters as well since you already have the drip system. Just at dusk put them on for a few minutes to help them revive. You might be surprised though, even if they wilt and look horrible they'll probably still be fine as long as they get the water they need every week. I'd be interested in hearing how it goes at any rate.

Unfortunately, it's on the ass end of the whole system, so as the Hybiscus goes, so go the hops. In the long term I may have a differnt pipe run out these but it wont happen this year.

 

[Reverend JC]

I was going to wait to post this until i got home, but i ordered 4 rhizomes from B3 and they are all about the thickness of a pinky finger and 4" long (keep all penis refrences to yourselves please). My buddy dropped by the other day and gave 4 cascade rhizomes that are about 14" long and about an 1"1/2 wide. I should be able to cut them in half at least and end up with 4 realy hearty rhizomes.

 

[uuurang]

planted cascade, mt. hood, centenial and brewers gold. the cascade is poking out of soil after two weeks:rockin: .
Visited LHBS this morn. and they still had some rhizomes for sale. Threw down a fiver and planted a Williamette next to the house. I don't have high hopes though, it been in cooler for awhile and there was some mold growing on the end of it. If it likes it's new home it will make papa happy.

 

[Todd]

I planted my centennial this weekend. I'm anxious to see how it goes.

 

[todd_k]

I've got 4 plants with at least 1 sprout each. One of them is about 4 inches tall, the rest are about 1/2 an inch.

 

[todd_k]

I need to setup my support system for my hops this weekend. I have 4 plants, all in a straight line and all between 2 trees. My plan was to run a wire from tree to tree, then a wire down to each plant. My questions are:
Is this going to work ok?
How do I "attach" the plant to the wire?
How do I secure the wire to the ground so it doesn't just blow around in the wind?

 

[Brewiz]

Use heavy string from the horizontal wire down to the plants. I just put stakes in the ground to run the string to and then just train the bines to wrap around the string (clockwise).

 

[Brewiz]

And I have cones starting to come out.

These pictures were taken this morning.

 

[todd_k]

Wow, are those recent pics? My biggest plant is about 1 foot tall!

how high up did you put the horizontal wire?

 

[Brewiz]

I just took them this morning. As far as the horizontal line it is a heavy line that runs from a pole anchored to my privacy fence to an eyebolt on the side of my shed with pulley's on each end for easy harvest.
These are rizhomes from last year 1 is Cascade and 1 is Centennial.

This picture was taken about 6 weeks ago.

 

[Dude]

And I have cones starting to come out.

These pictures were taken this morning.

This seems WAY too early for buds....what are you feeding those things?

 

[Melana]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those are monster plants!

 

[Brewiz]

This seems WAY too early for buds....what are you feeding those things?

Just water every other day and spent grain and hops. I did till the soil around them and added a cow manure/potting soil mix around them to form a raised bed right before they broke ground.

 

[Schlenkerla]

This seems WAY too early for buds....what are you feeding those things?

You have to remember he's in Georgia. Its hotter than VA. Your plants will take off when the hot days of June become a regular thing. They will grow 8-12" per day. You will be amazed at the growth rate!

My hops are at 6.5' right now. I transplanted them after the Jan-Feb bulldozing fiasco. When I transplanted them I dug a 1' deep hole by 1.5' wide. Dropped in a 40lbs bag of manure. Then I dug up the root base put it on the manure and put another bag a black dirt over top. Last of all covered it with cyprus mulch. Mulch does a fine job of keeping moisture in the dirt.

Mine also get 7-8 hours of full sun. Every 3 days some water. The first year you need to water every other day if it doesn't rain. Use lots of Miracle Grow. Also you need to pick off some the leaves next month so you don't get white mildew from all the moisture. Start at 2 ft going down to the ground. (Should have at least 8' of bine) Its also a good idea to make a baking soda/water spray to keep mildew away. One tablespoon baking soda and 1 gal water, do so in the morning or evening once or twice a week.

You are right about the buds. In Iowa harvest time is in August through early September.

 

[todd_k]

bah....I found some leaf damage on a couple or my plants today so I sprayed them with Safer. hopefully things work out.

 

[todd_k]

new problem....the tips of some of the leaves are turning yellow/brown. is this a result of too much/not enough water? I water them everyday.

 

[Brewiz]

Hey,,it's almost harvest time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check these Cascades out, this is last years rhizome. I'm wondering how long before I can pick some..

Here are my Centennials they aren't quite as big yet.

Here's both of them, the line is getting heavy..

 

[Whelk]

Mine are finally starting to take off too--they looked like they were all dead after I transplanted them from pots, but they finally put some new vines out and they're growing at least 2in a day.

 

[david_42]

We're alternating between frost and fire, but the Fuggles is over ten feet. It's three years old.

 

[Melana]

Mine are just babies now but have made their appearance!

 

[david_42]

The easiest way to test hops is the German flick method: Hit a hanging flower with your finger as if you were launching a spitwad (you know who you are). If the flower snaps off the vine leaving very little still attached, it is dry enough to harvest. The flowers don't start drying out until they have stopped adding resin.

Consider making a Fresh Hop ale, right off the bine.