2015 Hop garden photo thread

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Here are mine. South facing backyard with the better plant getting more of the afternoon sun and it's planted in the ground. The one in the pot didn't get watered for a week or so during some high heat which is probably the bigger reason it's not doing as well and why it's brown but it's still growing. The one in theh ground has some manure and peet moss in the ground when I had plans for a garden in the ground...then I built a raised bed. Both appear to be growing hops. No trimming at all during the year and we had a hard frost after these started popping up.

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Light this evening kinda sucked but shot these anyway.

While my Centennial harvest was a good two weeks earlier than has been "normal" over the previous four years, this Chinook is probably two weeks from harvest, which would be pretty "normal" here.
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And it looks like there's going to be a race to the oast with the Cascades as these also look to be about two weeks out (dammit!)
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Still-young cascade cones are looking good.
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Looking at the cone populations I'm guessing I'll end up with nearly three dried pounds of each when the petals have settled - which would be pretty typical as well...

Cheers!
 
Light this evening kinda sucked but shot these anyway.

While my Centennial harvest was a good two weeks earlier than has been "normal" over the previous four years, this Chinook is probably two weeks from harvest, which would be pretty "normal" here.
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And it looks like there's going to be a race to the oast with the Cascades as these also look to be about two weeks out (dammit!)
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Still-young cascade cones are looking good.
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Looking at the cone populations I'm guessing I'll end up with nearly three dried pounds of each when the petals have settled - which would be pretty typical as well...

Cheers!

First those are beautiful. Second how long does it take you to harvest all those hops, that looks like a lot of work but I know it's all worth it.
 
Built a structure on our deck to act as a privacy wall.

Has a 1 2nd year Centennial on it and 2 first years. The 2nd year plant accounts for 90% of the growth showing. Can't wait til next year with all 3 plants being more mature. :rockin:

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Considering the fact that it's in full shade by 2-3pm, it's doing really well. :mug:
 
First those are beautiful. Second how long does it take you to harvest all those hops, that looks like a lot of work but I know it's all worth it.

It took about an hour to lop off all the bearing arms from my Centennials, then six solid hours to strip the cones before weighing the mass and loading the oast. For a bit over 2 and a half pounds dry weight.

Clearly, not a money making operation ;)

Cheers!
 
Reasons to never give up on your hop plants. This started as a rhizome cutting from a local grower. I planted it n January and it broke ground in April. Hard frost comes and the growing end just dies. This thing didn't grow an inch since April but I still watered it. I look closer today and I see new growth. This is in a 15 gallon pot and I expected it to grow the most but I'm just happy to see it is still alive. I have another hop that was dried out and turned brown but still shows new green growth. These things are probably stronger than weeds!


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My first year northern brewer(german) are growing lovely with sideshoots all over, but no burrs at all...maybe later, maybe next year.

The unknown hops at the mother in law are making nice cones that will probally get me a lb or so of hops.

Still no clue what they are though....

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Divide by 5 and you'll get a more appropriate answer.
Commercial hops (aside from our hydro-farming friends product) are usually dried below 20% of wet weight...

Cheers!
 
Been sweatin' a bit because I have to spend next week down in Austin and the Chinook and Cascade are getting fat.

But today being Friday I believe I have at least a week before either strain is going to need picking, and maybe two weeks.

Chinook...
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Cascade...

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Fingers slightly crossed...

Cheers!
 
My hops trellis came crashing down this week! You can see in the first picture that it was kind of straining the shed where it's attached. I guess the weight became too much and the whole thing came down (second pic). Third pic is where I got it propped back up, sort of doubled over, but hopefully ok until I can harvest. Need a much better system next year. BTW, these are third or fourth year hops, can't remember off-hand.

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So out of 1lb what do you expect in dry weight. 3-5oz maybe. Just curious.


Yea the divid by 4 for dry is what mine came out too pretty much 1/4oz over the math lol, I split my lb and have a half lb still wet vacuumed sealed of each for fresh hop brew in two weeks

My dry weight for 1/2lb was 2.25oz both chinook and cent
 
Can anyone tell me what's going on with my hops? I have two Willamette and two nugget. I was able to harvest the nugget hops no problem, the Willamette (pictured) have started turning brown. They were doing well all season, the hops were larger than the nugget. The Japanese Beatles got to the leaves, but I'm wondering if I waited too long to harvest and this hot spell has got to them. This is their second year. Soil isn't that great but the hops went from nice green to brownish gold all over in about a week. Not every spotty, most of them are just golden brown.

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First year grower, and some first year hops and needing help to know if these are ready.. Willamette, Cascade, and Fuggle.

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I've been avoiding this thread because I have been bad to my hops this year. Everything survived the winter in pots buried under leaves. They were all strung and treated nicely to get them to start...and then I basically ignored them most of the year. If there were multiple, hot, dry days in a row then I would water, but really very little care. It was a survive if you can kinda year in my yard.

So, here are pics of what they look like, in the Midwest with our weirdly cold year and left mostly to their own devices. No, to just a couple, hops on most of them. But my 'unknown' hop plant seems much better than others and hops smell pretty good. The chinook hop smelled amazing as did the centennial hop I found.

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(Poor willamette really doesn't like it much here, not ded but definitely not happy.)
 
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The first three are my cascades and the last two are my willamettes. The middle one is an awful creature that should be banished to hell. Both are first years planted in April in little 3 gallon pots in Southern California. I didn't expect to get any hops and am very happy the cascade threw some out. There aren't that many but it is still fun.
 
The universal rule of transplanting sez the crown should sit at the same level in the soil before and after the move...

Cheers!

Thus is my problem Trip . . . . there is no crown. :eek:
These were started from cuttings.
I've been reading (not hops specific) that the crown forms 'after' flower production.

I've 'up' potted them twice now. They seem real happy. When I tilt one out of it's pot, there are a ton of fine roots.

'da Kid
 
The soil of the potted plant should be about even with the soil on the ground. You'll mound soil on top after the small bines die back for fall. Everything should grow back with a vengeance in the spring.
 
So did a harvest ale this weekend with 1/4lb of wet hops from my four producers comet, chinook, cent, and cascade

Said brew day:

Strike and sparge water hopped (yes overkill but hey why not lol)
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Mash hops again overkill but why not
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Harvesting first year comet while mashing
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Harvesting cascade while mashing too crappy pic
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The pile of hop additions
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Brew dog on watch
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Boiling with some fresh hopped w00t stout
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Chilling with my pre chiller and ghetto rigged drainage
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The out come beer with some fresh hops and it's pretty delicious fermenting with Conan yeast
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So did a harvest ale this weekend with 1/4lb of wet hops from my four producers comet, chinook, cent, and cascade

Said brew day:

Strike and sparge water hopped (yes overkill but hey why not lol)
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I am in no way critiquing your brew day, looks like fun and something I have wanted to do since my first harvest.

This step will make me go look up my hop books because I am not sure that plain water will give good extract levels. It is why a hop tea is nothing like what a beer will end up with. But, I am not sure what is extracted in water vs wort, so have to look it up again. :D
 
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My northern brewer seem to have decided not to make cones the first year....:mad:

The unknown hops are starting to look ready, any guesses among the experts on what it could be?

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I am in no way critiquing your brew day, looks like fun and something I have wanted to do since my first harvest.

This step will make me go look up my hop books because I am not sure that plain water will give good extract levels. It is why a hop tea is nothing like what a beer will end up with. But, I am not sure what is extracted in water vs wort, so have to look it up again. :D


Lol yea I wasn't going to but decided might as well have hops in every step of the brew day so the over kill additions and over kill in the strike and sparge and mash came in as well lol, got a nice hop tea color and aroma in the strike water and sparge water so added alittle something lol
 
I have Nugget, Cascade in their second year, Chinook, Columbia in their first, we will see who survives the Texas Summer (Williamette is holding on by a thread from last year). I also planted some beans to help replace the nitrogen in the soil (I read that somewhere not sure exactly what I am doing or how that works). I also have a row of barley coming in nicely!

Where in Texas? I was hoping to start a few of my own. How'd yours hold up?
 
Last Cascade plant in my yard with cones on them still. Willamettes (so small!), and Centennials are all picked.

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Third year columbus. 8 pounds wet off of one plant. One other columbus to go, some chinook and nugget left.

With all that columbus looks like some columbus' voyage ipa in the future.
And there is dog also.

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