2016 Hop Growing Thread

[B-Hoppy]

Don't let the color of the lupulin be your only guide, different varieties vary in the color of the final product.

 

[gotbeer74]

Picked 5 oz wet hops off of a 1st year centennial. Brewed a pseudo farmhouse ale ( version 1 of my new yearly beer)

 

[cram]

Just picked 12 oz. mix of Nugget and Chinook that went into a mild brown ale. 'Tis the wet hop season!
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1474258388.423543.jpg

 

[thaymond]

Cram, that looks and sounds magical. What's your recipe?

 

[fuzzy2133]

My lone 1st year Chinook. I oopsed and planted it in June so yea.

 

[cram]

Thaymond, recipe notes are pictured. Not a mild by everyone's standard. OG for six gallons was 1.055. Fermenting with WLP OO7. [emoji482]View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1474333731.427281.jpg

 

[thaymond]

Thaymond, recipe notes are pictured. Not a mild by everyone's standard. OG for six gallons was 1.055. Fermenting with WLP OO7. [emoji482]View attachment 370663

Thanks! Update with tasting notes in a PM. It definitely looks tasty! Chinook and Nugget are my cornerstones in most of my brews.

 

[SHAIV]

Anyone know what these guys are?

View attachment 1474506603318.jpg

 

[gotbeer74]

Possibly some type of polygomia caterpillar

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Sigh.

Word of advice to all us folks that are new to hops growing. It's been said, but I got bitten by this one this week....

Air Circulation.

I tried to simplify my drying of my Chinook hops this week by not spreading them thinly enough. I didn't give them enough air on the bottom level.

I now have a pound of hops smelling MOLD... a total loss for my Chinook hops this year.

Please don't make the same mistake I just made folks!

:-(

 

[JimRausch]

3 years of beautiful vegetative growth but no cones from the wild bines that I transplanted 5 years ago. Weird, because I did get some cones the 1st 2 years, so didn't think they were all males. Anyways, I dug them all up (moved them out to the woods under a tree) and will plant some rhizomes of a variety that I actually will know what to expect. Next year.............

 

[thaymond]

Sigh.

Word of advice to all us folks that are new to hops growing. It's been said, but I got bitten by this one this week....

Air Circulation.

I tried to simplify my drying of my Chinook hops this week by not spreading them thinly enough. I didn't give them enough air on the bottom level.

I now have a pound of hops smelling MOLD... a total loss for my Chinook hops this year.

Please don't make the same mistake I just made folks!

:-(

Nooooo! Whhhyyyyyyy!?!

Seriously. That sucks. How long did they sit to mold like that? I stacked mine 4 to 6 cones deep and blasted air up through the bottom of the oast. Everything seemed to dry out just fine.

Sorry for your loss. My sincerest condolences.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Yeah, I did my first pickings about 3 deep and they dried nicely with no air pushed across them. My mistake was heaping my second pickings on top of the first.

The bottom layers are dry...what could go wrong? Right?

It ended up being too much for just 'sitting around' type drying to handle. Several days later i stuck my hand into the pile to check them, and found the bottom layers now to be moist...? I was confused by this and went to roll/rotate them and discovered the bottom layers that had been dry were brown/black and moldy.

 

[BlackIce]

1st year Centennial is done 14.5oz wet turned into 4.5oz dry

I made a small video on the Centennial
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnr4bES90TI[/ame]


I will have videos up for my cascade and chinook soon

 

[rtracer]

Just want to say how excited I am to tap my keg on Friday of "Fresh hop session ale" I kegged Tuesday. All hops from my garden

 

[thaymond]

1st year Centennial is done 14.5oz wet turned into 4.5oz dry

I made a small video on the Centennial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnr4bES90TI


I will have videos up for my cascade and chinook soon

Love the setup. How does the setup work for you? I find I get a lot of tangles. Is your spacing enough to prevent this?

If you use a bitter charge of commercial centennial, you have just about enough for a 5 gallon batch of the dead ringer clone.

Or save your dried and vac sealed hops and mix Centennial, Cascade, and Chinook for a house hop blend.

 

[BlackIce]

Love the setup. How does the setup work for you? I find I get a lot of tangles. Is your spacing enough to prevent this?

If you use a bitter charge of commercial centennial, you have just about enough for a 5 gallon batch of the dead ringer clone.

Or save your dried and vac sealed hops and mix Centennial, Cascade, and Chinook for a house hop blend.

I like the setup but I wish I would have put space for a mower. The spacing I used was my weed eater. I didnt think about getting in between them to pick them. I can do it but If I have a lot to pick its hard.

As long as I train them each day Im fine, but I did get some tangles. Most of the time it was the new growth that would get the tangles.

Yup I just made my 2nd dead ringer clone this year. My next one will be with my own hops. I will use commercial centennial for the 60 min.

I have some Centennial, Cascade, and Chinook still growing and Im just going to dry them all as one and do that. I was going to use Simcoe or Warrior up front

 

[thaymond]

I like the setup but I wish I would have put space for a mower. The spacing I used was my weed eater. I didnt think about getting in between them to pick them. I can do it but If I have a lot to pick its hard.

As long as I train them each day Im fine, but I did get some tangles. Most of the time it was the new growth that would get the tangles.

Yup I just made my 2nd dead ringer clone this year. My next one will be with my own hops. I will use commercial centennial for the 60 min.

I have some Centennial, Cascade, and Chinook still growing and Im just going to dry them all as one and do that. I was going to use Simcoe or Warrior up front

That's my same sentiment. Just enough room for the mower. It would have saved me a lot of headache. I don't suppose moving it now would help, nothing would grow since these thing blot out the sun. I can live with a few tangles though. They weren't too bad overall. Once those plants get established, they'll grow like gangbusters. I have to devise a string plan that allows for more growth, but is easier to manage, especially in the back of the cage. I might just leave the back open this year, and that will be my experiment. I don't get many hops there anyway because it is so shaded from the sun.

It is a lot of fun and worth the work when you brew a beer with your own hops, give it to people, and they like it. It makes all the work and effort worth it. I hope your brews turn out.

 

[BrandonMH]

I thought the rule of thumb is three ft apart? I forget if I measured from rhizome to rhizome or box to box.

 

[BlackIce]

My 1st year chinook totals.

4.5 oz wet 1.25 dry.

The new dog wanted to play with them and got a vine so it almost had to start over.

Here is the video if anyone wants to check it out.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB-ysfv2oPI[/ame]

 

[SHAIV]

Picked my first year chinook and cascade today this is the second harvest i got from these plants. My centennial didn't produce any hops at all.

View attachment 1475371437670.jpg

 

[Calder]

1st year Centennial is done 14.5oz wet turned into 4.5oz dry

My 1st year chinook totals: 4.5 oz wet 1.25 dry.

31% and 28% is pretty high. My last 3 lots came in at 21%, 20%, and 21%. 20% is generally regarded as 'normal'. Should be OK if you use them soon, but not good for long-term storage. There is potential for mold growth if not dried enough. Also, you probably need to increase recipe hop amounts by 50% to account for the extra moisture.

The new dog wanted to play with them and got a vine so it almost had to start over.

You might want to keep the dog away from the hops. I have no experience, but they are supposedly poisonous to dogs. I don't know if it is the leaves or the cones that are the problem.

 

[BlackIce]

31% and 28% is pretty high. My last 3 lots came in at 21%, 20%, and 21%. 20% is generally regarded as 'normal'. Should be OK if you use them soon, but not good for long-term storage. There is potential for mold growth if not dried enough. Also, you probably need to increase recipe hop amounts by 50% to account for the extra moisture.




You might want to keep the dog away from the hops. I have no experience, but they are supposedly poisonous to dogs. I don't know if it is the leaves or the cones that are the problem.

Yea I have been told its in the cones.

 

[BlackIce]

Cascade(1st year) was the last one that I picked for this year. Total wet was 59.5 oz, but I used 23 oz in a beer. So 36.5 wet to 8oz dray.

Here is the video that I made if anyone wants to check it out

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xu3rVOuyYM[/ame]

 

[WilliamSlayer]

JUST HAVE to do some taste testing... Cascades are ready!

View attachment 1475678247449.jpg

 

[Robx]

Harvested 1/2 of the first year teamaker today - smells very nice!

Full grow journal: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=580355

Can you spot our apartment?

Still a lot left on the bine

One of the bigger cones

 

[Leezer]

@ Robx, Wow, I just checked out your pics in the other thread too, beautiful! Love how you grew them in a decorative way. Enjoy.

 

[BrouwerijZwaenepoel]

First time harvest from a vine already in the garden when I bought the house. So no idea which kind i've got, I'll make some hop tea soon

View attachment 1476290182779.jpg

 

[416Brewer]

My first year Mt. Hood hop cones are still maturing on the bine. The nights are starting to get cold low 40's here in Toronto, Canada. I planted the rhizomes in late may. Anyone else worried about frost before harvest?

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1477141360.983064.jpg

 

[BisonHeadBrewery]

I harvested Centennial, Chinook, and Willamette after two nights of frost and one mild freeze. I am at 60 degrees north - a bit far north for reliable production. I brewed one ale with Chinook and Willamette but haven't sampled it yet. I had good growth with my first year plants but don't have enough experience to judge how mature the hops were at harvest.