2016 SD Hop Garden

[Voodoo]

Grab a bottle of gin, (I used Sapphire) toss the hops in and wait a week or two. The gin will dissolve and absorb the lupulin, flavoring the gin to match the hops used. You'll know you're getting close when the gin takes on a yellow color from the lupulin.

I used Columbus, Multihead, Southern Brewer and Willow Creek separately. The Willow Creek and Multihead had the best overall flavor of the first round of infused gin. Southern brewer isn't bad, but it imparts a lemon pepper flavor which almost tastes like olives/sweet vermouth / dirty martini. Columbus is definitely the least liked of the four tested, the hop profile is just too strong and somewhat overwhelms the gin with its earthy, dank flavor.

Multihead is known for its "unusual genetic aberration which is expressed as a combined cone with multiple tips." My Multiheads have not thrown a single multiple tipped cone. They form cones similar to any other plant I have run - just 2-3 times as many cones as I'm used to for their age.

The smell of Multiheads is similar to Cascades - citric but fruity. Where Cascades are grapefruity, Multiheads are closer to a warmer tropical fruit (passionfruit maybe?), but somewhat melon/peach-ish - the melon-peach flavor really comes out in the gin. Total first year Multihead yield was 5 freezer bags beating my best 2nd year plant by one full bag (Columbus harvested 4 bags).

 

[thaymond]

Very cool thread. I'm interested in the Gin experiments. That side arm of multi-head is rather impressive. Imagine your yields in year 2 and 3 when those root balls are established and all energy goes into bine growth and cone production on those first year plants, especially since they're beating out your 2nd year plants. Well done on the hops! I'd be interested in the results you get with multuhead in beer. I may need to expand the garden to find room for it, if it turns out fruity and tropical, like Cascade.

 

[Voodoo]

Thanks Thaymond. Yeah hops work for lots of food based uses - sun tea, steak seasoning, alcohol infusions, "live hopped" beers, etc. The more I treat hops like pepper, oregano, or any other spice the better they seem to work.

Harvested the Southern Cross (.5 freezer bag) and AlphAromas (1.5 freezer bags) last night. Southern Cross is lemon-pine as expected. Alpharoma is similar, but tangy and very bitter smelling. Couple pics of the plants..

Southern Cross

AlphaAroma

The rest of the garden is trucking along, starting to show fall colors.

Multihead's top only growth was plucked and now the lower nodes are shooting and producing baby burs. I should see another freezer bags worth of cones from the bottom half of the plant.

Zenith has finally decided to start forming burs and cones. It seems really happy to be alive, but its just so late in the season!

 

[Texconsinite]

Voodoo, how was the flavor of the Willow Creek compared to Multihead, or Cascade? I have both as well and am curious what to expect.

 

[ba-brewer]

Soil mix:
Fox Farm Happy Frog Potting Soil
Miracle Grow Potting Soil
Earth Worm Castings
Composted Chicken Manure
Composted Steer Manure
Rice Hulls
Rock Dust
Dolomite Lime

Very impressive setup and yields.

Curious if you plan to repotting your plants before next spring and will you reuse your same soil mix?

Would also like to know the rough percentages of your soil mix.

 

[jerbrew]

Impressive. I had miserable luck with my first hop growing attempt. Hopefully next year I can get something going. Those random thunder storms we had in May killed them I don't think I had good enough drainage in my soil.

 

[Voodoo]

Voodoo, how was the flavor of the Willow Creek compared to Multihead, or Cascade? I have both as well and am curious what to expect.

Multihead is tropically fruity, maybe peach-passion fruit? Its MUCH closer in its floral notes to Cascade. The Willow Creek is an ultra citric, bright lemon flavor / aroma, nothing like a Cascade.

Curious if you plan to repotting your plants before next spring and will you reuse your same soil mix?

Would also like to know the rough percentages of your soil mix.

I'll probably add a bit of soil mix when I do some minor top level tilling, but otherwise, I plan to leave them as they are till next year. The soil should be plenty loaded for a couple seasons with minor nutrient additions.

The soil mix is a pile of the following with roughly these amounts:

1 bag Fox Farm Happy Frog Potting Soil
1 bag Miracle Grow Potting Soil
1 bag Earth Worm Castings
1 bag Composted Chicken Manure
2 bags Composted Steer Manure
As much as you get from GLH - Rice Hulls
1/2 box Rock Dust
1/2 box Dolomite Lime

 

[Voodoo]

All of the "traditional" hops were cut back to stumps right around the beginning of October. Since then, most of the hops have started to bud / shoot. The Cascade and Newport hops are climbing back up the lines. Newport is already at the top of the fence, shooting toward the roof (roughly 5 feet of growth on 2 lines). I was under the impression the lack of daylight hours would signal the plants to stop pushing, but apparently that is not the case. For those wondering, we're currently at 10:30 hours of daylight in San Diego.

The NeoMex hops were left to grow for much longer as they weren't browning out. I would assume this is because they're used to a latitude / growing season more similar to southern California's. The Willow Creek ended up developing a minor white fly infestation and was cut to the dirt in the middle of October. The Multihead hops threw a whole second harvest which were added to a bottle of gin. After the second harvest, I cut the Multihead hops back to the dirt at the end of October.

 

[Voodoo]

It took till about mid-December for the daylight hours to get short enough, but all of the hops eventually died back to their crowns. The gin and beers produced with the hops from the yard have been a great way to pass the fall/winter months.

Toward the end of February, I cut off all of the rogue outer rhizomes that reached the edges of the Cascade / Newport / Santiam containers. The Cascades were planted in a wine barrel while the Newport and Santiam went to friends who wanted to give things a go. I expected to cut back the Newport and Cascade (second year plants) but the Santiam (first year) was remarkably vigorous and required cutting as well.

As of today, all of the hop plants have green bull shoots and seem to be more than happy to explode out of the ground. Pics soon!

 

[Voodoo]

The early developing shoots look very healthy and show no signs of disease or nutrient stress, but its definitely time to start cutting the plants back! Problem is, on my 3rd year plants (and 2nd year willow creek) I can't seem to tell the difference between a bull shoot and a regular shoot. They all just look like big happy bines to me, same node spacing and very similar development.

What's the verdict? I'm thinking cut everything back (except the new Cascade cuttings) and see what resprouts.

 

[cram]

Mine have taken off in San Diego too. Already had to cut some back that were two feet tall. Some are that big again! Thinking I'll get some on lines earlier this year since they don't seem to like being completely cut back multiple times. I'll go out and take a picture.

 

[cram]

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View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1491075024.121590.jpg

 

[SoCalGrowGirl]

Everybody looks happy and healthy! We're in the same boat up here. Cut most everyone back and propagating the cuttings. The spring cycle of hops life continues! We'll be stringing up lines soon, these guys are off and running. Happy Growing!

 

[kev211]

My columbus hops are off to the races. Unfortunately with all the rain this winter and poor draining soil apparently, I lost a cascade to root rot. New cascade should be here in a few weeks along with a willamette. Just moved to a new place and my hop growing area gets a solid 8 hours of sun a day so it should be good


@cram is that a real turtle? Or a statue? haha

 

[cram]

Kev211, it's a real tortoise, aka a solar-powered lawn mower! Shoot me a pm if you're in the SD area and need a Cascade rhizome-think I still have some in the fridge.

 

[kev211]

Kev211, it's a real tortoise, aka a solar-powered lawn mower! Shoot me a pm if you're in the SD area and need a Cascade rhizome-think I still have some in the fridge.

For real!? Ya I'd def take one. Pm sent

 

[aeviaanah]

A sulcata if I didn't know any better!

 

[jerbrew]

I think I have two centennial in the fridge as well I got from Yakima if any of y'all in SD are interested. I only have room for three plants and they didn't make the cut.

 

[Voodoo]

Getting close to the solstice, so its about time for an update. The growth has really suffered due to our very mild / cloudy spring months, but as June has started pushing more heat (and longer daylight hours) were starting to get there quickly.

As you can see, I am playing with a trellis net for the NeoMex hops over a pergola as a shade structure / screen of green.

Multihead: The multihead hops hit the top of the trellis and now the end of the pergola and are being spread across the screen as they begin to burr up. While a bit of a PIA to arrange the bines / sidearms, the screen certainly works as a way to spread the growth out and really get some good sunlight for the plant / shade for the hammock.

Willow Creek: The willow creek has just sprung back to life after its May 30th cut back / spring cone harvest. I was able to pull a single freezer bag of hops off the plant in spring, not bad, but not really worth the effort.

Alpharoma: This plant probably should have been cut back with the others, but it obviously requires less daylight (similar to the Multihead) than some other varieties to get going.

All of the following hops were cut to the ground around the last week of May.

Zenith: Is starting growth much earlier than last year and will probably be kept around after all. Its still a bit slower than the other plants, but at least we're not waiting till mid July for vegetative development like last year.

Cascade: Is (as expected) quickly becoming a monster of a plant. I ended up cutting this one back despite previous vegetative development to see if it had an effect on harvest times / overall development given the shorter day length common in southern California.

Columbus: Yet again, the Columbus is taking forever to launch. I believe this plant is a bit less interested in working with the shorter day length in southern California. When it does finally get going (around July 1st) it shoots to the moon and yields well, but its late emergence ruins the aesthetic of my hop tunnel. As you might have guessed, there is a strong chance of this plant being rotated out.

Newport: bushy, bushy newport has just started to rebound after the late season cut back. Its very happy and easily one of the most robust growers I have. I pulled numerous shoots/rhizomes off the plant this year to keep it contained to a crown. My efforts have been rewarded with about 20 new shoots coming off the crown - so much for crown maintenance.

Southern Brewer: Has developed at rapid rate since being hacked back and is already at the top of the lines / being wrapped all over the place.

Southern Cross: Is doing much better this year. Its a little behind the NeoMex, SAfrican, NZ hops, but is still quite speedy.

 

[newtobrew1981]

Here is mine

View attachment 1498677277730.jpg

 

[newtobrew1981]

Second year for these guys.But my centennial on the other hand isn't doing so well

 

[kev211]

No stopping these guys. From left to right. Cascade, Willamette (slow), and ctz. Ctz is unruly

View attachment 1498688942802.jpg

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[Senormac]

Lookin good Kev

 

[kev211]

Had some freshes fall off. Dried em and tossed them in a fresh HB apa

View attachment 1500343246311.jpg

 

[kev211]

Welp. Harvested half of the Columbus plant tonight. 2.9lbs. my garage smells amazing!

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[Senormac]

again..... isn't this part of the 2017 Hop thread ?

 

[kev211]

again..... isn't this part of the 2017 Hop thread ?

Well this one seemed to have been revived. Does it really matter though?