85 year old hop plant...

[bkelley0804]

hello everyone! a family member of mine has a hop plant that has been growing on their farm since it was planted in 1926. i've been home brewing for about five years and just learned of this plant recently. we would like to build a trellis or some sort of structure to help it grow bigger and produce more hops. would like to get some advice from people who know what they are doing... thanks!

 

[Thehopguy]

Pics or GTFO!

 

[jessox80]

Before building my very basic and free trellis, I looked up "hop trellis" on google image and got some great ideas (as did I from this site and youtube). You want to give the bines something to climb and cut back some shoots in the spring (though for an 85 y.o. plant, doing so may not even be necessary). Feed it regularly and it will be bountiful.

 

[passedpawn]

Pics or GTFO!

+1. Pic or GTFO.

How do they know when it was planted. A 20-yr-old that planted it would be 105 yrs old right now.

 

[Fantastical]

I bet you would need an excavator to get the root bulb out! haha

 

[Retrofit]

Where is it growing? If it's on the side of a barn, just run twine up the entire side of the bar and let it go (up). Should be incredible.

 

[alexdagrate]

I would love for you to find out what variety this hop is (or what modern variety it most closely resembles).

With all of Deschutes' Larry Sidor's talk about how modern Cascade plants are not "true Cascade" just compared to thirty years ago... I wonder if this hop crown might yield hop flavors that have gone untasted for decades.

There's lots of great advice on this forum about hop growing, I'd suggest building something where you can cut the lines down at harvest, just like the pros do.

 

[bigbeergeek]

Standing by for photographs...

 

[Chaosbourne]

Standing by for photographs...

Agreed. I'm curious as to where this is on your property and what it looks like

 

[bkelley0804]

i'll try to get some pics up here soon. its on my 2nd cousin's father's land, and the hop plant was planted by his grandfather (this is how we know what year it was planted) for the past five or six years, he's entered some of the hops into the local fair and they've taken first place every year. i'm excited to start using these hops

 

[bigbeergeek]

Wow, keep us posted!

 

[day_trippr]

85 years old? That thing must be a monster! I wanna know what my hops will look like when my great, great, great....umm....great grandkids see 'em

Cheers!

 

[ssf]

i'll try to get some pics up here soon. its on my 2nd cousin's father's land, and the hop plant was planted by his grandfather (this is how we know what year it was planted) for the past five or six years, he's entered some of the hops into the local fair and they've taken first place every year. i'm excited to start using these hops

where can i get tickets to check out this hop fair of yours? sounds awesome.

 

[bkelley0804]

where can i get tickets to check out this hop fair of yours? sounds awesome.

its not a "hop fair" sorry for the confusion... its the york fair. people can enter plants and animals where they can be judged. here's a link the their homepage http://www.yorkfair.org/

 

[mhumm1]

lets see this picture

 

[Beezy]

Mmk subbed. Get some hop porn attachment action going plz

 

[shuckit]

Pictures pls...

 

[xeerohour]

Pics or it didn't happen?

 

[bkelley0804]

my cousin is going to take pics when she gets a chance. she is rather busy this time of year and will get them to me as soon as she gets a chance. in fact, i haven't even seen this plant yet either! perhaps i should have waited to post this thread until after i got to see the pics? i apologize to keep everyone in suspense but i'm in the same boat...
(have a beer on me in the meantime)
cheers!

 

[Lucky137]

Any update here??

 

[Jagdad]

Are you Dutch? German? Polish? English? Irish? What ever your hertitage is will give you a good idea of what the plant is. A lot of Fuggle was grown on homesteads in PA. Realize that Fuggle is a parent of many hops (including Cascade). Also Fuggle is cabable of surviving for years with no care; while varieties like Saazer and Hallertauer tend to die out.

 

[shanecb]

Still need pics!

 

[j_treegirl]

Ok folks, I'm the infamous cousin with the mystery hops plant that we need help with...sorry for the wait. I'm going to try to explain and post pictures, but please bear with me as I'm a nube.
The hop in question was planted in 1926, but we have no idea what kind it is. We are of German ancestry, I know that someone had asked. This poor plant has had no care for at least 25 years, probably alot more. There used to be a tree growing up through the middle (you'll understand when you see the pics) but dad took it out the other year. He thought when he pulled out the tree that he might have killed the hops by accident, but it came back. I read on the internet that you're actually supposed to cut it off at the ground level at the end of the season and it will grow anew the next spring...didn't know that!
Anyway, it has never been trellised or anything, but gets full sun and seems to be very happy where it is. It has a three lobed leaf, and the other day bkelley and I went to look at and crushed one of the hop cones...it kinda smelled like marigolds, if that makes any sense. Strong, pungent, slightly stinky...
If anyone can help identify it, and/or give us any kind of suggestions on where to go from here, we'd really really appreciate it. Dad and I are slowly trying to get the farm back in order and we'd like to see this plant get the attention it needs to be something great. Pappy was proud of it many years ago, and it always takes first place at the Fair.
Gonna try to post some pics...

 

[j_treegirl]

Ok, that seemed to go well...so here are some more pics!

There should be one closeup of the hop cone and one that isn't as clear, but bkelley's hand in the frame gives a better indication of the size...The individual cones seem to range between 1 and 2 inches long, average being about 1.5 inches or so.

 

[j_treegirl]

This last one is just to show the size of the plant...That's my full-size SUV (Trailblazer) beside it, and yes...it's bigger than the truck. There is a bunch of Tearthumb (or whatever it goes by in your area) growing into now, so harvesting it will be fun! The hop seems to be sending runners out farther into the yard even now!

Again, any help or input is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

[HappyHax0r]

:O im speechless, and that /never/ happens .

 

[j_treegirl]

Speechless...in a good way?

 

[bottlebomber]

Sweet Fancy Moses......

 

[HappyHax0r]

Speechless...in a good way?

How the heck could you not be. That thing is a hop growers dream

 

[j_treegirl]

Thanks! We'd like to try to find out what kind it is, and how to take care of it. I know nothing about it, so if anyone knows of a good book or website or has suggestions, we'd love to hear about it. It does well left on its own apparently, so I'm always hesitant to try to do anything to it. We've only ever picked enough to submit to the fair...this year we told bkelley0804 that he could try brewing with it (once we find out how to dry the hops and stuff) if he split the product with us! That would be the first brew made with it in at least 40 years...