Crappy Homegrown Hops

[cernst151]

I'm about 5-6 years in on growing my own Cascades and Centennials. Every year I've been disappointed. They produce like mad but the flavor & aroma are sorely lacking. I don't fertilize but I've stirred in some compost a few times over the years. They get full sun for the first half of the day and are shaded later in the afternoon. They generally get plenty of rain, especially this year. This year I was very good about clipping down all but 4 bines from each hill.

I wait until they're very papery and sample along the way. I've used them on the early end and later when cone tips have gone brown. They never have strong aroma, even when left on the vine until they fall on their own. This year I didn't even bother picking them. They're all going brown on the tips but still have little aroma. In the past I've tried brewing with them wet and dry in both reasonable and absurdly large quantities. I did a 5 gal batch last year with 1lb of fully dried hops and barely got any flavor and hardly any aroma.

I brewed 20 gallons on Saturday in the shade of these useless plants. Unless someone can give me some suggestions on something I can do (fertilizer, water, compost, pruning, anything) that will give me better hops I'm just going to dig them out next Spring. Any suggestions?

 

[kh54s10]

I'm about 5-6 years in on growing my own Cascades and Centennials. Every year I've been disappointed. They produce like mad but the flavor & aroma are sorely lacking. I don't fertilize but I've stirred in some compost a few times over the years. They get full sun for the first half of the day and are shaded later in the afternoon.

I am no gardener, but I would bet your problem lies here.

A soil analysis wouldn't hurt either.

 

[kev211]

Im newer to hops growing, so cant offer a ton of help, but I would definitely start fertilizing. I fertilize mine once every 1.5/2 weeks during the growing season. Hop plants are nitrogen and potassium hogs, so get a fertilizer high in those.

Also, papery is a good indication of when to harvest, but from what Ive read, it doesnt hurt to let them go a little beyond papery when they start to get a few brown spots to aloow the alpha acids and aromas to fully develop

 

[dyqik]

There's also the question of utilization of whole hops. I did a 20 min whirlpool with 2oz of dried home-grown cascade on Saturday. As I was taking the hops out to the compost bin, I noticed that most of the lupulin glands were still intact in the cones...

 

[cernst151]

Wow, you fertilize every couple of weeks through the Summer? At that rate you're probably spending more on fertilizer than you'd spend on store bought hops. If it takes constant fertilization to get hops that are worth using I think I'd rather just buy the ones in the store.

dyqik, That's a good point. I'd never examined the hops closely afterwards. I can definitely see how that could happen in a whirpool but I'd think putting them in the boil would take care of that.

 

[dyqik]

dyqik, That's a good point. I'd never examined the hops closely afterwards. I can definitely see how that could happen in a whirpool but I'd think putting them in the boil would take care of that.

I hope so, with the higher temps and extended agitation. Although the Tinseth formula is based on whole cone hops and pellet hops reportedly get lower utilization (Brulosophy recently, YMMV considerably).

I also hope the extended immersion of a NEIPA style dry hop will work for me with my current batch.

 

[Sbe2]

Are you drying them more after you harvest? Some times a hop may seem dry, but it may still have 20% water content, diluting oils.

I will be tapping a NEIPA brewed with a pound of my own dried hops this weekend.

The timing and type of fertilizing is key. Higher N during the climbing phase, higher P when burrs form, higher K post harvest. All other micronutrients will also impact flavor. Hops are like grapes in that the same fruit can be grown in different regions and have completely different tastes

I like to grow hops, the same way I like to grow veggies and brew beer. When growing or brewing you have control of what you are consuming. I like that, even if it costs more than what I can buy at the store. In a few years I look forward to getting Simcoe rhizomes, once their patent runs out.

 

[kev211]

Wow, you fertilize every couple of weeks through the Summer? At that rate you're probably spending more on fertilizer than you'd spend on store bought hops. If it takes constant fertilization to get hops that are worth using I think I'd rather just buy the ones in the store.

I sprinkle on maybe 1/8-1/4 cup per plant x3 plants. I have yet to make it through a 1 gallon sized container of fertilizer that cost me about 15 bucks iirc. Two of my plants are 3 years old. So it goes a long way. That being said, I never started growing my own hops at home thinking I was going to save a ton of money (I made that mistake with homebrewing ). It was more just an extension of my hobby and a desire to see how much of the beer I can create at home.

 

[cernst151]

Are you drying them more after you harvest? Some times a hop may seem dry, but it may still have 20% water content, diluting oils.

I will be tapping a NEIPA brewed with a pound of my own dried hops this weekend.

The timing and type of fertilizing is key. Higher N during the climbing phase, higher P when burrs form, higher K post harvest. All other micronutrients will also impact flavor. Hops are like grapes in that the same fruit can be grown in different regions and have completely different tastes

I like to grow hops, the same way I like to grow veggies and brew beer. When growing or brewing you have control of what you are consuming. I like that, even if it costs more than what I can buy at the store. In a few years I look forward to getting Simcoe rhizomes, once their patent runs out.

I've brewed both wet and dry, using about 5x more when wet. I built a screen setup to dry them off and dry them to around 10-20% the original weight.

I like to grow hops the way I grow veggies too. With minimal interaction. I put in a load of compost at the beginning of the season, sometimes adding some later, and make sure they get enough water. I don't want to spend a ton of effort or money fertilizing or dealing with pests. For the veggies it works great and I produce more than the pests and I can eat. I get very high quality from the veggies but not so much from the hops. Maybe my style of gardening is not conducive to hops. I just figured they would produce well with little work, and they do but they produce useless hops.

Good luck on the Simcoe. Hope they're delicious and plentiful. Thanks for the info.

 

[cernst151]

I sprinkle on maybe 1/8-1/4 cup per plant x3 plants. I have yet to make it through a 1 gallon sized container of fertilizer that cost me about 15 bucks iirc. Two of my plants are 3 years old. So it goes a long way. That being said, I never started growing my own hops at home thinking I was going to save a ton of money (I made that mistake with homebrewing ). It was more just an extension of my hobby and a desire to see how much of the beer I can create at home.

I understand. I'd originally thought homebrewing would save me money too and that of course isn't always the case. I don't necessarily need my hops to be cheaper than store bought but they need to either be cheaper and as good or better. Right now they're obviously much worse but even the best homegrowns I've tried still aren't any better than what I get at my LHBS. If I've got to dump fertilizer on it every couple weeks through the Summer just to get something that's almost as good as store bought, I think I'll skip it. Thanks for the input.

 

[Kharnynb]

fun fact, the northern brewer i grow does very little, likely due to climate, but what it makes is great for dryhop/last minute stuff.

the wild hops that grow all over a friends hedge both produce great amounts and quite tasty hops.

 

[Sbe2]

I've brewed both wet and dry, using about 5x more when wet. I built a screen setup to dry them off and dry them to around 10-20% the original weight.

I like to grow hops the way I grow veggies too. With minimal interaction. I put in a load of compost at the beginning of the season, sometimes adding some later, and make sure they get enough water. I don't want to spend a ton of effort or money fertilizing or dealing with pests. For the veggies it works great and I produce more than the pests and I can eat. I get very high quality from the veggies but not so much from the hops. Maybe my style of gardening is not conducive to hops. I just figured they would produce well with little work, and they do but they produce useless hops.

Good luck on the Simcoe. Hope they're delicious and plentiful. Thanks for the info.

Agree on the gardening, I let it get away from me every year. But, I made a conseus effort to really weed and feed my hops this year and it paid off big time. I went from around 30 dry oz to over 80 dry oz. I will be brewing a lot of single hop IPAs.

I guess if I weren't satisfied with the results, I would just round up them and buy hops. No sense in investing all the time and effort if you can get better hops at the store.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

They never have strong aroma, even when left on the vine until they fall on their own.

Are you just sniffing them, or are you rubbing them in your fingers? You need to rub them to get a true idea of your raw material. If you've not going much in the fresh cone, then any amount of processing isn't going to change that.

Obvious thoughts are - in Minneapolis the climate looks fine, you're getting enough cold in winter for them. One question I don't know - how cloudy is it in summer? Hops need blue skies to really develop bright citrus flavours, which is why say Cascade are more subdued when grown in the UK versus the irrigated desert of the Yakima Valley. It's been really bad this year in fact, we had a really hot spring/early summer, but then it's been really cloudy in August and the Fuggles in particular has turned out very earthy, when some years it can have a significant citrus element. So I don't know if your climate just militates against a Yakima-style brightness and if that's what you're looking for then you'll probably be disappointed. The good news is that duller weather tends to give more complex flavours, just less shouty ones.

As far as cultivation goes - you want your hop bed like a politician, full of manure. The fact the bines are growing well suggests there's no real problem with macronutrients, some micronutrients might help, maybe a seaweed tonic.

 

[Apimyces]

Either you are imagining way more than appropriate, or you need to switch supplier: fertilizer ain't all that expensive. Of course that no-good 99% water organic emulsions will drain your wallet, but some standard synthetic fertilizers plus some home made compost isn't really pricy.

If it was a nutrient issue though they likely wouldn't be having huge yields. Got pictures of the leaves? How is the aroma when crushed between your fingers?

That said, have you brewed with store-bought hops? How did you use those hops in your brew? From the limited info available, I wouldn't discount the possibility of your hops being just fine and the problem lying elsewhere.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

I don't grow my own hops but was recently given ~1lb of dried cascade cones and have been trying to figure out how to use them. I have somewhere that many people who use cones will 'shred' them or otherwise break them apart before adding them to expose more of the cohumulone powder. Might be worth a shot? I figure thats what I'll be doing my first batch or two with cones.

Another option (assuming there is a place near by and you don't mind spending some extra cash) is, I have a 60+ acre hop farm down the road from me and I know they will 'pelletize' your hops and lab test AA% for you at something like $2/lb. But, they require a minimum of 25lbs so it may be unrealistic.

I hope you find a way to get better utilization and post your method here as I'd like to know what solved it!

 

[ba-brewer]

I've brewed both wet and dry, using about 5x more when wet. I built a screen setup to dry them off and dry them to around 10-20% the original weight.

At 10% of the original weight you may be over drying them. You want leave 8 to 10% moisture.

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/drying_hops_on_a_small_scale

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I don't grow my own hops but was recently given ~1lb of dried cascade cones and have been trying to figure out how to use them.

It's not rocket-science, you just use them pretty much as you would pellets. Yep, you can put them through a blender, but it's eeking out a few extra percent, it's not the difference between success and failure.

The problem here seems to be that they're coming off the plant not smelling of much, which suggests either harvesting at the wrong time, or a cultivation problem.

 

[GHBWNY]

Not intending to thread-jack here, but along the line of discussion, I have the opportunity to acquire some homegrown hops from a local grower who has more than he can use. Having never used/grown/harvested fresh hops myself, I'm wondering if they will be good to use this late in the season. While I'm sure hops "expire" on the vine, how does one tell if they have? Color? Smell? ?? I don't want to go to the trouble of picking/paying for and processing them if they're beyond their ability to add the aroma and flavor I'd expect from them.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

As a general rule, you want them still green, but if there's the odd one with a few signs of browning, then that's fine, it proves they're properly ripe.

Rub and sniff is the way to tell what you're getting.

Green/wet hops turn to compost within hours of picking, so you want to either use them or freeze them or start drying them ASAP.

 

[GHBWNY]

@NB --- thanks!

 

[Apimyces]

I don't grow my own hops but was recently given ~1lb of dried cascade cones and have been trying to figure out how to use them. I have somewhere that many people who use cones will 'shred' them or otherwise break them apart before adding them to expose more of the cohumulone powder. Might be worth a shot? I figure thats what I'll be doing my first batch or two with cones.

That's probably offset by the lupulin that ends up stuck on your fingers, though. When I break apart my cones for seeds, my fingers always end up very sticky.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

That's probably offset by the lupulin that ends up stuck on your fingers, though. When I break apart my cones for seeds, my fingers always end up very sticky.

I read "shredding" as referring to people who blitz cones in a blender with a little boiled water or wort, to maximise extraction. It does seem to make a net difference.

 

[Apimyces]

I read "shredding" as referring to people who blitz cones in a blender with a little boiled water or wort, to maximise extraction. It does seem to make a net difference.

Oh, never tried that. Wouldn't try it with UK hops (or homegrown hops with many seeds) though.