cernst151
Well-Known Member
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?
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?