First year hops are taking over my house - Some questions

[CatLady]

Hi!

So, I planted Cascade hops plants this spring with the understanding that it would be a year or two before I get any kind of harvest, and that they would likely stay small this year, especially up here in Minnesota. Well, as it turns out, I VASTLY underestimated these lil plants - they've taken over the trellis I hung for them, and are covering the side of my house. Are taking over my deck. They've grown to the roof and are hanging down. I gave up on trying to manage them a while back and just let them do their thing, having also read that in the first year you shouldn't trim them back. Now my plants have TONS of flowers and are growing cones! However - I don't actually know the first thing about brewing beer. I have several friends that do (who suggested I grow hops, and they'll brew it in exchange for some of the result, lol) and who knows, maybe I'll learn to brew myself, but until then I have a few questions.

1) I'm very quickly realizing the place I planted them will not be good long term, especially if the consensus is they get MORE vigorous with age. They're already insane. I am wanting to move them next year to a location they can grow vertically like I see pictures of. Do hops transplant well? When in the spring should I do it - before I see growth, or after?

2) While the part of the trellis that gets more sun has cones forming, the other side that's more shaded is still in the "flower" stage. How long can I keep hops on the vine so I can pick them all at once? Do they "ripen" and stay that way for a bit, or do they need to be picked right away once they're ready?

3) Can I freeze fresh hops to use? I don't think they would be able to be used right away, and I'm unsure how to "keep" them. I do have a food saver, and I have a dehydrator, but if I can food save and freeze them that would be neat. Would they be akin to 'fresh' hops once the're brewed?

Here's a couple pics of the plant taken a while ago (it's grown larger since, and the other side of the trellis looks the same from the other plant, lol)

 

[day_trippr]

- Hop "crowns" transplant well - there's a whole industry devoted to selling crowns. If you can I would wait until very late fall to dig up the crowns and move them to their new homes. Otherwise you can dig them up, put them in buckets, stick them in an unheated, shaded place until early spring when you can plant them.

- If sunlight is uneven, growth and maturation will be as well, so it's likely you'll need to harvest the sunlit earlier than the shaded. Best time to harvest is when cones are just starting to "brown" at the tips.

- You can freeze cones, but it's best to dry them to 20% of their original "wet weight" first. Otherwise you'll have a bag of mush when it thaws - which apparently is still usable, but I never went that way.

This was around this time 10 years ago, back when I grew Cascade, Chinook and Centennial hops. Put 12 pounds of dried and vac-bagged cones in the freezer that year

Cheers!

 

[CatLady]

-I'm hesitant to move them during the fall - Winters here are so harsh, I've read that they need to be well established to survive the cold. Would it be terribly different if I moved them in spring?

-Noted about the harvesting! Indeed, the sunnier half is turning into cones already, and the other half is just a billion flowers still. So, I suppose it'll be unequal harvesting.

-I can just use a dehydrator to dry them? I have a little one I could use! I'd just have to weigh them periodically. Curious - When you weigh hops, do you weigh the harvest "wet" or post-drying, or?

Love that hops setup! I wish I had a tall deck to grow them on. A few trees are coming down next year, so I'll have more sunny room. I'm pleased with how well they're doing, after where my expectations were set, and now I want to plant more!

 

[day_trippr]

You can wait until Spring to plant. I wager most folks do so.
And you can use a dehydrator.

Cheers!

 

[user 345769]

hey there I too grow Hops in my back yard. one thing I would suggest is to remove the trellis as harvesting will be a pain in the ass as Iv done that my first year now i have them climbing cable 17' up.

I dont dry my cones, I lay them out 24 hrs on a bed under some shade to help the bugs to fall off, and then I just freeze them semi dry on the out side but still wet inside.

I should mention I wash my hops before picking as aphids love my hops I do get lady bugs but with all the aphids nectar/waste my hops are quite sticky.

 

[catalanotte]

Starting next season you can more selectively prune the plant to just 3-4 bines and have a bit more control of the growth. A for harvesting and storing, they do have a pretty small window to harvest, about a week or so and it’s it typical to just cut down the whole plant about 3 ft off the ground. I’m in southern Wisconsin and they were ready to pick last weekend. Either use wet within 24 hours of picking or dry completely and vacuum seal. Dehydrator works great, 100 deg for 9 hrs was about right.