Hop Growing in Pennsylvania

[SteveM]

Well with $12 worth of hops in my current five gallon batch (now boiling), I am looking at growing my own. There is an extensive thread about this but in looking it over, I did not see anything about middle-Atlantic states and what hops might prosper there.

It seems like they do best in cooler climates like New England and the Pacific Northwest. All the readings I've done points to this and, well, that's where the commercial ones mostly come from.

I've had beers made by people who grew their own and frankly they were brutal. It's possible, of course, that they had poor growing and handling techniques and]or inappropriate conditions, and in theory at least I can avoid these (I have a great spot, sunny and well drained, and with all the information around, there seems to be no excuse for poor technique).

But I am wondering if any varieties are known to grow better in warmer areas like Pennsylvania. Has anyone had any success in growing hops in Pennsylvania? If so, do the varieties matter? I was thinking of trying for one flavor and one aroma hop.

Your thoughts and comments are invited! Thanks!

 

[tbone]

(Western PA) I really don't know anything about growing them but!! A block from where I live in the community center playground there is a 50' section of cyclone fencing that is full of hop vines and hops. I have no idea how they got there or what kind they are. I would love to find out.

 

[sleepystevenson]

I am in western PA, between Pittsburgh and Erie. No experience with hop growing here....yet! This year, I am definitely going for it. Have a great spot, fencing to grow on, etc. From what I have read, the hops should do fine around here. And probably in your part of PA, as well.

 

[pjj2ba]

The biggest concern with East coast hop gowing is too much humidty and water - sort of. Hops are prone to a number of diseases that need high humidity and/or plenty of rain to gain a foothold. It is my understanding that much of the Western hop farms are irrigated so the farmer has great control of the conditions that promote disease. We here are the East coast don't have that luxury.

When planting your hops you want a location that provides as much sunshine as possible and also has good air movement. After a rain, you want your plants to dry out as quickly as possible. Stagnant, humid air leads to disease. Another thing you can do is to trim up the bottom 3 ft of the plants, removing a bunch of extra leaves to promote good air movement around the base of the plant.

I had great plants this year, but with that hot dry spell we had in August, my hop cones went from mature to brown toast within a week when I didn't have time to do any harvesting

 

[david_42]

Let's say 100F+ is not my idea of cool. But, one thing we don't have here in the summer is rain. Concentrate on the early harvest hops with high fungal resistance. Fuggle & NB are possibilities. http://www.freshops.com/usda_hop_desc2.html

 

[freyguy]

I had luck in DE with my Liberty and Goldings plants. They aren't even supposed to do that well in this area, but the first year they grew to about 12ft high, but hardly any cones. The second year we were selling the house and kept them trimmed down, but they were growing like crazy! I used a combination of manure mixed in the soil, and miracle grow the first year. I hear miracle grow can impair their "taste", but I figured the first year I wouldn't be harvesting and I was trying to establish a good root base.

 

[Evets]

I had good results from cascade and nugget last year on second year plants. My hallertau and willamette have yet to produce annything worthwhile. This year I'm putting in more cascades, fuggles, kent goldings and sterling.

 

[Aspera]

My neighbor grows hops, and they seem to do very well in SE PA. I see wild hops everywhere and the cultivated ones are very prolific. I'm told that we don't get quite the AA content of the Pacific NW, but the hops smelled O.K.

 

[roggae]

i grew hops in harrisburg. i did have issues with mold and bugs, but a little neem oil did the trick.

pm me with any specific questions about growing

 

[SteveM]

Thanks all! Great info and very encouraging.

My LHBS guy advises that my choices of types might be somewhat limited, but if I can get my hands on some Cascade rhizomes and get them to grow, that would be great. Amarillo would really be my first choice - I will ask him about both of those.

 

[mrbowenz]

I grew some with good success ;EKG, Chinook, and Fuggles, checking the soil pH is the key, don't over water them and plenty of sunlight with some general wide band fetilizer worked well here just to your north, here are some shots from this past summer and fall harvest:

 

[Bob]

Historically, the first area to see large-scale commercial hops farming was upstate NY, in the Hudson River valley and west. Before that, settlers found hops growing wild and used them if hops imported from Europe were unavailable.

That is to say that yes, hops can grow in the Mid-Atlantic states quite well. As well as the Willamette valley? Nope. But pretty nicely nevertheless. I'm going to plant some this spring, I think.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[SixFoFalcon]

I'm thinking about starting some Sterling, Goldings, and one of the C-hops (probably Cascade or Centennial). I need some shade in the back yard anyway. Looks like I'm going to have to wait until late March to see what's available.

 

[brewt00l]

Nice pictures...looks like I have to keep my eyes open and on the look out for some hops next time I drive through Bethlehem.

 

[chillHayze]

I am in western PA, between Pittsburgh and Erie. No experience with hop growing here....yet! This year, I am definitely going for it. Have a great spot, fencing to grow on, etc. From what I have read, the hops should do fine around here. And probably in your part of PA, as well.

Dude, that's where I grew up. Mercer PA. Even knew a Stevenson come to think of it! Never grew hops there but a certain other cousin of hops has been known to thrive in the many acres of wilderness if given enough sun. Never needed a fence for those though...

 

[sleepystevenson]

chillHayze, I am from West Middlesex, PA - a stone's throw from Mercer! I know just what cousin to which you refer....

refer....gotta watch which syllable you accent there...hehe


Although my name isn't stevenson....
Anyway, small world, eh?

 

[jldesign]

edinboro PA just south of erie. grew cascade, saaz, crystal and liberty for 4 years. the cascade and crystal are the only ones to produce anything.

had to move the cascade came with me ;-) new location and actual planned out growing area I hope to do better this year.

BTW they were all in 5-10 gallon pots the whole time on a patio. I'd only get about 2-3 ounces of cascade & crystal a year but they were good dryhoppers

 

[chillHayze]

Small world indeed.

I don't suppose you like kayaking?

 

[balto charlie]

The biggest concern with East coast hop gowing is too much humidty and water - sort of. Hops are prone to a number of diseases that need high humidity and/or plenty of rain to gain a foothold. It is my understanding that much of the Western hop farms are irrigated so the farmer has great control of the conditions that promote disease. We here are the East coast don't have that luxury.

When planting your hops you want a location that provides as much sunshine as possible and also has good air movement. After a rain, you want your plants to dry out as quickly as possible. Stagnant, humid air leads to disease. Another thing you can do is to trim up the bottom 3 ft of the plants, removing a bunch of extra leaves to promote good air movement around the base of the plant.

I had great plants this year, but with that hot dry spell we had in August, my hop cones went from mature to brown toast within a week when I didn't have time to do any harvesting

What plants did you grow?? Thanks Charlie

 

[pjj2ba]

I've got Cascade, Fuggle, Glacier, Liberty, Sterling and Tettnang. This past year was just rotten timing for my hops. It got very hot and dry for us right as the cones were maturing and I was very busy and couldn't harvest them. This was their second year. The first year I got a nice little harvest with no problems.

 

[sleepystevenson]

ChillHayze -
Not really into kayaking, but have been known to take a lazy canoe trip down the (not-so) mighty Shenango river with some homebrews!

 

[tbone]

Kayaking down the Shenendoah for Smallmouth with some good beer and two guys that love good beer just brought a big smile to my face.

 

[seethe303]

Small world indeed.

I don't suppose you like kayaking?

do ya Kayak around the columbus area?

I love to fish, and have thought about getting a kayak.

anyway, to keep this thread on topic: someday, I wish to grow hops in central ohio.

 

[chillHayze]

do ya Kayak around the columbus area?

I love to fish, and have thought about getting a kayak.

anyway, to keep this thread on topic: someday, I wish to grow hops in central ohio.

Still getting settled in, but soon I will bring the yak down from my parents place in PA. There are a lot of options when considering a boat. Check out www.paddling.net and/or PM me. It would be awesome to have a fishin/homebrew/boating buddy in the area!

 

[menschmaschine]

I had luck in DE with my Liberty and Goldings plants. They aren't even supposed to do that well in this area, but the first year they grew to about 12ft high, but hardly any cones. The second year we were selling the house and kept them trimmed down, but they were growing like crazy! I used a combination of manure mixed in the soil, and miracle grow the first year. I hear miracle grow can impair their "taste", but I figured the first year I wouldn't be harvesting and I was trying to establish a good root base.

That's encouraging for me. I'm planning on growing some this year too here in DE. I'm just going to go for it, take as best care with them as possible, and see what happens!

 

[invisible76]

I am in southern NJ and looking to plant. Is it too late for this year? Where can I get rhizomes or already sprouted vines?

 

[SteveM]

A local LHBS probably will no longer have them, if they work the way mine does, where you have to order in advance. Besides buying some retail, I got some here: http://www.thymegarden.com/

They might still have some. I doubt that it is too late to plant, but I'm not the expert.

 

[morrighu]

You can always visit the hop growers wiki - http://www.utrabrew.net/hopwiki. It's a fairly large active community dedicated to growing hops. I know that they've been really helpful to us. We're in Texas, another place not traditionally known for growing hops.

HTH,

M.

 

[beersage]

No hops in Pennsylvania?

Thought I'd share some tidbits on what Dan Weirback of Weyerbacher is cookin' up these days.

Weyerbacher Harvest Ale

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

I currently grow about 15 varieties in PA. Cascade do the best by far and Magnum the second best. Any questions just PM me.