How long do fresh grown hops last?

[rjolin01]

How long do fresh grown hops last?
How much does a plant produce?

I have an idea of starting a"Hops Exchange" if I convert to All Grains. I know hops rhizomes are actually rather inexpensive but from what I see on YouTube the plants get rather big and tall. I figured if enough people participated and we got enough variety of hops people would only need to grow like one type and we could exchange what we grow for other varieties.

I would hope that since the rhizomes all cost same and potentially all varieties produce similar amounts that it would be an even exchange, pound for pound.

My main questions are as follows:
How well do they ship? I am sure vacuum sealed may be a requirement.

How long they last?
Would be worth all the hassle and cost of shipping?

Looking for input and opinions on if this is feasible.

Thanks,
rjolin01

 

[rjolin01]

After reading some more I didn't realize a plant usually only produces up to a pound of hops. So this may not be feasible at all.

 

[sablesurfer]

Uhm, a plant can produce way more than a pound, and a a home harvester you can actually harvest twice if you want since you dont 'have' to cut the bine down if you have a way to lower it.

You would want to set guidelines for prepping the hops. I would assume NO fresh frozen hops as those would turn to mush in mail. You'd want to set a drying standard, as in no hotter than and try to get -X% weight loss to try to get the most water out without messing with flavors.

Last year's were dried in a dehydrator on lowest setting for about 5 days. Then everything was vacuum packed and into the freezer for storage. Just used some up today and they aromas were great.

 

[wilserbrewer]

IMHO, growing hops is a lot of work, and professionally grown hops are relatively inexpensive. Growing hops is a great hobby, but as soon as you talk about "profiting or benefiting" from home grown hops....I'm out.

In your example, I imagine the cost of shipping would eat into any potential reward.

Sorry to discourage, I just think that small scale growing of hops is a great hobby, other than that it is a lot of work and unless you get pleasure from that work, fuhgetaboutit

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

IMHO, growing hops is a lot of work, and professionally grown hops are relatively inexpensive. Growing hops is a great hobby, but as soon as you talk about "profiting or benefiting" from home grown hops....I'm out.

In your example, I imagine the cost of shipping would eat into any potential reward.

Sorry to discourage, I just think that small scale growing of hops is a great hobby, other than that it is a lot of work and unless you get pleasure from that work, fuhgetaboutit

That is why I concentrate on rhizomes! I let brewers in in the harvest time to pick their own last year. Worked out well.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Interesting concept, approx . how many acres / plants / pounds produced.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

1/4 acre, 330 the last tie I harvested around 120 dry. More than a hobby a real business would have. It almost did profit last year.

 

[rjolin01]

So from the few responses I would say this isn't feasible. I have only been brewing for a few months and dine only one gallon batches. I tend to read up a lot on my hobbies and thought this may be possible but with my current limited knowledge I see it most likely isn't.

 

[sablesurfer]

It would be best done in town instead of shipping, to avoid costs. Not saying it can't be done more widely, just need a dedicated group of people.

We have done homebrew club exchanges, got one of my best IPA's out of some exchanged hops. (Isn't that the way it goes, cause you can never repeat it...sigh.)

DEFINITELY make sure everyone dries them well and gently if you want to repeat that beer every again.