Identifying mystery hops

[geobeery]

I've just discovered a reasonable crop of hops climbing a fir tree in my back garden! Any advice on how to identify the variety? I'm in London UK.

 

[jhoneycutt]

Only thing I can think of is get in contact with a reputable hop grower and see what they say. There is a thread hanging around here somewhere though on a very similar subject. Anyone wanna help out on that one?

 

[alane1]

How long have you been living there? Any clues as to who may have planted it? Because of London's close proximity to Kent, you may want to purchase some Goldings and do two side by side split batches and compare the two. Cheers, nice find!!!

 

[geobeery]

alane1, I don't know it it was planted intentionally or otherwise. It's actually on common ground just outside my garden.

jhoneycutt, yes someone else suggested that to me but a response to this question in stackexchange's brew forum suggests the reply is unlikely to be conclusive.

I think I'll do a small batch and chuck in a few generous handfuls late in the boil and see what comes out!

On a related note, I see in wikipedia the following:

Because viable seeds are undesirable for brewing beer, only female plants are grown in hop fields, thus preventing pollination. Female plants are propagated vegetatively, and male plants are culled, if plants are grown from seeds.[18] The flowers from the female plants are used to flavor beer.

Any comments on the implications? How do we know if it's a male or female plant? I noticed pollen in some of the hops I harvested yesterday (see photo), but otherwise they look just like the stuff that goes into the boil..

 

[alane1]

Those are definitely female and the pollen you're referring to is called lupulin, its the resin that gives hops its bitterness. If you do come across any seeds, there are a few of us on HBT that would be interested.

 

[geobeery]

Those are definitely female and the pollen you're referring to is called lupulin, its the resin that gives hops its bitterness. If you do come across any seeds, there are a few of us on HBT that would be interested.

Thanks for the clarification

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I had a similar problem a while back. I took some samples (leaves & cones) to the county extension office & asked them to ID the variety of hops. It took about 20 minutes, but they decided that I had Nugget. That was too bad, as I'm not a fan of nugget.

Not sure if the UK has an equivalent to the US county extension service, but if if you do, they should be able to help ID the variety for you.
Regards, GF.