My backyard hop situation

[user 125772]

I have about 5 or 6 clumps of growth like this on my EKG. I guess they are seeds. I don't know if they have a use or not.

I noticed a clump of growth like that on my Columbus bines the other day too.
I assumed they're seeds as well, most likely infertile since there are no male plants around.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

The Chinook absolutely refuses to take a break for winter, and puts up shoots year-round....grow so fast they forgot to make cones (I got zero last year).

The two are related. Hops are high-latitude plants, they need a few weeks of cold (ideally frost) in winter and long days in summer. In South Africa they could only grow hops on the very southern tip of the Cape until they developed day-length-neutral varieties. It looks like you're slightly closer to the equator so you're on the edge from that point of view. I guess whilst they are in pots you could put them in the fridge for a month in winter (perhaps not all at the same time, for the sake of domestic harmony....), and perhaps there's a nearby security light or streetlight at the new place that could be used to help persuade them that they are further north than they are?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

This will be the third year for my Centennial, Chinook and Fuggles and the 6th year for my East Kent Golding.

Just to be picky - you can't grow East Kent Goldings in Oregon, it's like expecting to see the Brooklyn Dodgers in LA. In fact Goldings is a family of related varieties such as Amos’ Early Bird, Calais, Cobbs, Eastwell and Mathon.The "East Kent" bit refers to where they're grown, not the variety - it's a legally protected designation like Champagne or Scotch whisky, EKG can only come from one place (roughly east of a line from Maidstone to Dover).

I think it's the only example of a terroir being protected like that in the beer world, but there ought to be more - the same variety of hop can show differences between terroirs just as big as between Californian cabernet and Bordeaux, or Oregon pinot noir and Burgundy. The only example I can think of in the market is UK-grown Cascade, which is closer to its ancestral Fuggles (grown in the UK) than US-grown Cascade. Conversely I imagine Fuggles in California will turn out more Cascade-like.

On mildew, both powdery and downy - it's a big problem, particularly in the UK. Much of the breeding programme at Wye was devoted to looking for resistance as the traditional varieties are very susceptible to it. There's also been a lot of work on resistance to verticilium wilt which devastated the British acreage in the 1920s and Boadicea is advertised as the world's first aphid-resistant hop.

On height - Wye also pioneered "hedgerow" varieties of hop, starting with First Gold/Primadonna, which grow to about 7' (Boadicea is another). Summit was the first in the US, but since much the best use for green hops is as aroma/dry hops rather than bittering, it would probably make more sense to grow something like Azacca if you can get hold of it?

 

[Senormac]

Just to be picky - you can't grow East Kent Goldings in Oregon, it's like expecting to see the Brooklyn Dodgers in LA. In fact Goldings is a family of related varieties such as Amos’ Early Bird, Calais, Cobbs, Eastwell and Mathon.The "East Kent" bit refers to where they're grown, not the variety - it's a legally protected designation like Champagne or Scotch whisky, EKG can only come from one place (roughly east of a line from Maidstone to Dover).

Are you suggesting that I change the name of what I'm calling these to Central Oregon Golding hops ?

 

[B-Hoppy]

Pretty much, and I'm glad to see that the naming rights were awarded a year or so ago. I seem to recall reading that they were designated Golding (which could be grown anywhere), Kent Golding (which were grown in Kent), and EKG which were grown in East Kent. Germany is pretty similar as they historically named the hops after the region they were grown in, Hallertau, Hersbruck, Tettnang, Spalt etc. Also, I remember back in the early 90's that there were "BC Goldings". Friends in the industry mentioned that they were different than any other Goldings grown in N. America at the time so they made a point to state where they were grown.

 

[Senormac]

I didn't know that there was a movement to call hops by their location first. I haven't heard of anyone calling their plants El Paso Centennials or Lansing Cascades. Every hop plant is subject to the terroir of where they are being grown, the kind of rain that falls on them and the bugs that crawl on them.

What if you grew some EKG..... in East Kent, but had them in pots full of Florida swamp potting soil ? Would that make them NOT EKG's ?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Great thread and some beautiful hops! I've got 6 varieties growing really well, all in their first year. 3 from rhizomes (Cascade, Chinook, and Crystal) and 3 from small starters (Mt Hood, Nugget, and Willamette). Cones are growing on Nugget and Willamette. I'm curious, when the season ends, should I cut the bines down from near the ground or should I let them be? Any advice would be great! Thank you!

With first year hops most people leave the bines growing until the mid to late fall. As long as the leaves are green energy is going into the plant for the following year. Then cut about 4-6 inches above the crown.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Are you suggesting that I change the name of what I'm calling these to Central Oregon Golding hops ?

If you were trying to sell them, yes. But a wholesaler would probably just laugh at your attempts to premiumise them, and put them in the bin marked "Goldings" or at best "Goldings (US)".

In the garden, you can just refer to them by the variety name, which is just "Goldings" in the absence of anything more specific.

In practice Kent Goldings these days is used as a synonym for Mid-Kent, but I guess it could be used for hops from East Kent that fail the chemical tests for the EKG appellation, there's a couple of varieties like First Choice that are informally referred to as Goldings even though they're not. Mid Kent is not so good for hops, as the North Downs shield it from the beneficial effects of the North Sea - in wine terms think of Mid Kent as the Central Valley whereas East Kent is the Napa Valley or Russian River.

If you look at 19th-century brewing records, you'll see brewers buying in hops referred to as simply "East Kent" or "Mid Kent" - it's assumed that the former refers to Goldings and the latter to Fuggles (which originated in Mid Kent in the 1860s), but we'll never know for sure. The Hereford growers have responded to the EKG appellation by branding their hops, so you will occasionally see "Hereford Goldings" on labels from the more geeky British brewers, it's not common though.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I didn't know that there was a movement to call hops by their location first. I haven't heard of anyone calling their plants El Paso Centennials or Lansing Cascades. Every hop plant is subject to the terroir of where they are being grown, the kind of rain that falls on them and the bugs that crawl on them.

What if you grew some EKG..... in East Kent, but had them in pots full of Florida swamp potting soil ? Would that make them NOT EKG's ?

You don't grow EKG, you grow Goldings, as per above. And East Kent is something of an exception right now in having legal protection at the regional level, even if the country of origin is a bit more of a thing. There are certainly big differences at the country level - British hops have about 70% of the myrcene compared to the same hops grown in the US or NZ.

But the rules define EKG in terms of location, variety and certain biochemical markers, so if you had Goldings grown in pots of Florida soil, in Faversham say, and the chemical markers were right, then it would be East Kent Goldings.

Although soil is obviously part of terroir, the things that really seem to matter to hops are climate and in particular daylight length and intensity. That's all part of terroir too.

 

[Senormac]

Ok..... let it be known that hereafter I shall call that particular plant in my hop garden just "Goldings", although the title "Central Oregon Goldings" or "COG's" has a certain ring to it

I hope there is nothing incorrect with my other bine being called Fuggles. I just like saying it

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I hope there is nothing incorrect with my other bine being called Fuggles. I just like saying it

No, no, you're good on that front - although it was briefly known as Fuggle's Golding just to confuse everyone. The conventional history of it being introduced by a Richard Fuggle in 1875 is almost certainly wrong, Martyn Cornell delved into the real story here :

http://zythophile.co.uk/2014/12/23/notes-on-a-fuggle-more-light-on-the-early-history-of-a-great-hop/

 

[GiavaBear]

With first year hops most people leave the bines growing until the mid to late fall. As long as the leaves are green energy is going into the plant for the following year. Then cut about 4-6 inches above the crown.

Thank you for your insight! So as I understand it, I should keep them growing as is until they stop growing and leaves start turning from their normal appearance? Then cut them 4-6 inches above crown in the ground?

 

[rlmiller10]

Those of you who use a dehydrator to dry your hops, what temp/length of time do you use?

Last year I did the air filter/fan method which seemed to work fine, but took a day+, so looking to turn it around a little quicker and more efficiently this time around possibly.

I set it about 95 or 100 degrees and 8 hrs will do it. But I also live in Colorado so it is very dry air.

 

[Senormac]

Well, it's Monday, eclipse day 2017. I have been checking my hops daily for a week, looking for brown, squishing the cones for that semi crinkly paper sound/feel and of course sensing the weather.

Yesterday, Sunday morning, I noticed a slight chill in the air and I knew it was time, so today after work, I began to cut down my Central Oregon Golding hops.

They were tall and full.

 

[Senormac]

The way I always harvest is just to cut down the whole of it all at once. Maybe others have different methods but I like to be done with it. It's very simple. I just cut the bines off a few inches above the ground, and then climb my ladder and cut the climbing twine and the bines that are attached at the crossing support wire

 

[Senormac]

Once they are free of connections bottom and top, I just drop them in a pile then gather them up and take them over to a couple folding tables I set up on the patio. The chickens dig this cuz any bugs that try to escape (mostly spiders and earwigs or pincher bugs ) get eaten up immediately.

 

[triethylborane]

I noticed a clump of growth like that on my Columbus bines the other day too.
I assumed they're seeds as well, most likely infertile since there are no male plants around.

Those are male racemes, the plant could be a hermaphrodite.

 

[Senormac]

Next, it's grab a favorite pint glass ( in this case Captain America) and a couple beers of choice and start plucking those cones !!

 

[GiavaBear]

That looks great Senormac! Thank you for all the information on this thread! Those cones look huge! How big are they?

 

[Senormac]

Some of them are 3 to 4 inches long. I don't know the weight tally yet but there are LOTS of them

 

[Jako]

this was awesome to read i think i will try to grow my own next year. i live in utah any types grow best in north utah?

 

[Senormac]

Final talley on Central Oregon Goldings...... 1 lb. 6 oz. dried

I still have 3 more second year varieties growing and will be happy to get a batch worth out of them

IDK about Utah myself, but I'm sure there are some people from there on these forums who can give you some info

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I'd guess Utah must be on the southern limits - they're very much a temperate plant and aside from a handful of South African varieties they need a certain day length in summer which they don't get closer to the equator. 35N/S seems to be the cutoff point.

The big requirement is water - they want deep, rich soil that's kept moist.
The other thing they need for best performance is a few weeks frost in winter.

I know Utah has a lot of different microclimates, so I guess it's up to you.

I guess with your dry air that powdery mildew will be a problem but downy mildew not, the sticky on this forum will guide you which varieties are more resistant. But I'd guess broadly as long as you can provide the water, any of the "usual" varieties grown in places like Yakima should be OK.

 

[B-Hoppy]

this was awesome to read i think i will try to grow my own next year. i live in utah any types grow best in north utah?

I guess it would depend on your location. Todd Bates began collecting native hops where he lived down in NM quite a while ago at about 9000ft and brought them back to grow at his elevation, about 6000ft. This paper discusses how some USDA folks went about collecting wild germplasm but doesn't specifically mention any sites in Utah. I do remember seeing some research stating that there were some pockets of neomexicanus growing in Utah though. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/2674/w.2002.Hummer.hopexpedition2002.pdf Also, it seems they require less water than the traditionally grown hops of European heritage: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/search-great-american-beer-180951966/

 

[Jako]

I guess it would depend on your location. Todd Bates began collecting native hops where he lived down in NM quite a while ago at about 9000ft and brought them back to grow at his elevation, about 6000ft. This paper discusses how some USDA folks went about collecting wild germplasm but doesn't specifically mention any sites in Utah. I do remember seeing some research stating that there were some pockets of neomexicanus growing in Utah though. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/2674/w.2002.Hummer.hopexpedition2002.pdf Also, it seems they require less water than the traditionally grown hops of European heritage: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/search-great-american-beer-180951966/

awesome information! thanks for the tips everyone. i don't want to hijack this tread so i will take off.

as for Utah we have cold winters with lots of snow at times, and hot dry summers. with some rain in the fall. it sound like it would work i will do my research and make a tread on my hop growing adventure.


keep up the good work. i loved the pictures awesome stuff.

 

[GiavaBear]

Happy Spring everyone! So all 6 crowns of my varieties have started sending out shoots and I have a few bines over a foot already, and now I'm in doubt on what to do next. This is their 2nd year as I planting them spring 2017, and I've read several things about pruning all shoots off the crowns. Is this good advice? I live in Ft Collins CO, and the potential for another freeze is always present until end of May. Would training the strongest shoots and cutting the rest this early be a mistake and create a potential "freeze damaged" main bine? Should I cut them all and wait for consistent warmer weather? 77° high today, 43° high tomorrow. Any advice would be appreciated! Cheers all!

 

[rlmiller10]

Happy Spring everyone! So all 6 crowns of my varieties have started sending out shoots and I have a few bines over a foot already, and now I'm in doubt on what to do next. This is their 2nd year as I planting them spring 2017, and I've read several things about pruning all shoots off the crowns. Is this good advice? I live in Ft Collins CO, and the potential for another freeze is always present until end of May. Would training the strongest shoots and cutting the rest this early be a mistake and create a potential "freeze damaged" main bine? Should I cut them all and wait for consistent warmer weather? 77° high today, 43° high tomorrow. Any advice would be appreciated! Cheers all!

I am across the road from you in Windsor. This is my 3rd year for some and 4th for the other plants. Last year I pruned and then the late frost stunned the ones I had left. They did come out of it for the most part. So this year I don't plan to do anything until early May. Then I will pick the strong ones and train them, pruning the rest. don't know if that is the best but I will give it a try for this year.

 

[bpgreen]

Happy Spring everyone! So all 6 crowns of my varieties have started sending out shoots and I have a few bines over a foot already, and now I'm in doubt on what to do next. This is their 2nd year as I planting them spring 2017, and I've read several things about pruning all shoots off the crowns. Is this good advice? I live in Ft Collins CO, and the potential for another freeze is always present until end of May. Would training the strongest shoots and cutting the rest this early be a mistake and create a potential "freeze damaged" main bine? Should I cut them all and wait for consistent warmer weather? 77° high today, 43° high tomorrow. Any advice would be appreciated! Cheers all!

I've had a freeze after selecting the bines I wanted. I just cut them down and selected new bines that came up after that.

 

[GiavaBear]

I am across the road from you in Windsor. This is my 3rd year for some and 4th for the other plants. Last year I pruned and then the late frost stunned the ones I had left. They did come out of it for the most part. So this year I don't plan to do anything until early May. Then I will pick the strong ones and train them, pruning the rest. don't know if that is the best but I will give it a try for this year.

Well hello neighbor! My hops are starting to thrive in this warm weather, however I've done some research about early growth, especially the early, purple bull shoots the crowns have initially in the season. From what I've read, we want to cut those bull shoots near the crown. They're hollow and have long spaced nodes, all providing less support and less collaterals and leaves and cones. I went out this evening and cut a few purple bull shoots that have reached a foot, and the cut near the crown was more solid, however the bine itself after a couple nodes was hollow. Here are some references I've found

http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2016/05/18/important-hop-bull-etin/

https://www.greatlakeshops.com/hops-blog/category/hops

Happy hopping!

Cheers!

 

[rlmiller10]

Well hello neighbor! My hops are starting to thrive in this warm weather, however I've done some research about early growth, especially the early, purple bull shoots the crowns have initially in the season. From what I've read, we want to cut those bull shoots near the crown. They're hollow and have long spaced nodes, all providing less support and less collaterals and leaves and cones. I went out this evening and cut a few purple bull shoots that have reached a foot, and the cut near the crown was more solid, however the bine itself after a couple nodes was hollow. Here are some references I've found

http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2016/05/18/important-hop-bull-etin/

https://www.greatlakeshops.com/hops-blog/category/hops

Happy hopping!

Cheers!

Thank you for the links. I will look for the bull shoots this weekend.

What varieties do you have? I have Chinnook, Willamette, Magnum and Centennial.