New grower - central Ohio

[adagiogray]

Hello. I'm planning on growing for the first time this year in my small back yard in a suburb of Columbus. I'm planning to order some rhizomes from http://www.northwesthops.com , and I'm looking for some guidance as to hop choice. Keep in mind I am NOT a hop head, as a general rule, I'm a malt guy...but I'd like at least one choice to be great for dry hopping and IPAs.

I am trying to limit myself to 3 varieties to cover a broad depth of recipes. A mild, an aromatic, and a high test one.
I am considering ordering 4 each of Liberty, Kent Golding, and Cascade.

That particular grower seems to be sold out of Williamette and Fuggle, and Styrian Goldings isn't a choice there.

They are also sold out of Hallertau, but they have Liberty available.

I figured the Kent Golding would work for a subtler, lower AA choice.

A lot of the recipes I prefer (Chimay, Belgian trappist style ales, Oktoberfest style Marzens, etc) call for some variety of Goldings, Tettnanger or or Hallertau. Per most charts I see, Liberty seems to be fairly interchangable with these, would you agree?

I was going to go for Cascade as my IPA/high alpha acid/ bittering/ dry hopping choice, but would Magnum or Chinook be better?

Is there a large difference in Kent Goldings and Styrian Goldings?

Apologies for the disjointed post, but I'd really love to get some advice, and get growing before it's too late in the year.

 

[adagiogray]

Maybe even the Columbus for an IPA/strong one?

 

[jessox80]

If you're not a hop head, I'd stick with the mild cascades or only jump to centennial for IPA's. If your yard is small, 12 plants seems ambitious, but then again "small" is relative. I would think that 2-3 plants (spaced at least 3' apart) x 3 varieties (at least 5' apart) will cover plenty of space, especially as the plants grow laterally with age. With proper tending you should get a decent year one harvest and a bounty the next.

 

[adagiogray]

Well ,as a general rule I'm not a hophead, but I do *love* DFH's 60/90/120 minute IPAs. They are citrussy and flavorful without a lot of back end bitterness hanging with you. That could be their preparation as opposed to the hop itself, but I would like something like that - strong, citrussy and aromatic without a lot of bitter backend for an IPA. Is high AA a requirement for IPAs? Would Magnum be appropriate? Or would Nugget or Chinook be a better choice? Or is Cascade a nicer aromatic for an IPA(although it is only 5-8% AA)?

Looking at some hop seller sites (I'm currently looking at www.freshops.com and www.northwesthops.com), it seems there are a few Hallertau substitutes. Magnum is a Hallertau hybrid, but is a super high AA variant that seems it would be appropriate for an IPA, would that be an accurate assessment? I've seen Hallertauer used mostly in the German and Belgian recipes... Hallertauer itself is a low yielder and not as disease resistant as some of the hybrids apparently.. The Mt hood is a hybrid of Haller at about 4-6%.

Again, I'm really into the Belgians - most recipes I've come across use some goldings variant or Hallertau. Per sub charts, Tettnanger, Hallertauer, and Fuggle are all subbable for one another, but they are all old-school low yielders and most are disease prone.
What hybrids would be best for this category? I'm thinking Williamette or Kent Golding or Mt. Hood as a low AA one that has a better yield than Fuggle. Which of those 3 would you say is best for that category?


I appreciate the advice to stick to 6-9 plants. With that in mind, I'm still trying to cover my bases with 2-3 plants each of 3 varieties well-spaced to cover the majority of recipe types.

Category/variety #1 - strong citrussy "in your face" aromatic for IPAs and or dry hopping

Category/variety #2 for malty Belgian ales and/or oktoberfest/marzen styles

#3 for English and/or German style pale ales and possibly stouts

Would strong/medium/mild be an oversimplification?

I need to order soon before stock runs out and I get too late in the season to plant! Any and all advice appreciated.

 

[Flatspin]

I think the variety you chose will be great. You can make just about any style with fresh hops.

As far as liking dogfish but not being a hop head, try hopbursting. It gives big flavor and aroma without being overly bitter.

 

[adagiogray]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll definitely look into hopbursting. I'd like to get some specific variety votes from all of you experienced folks if possible. I'm trying to avoid low yield and disease prone variants.

Category #1 - High AA for IPA styles(very citrussy and aromatic):
Magnum - very good yield, high alpha(12-17%), good storage.
Nugget - High yield, high alpha(12-15%), vigorous, disease resistant.
Chinook - Good yield, high alpha(11-13%), moderate disease resistance.
Cascade - High-yield, floral American aroma type, (but only 5-8%AA - this may be a good thing for me!)


Category #2 - for Belgians/Oktoberfest-like Marzens:
Something along the lines of traditional Hallertauer or Tettnanger(but w/o being low yield and disease prone)
Mt. Hood - Hallertauer hybrid, Good yield, good vigor, half-sister to Ultra, Liberty & Crystal. AA 4-6%
Crystal - Hallertauer hybrid, Good yield, good vigor, half-sister to Ultra, Liberty & Mt. Hood AA 4-5%
(I can get Liberty from another site, but freshops.com doesn't carry it if you think it's the best of the 3)
Santiam - Noble German Tettnanger hybrid. More vigorous and disease resistant. 5-7%AA

Category #3 - Something more subtle/earthy/funky for English ales and stouts somewhat in the Fuggle category without being a low yielder like Fuggle.
Willamette - Moderate yield, Fuggle hybrid, 5-6%AA
Kent Golding - Moderate yield, English aroma type 4-6%AA (I read this one was disease prone and that some folks have trouble growing this one?)

All input of course heartily appreciated.

 

[Dolomieu]

My buddy just told me you can get willamette hops at straders if you want to skip some of the shipping

 

[adagiogray]

Thanks, I'll definitely check Strader's tomorrow!
I'm still very much open to input, but upon further forum poking/webbing I'm probably going for Cascade, Mt. Hood, and Willamette. I may grab a stem or 2 of Nugget, just to have a bittering one if my hopbursting plans with Cascade don't work out.

Ok - so - on to the soil and methods... Have folks employed using something like 25 gallon plastic containers/large pots instead of in the ground? I'm concerned about root competition, as I have a HUGE Rose of Sharon overpopulation problem, it has an extensive root system in my back yard(and beside my house - and my front yard). Will I be holding back their growth potential by limiting the space, or is this fine, year 1? I could run sisal from the edge of my back concrete patio up to the gutters... Or I could just put a 12-15" PVC pipe between the 3-4 pots stabilized somehow. I'll have to do some more digging to see how everyone else here is doing it. If I did go with the pot/bucket method, I assume I'd need to put some drain holes in the bottom? Sorry- not a green thumb here. Yet.

 

[Dolomieu]

Were you able to find the hops at straders?

 

[sweetcell]

if you are still in the selection process you might want to check out the spreadsheet linked in my signature.

good luck with your adventure, from another first-year grower.

 

[brewswellwithothers]

If your still looking at places to get your rhizomes or plantings from I see lots of people getting them from Great Lakes Hops I got mine from ThymeGarden.com. I am going the container route myself as I wanted to be able to control soil conditions as well as root spreading.

They take a bit of time and are sorta costly but I went with these for my containers as I live in GA and it can get hot and watering could become big hassle. As far as stringing them up everything I can read on here seems to point to the higher the better if you've got space and can do it.

You can see what I've done with mine here.

Good luck with your hops.

 

[adagiogray]

Were you able to find the hops at straders?

I actually ended up just ordering the Willamette when I ordered the others from http://www.freshops.com - I didn't even wait until the next day to order.

Sweetcell - I did find your spreadsheet after I did some more poking around the forums - thank you!

I ended up getting what I listed above: 2 rhizomes each Nugget, Cascade, Mt. Hood, and Willamette.

I started a thread in this forum asking for some soil prep advice too, if anyone's got some insights.