South Carolina SC midlands area brewers

[Morrey]

That is a chinook pictured but I have two of them like that and a cascade that's taller and flowering as well. All three are about 15 ft tall right now. My centennial is about 2 ft lol
They are 2nd year plants and are in big pots but the roots go down through the holes in the bottom of the pots into the ground. Haha I got two crops last year from some of my plants and my centennial didn't do jack and it seems like it may not do much this year either

Seems like cascade or chinook may be the ticket at our latitude?

Switching gears a minute...bulk grain buys.

I know Morrey buys bulk for his base malts. I've been considering this as well. Well, first I need to get a grain mill. But then! I've been trying to figure out the best bang for my buck. And I really think the most cost effective way would be to team up with another brewer and buy together? Anyone in the midlands open to buying some bulk grain? I also need to make sure I don't have rats or bullstuff in my'shed where I keep all my woodworking and brewing gear.

I buy mine at Alternative Beverage in Belmont near the airport in CLT. I know Kevin at DIY offers 10% military discount if anyone is a vet, not sure if Rick offers anything at BetMar or not. If you see that several of you can do a group buy, volume may make a difference.

Lowes usually has those white food grade 5 G buckets with lids for a few bucks each. One 50# sack of malts fills two of those buckets.

 

[crescentfresh]

Bottles sells 50# sacks for around $60.00 and I will tell you that a grain mill is prolly the best investment in a home brew setup.

 

[SHAIV]

Seems like cascade or chinook may be the ticket at our latitude



Lowes usually has those white food grade 5 G buckets with lids for a few bucks each. One 50# sack of malts fills two of those buckets.

Well not necessarily I got like 8 rhizomes at the same time last year from the same place. Only 3 of them are growing real well. Healey has the other 4. Oh and I have a few bines that are coming out separate from the center crown I could cut a few plants off for someone if you want a chinook or cascade.

Also firehouse subs has good buckets for cheap but they smell like pickles for a while

 

[Morrey]

Well not necessarily I got like 8 rhizomes at the same time last year from the same place. Only 3 of them are growing real well. Healy has the other 4. Oh and I have a few bines that are coming out separate from the center crown I could cut a few plants off for someone if you want a chinook or cascade.

Also firehouse subs has good buckets for cheap but they smell like pickles for a while

Will a rhizome planted this year produce hop cones or is it a second year producer?

 

[Quasinovo1]

Bottles sells 50# sacks for around $60.00 and I will tell you that a grain mill is prolly the best investment in a home brew setup.

I am often in the RTP area and get American 2-row 50 lbs bags for $40 (pretax). Pearl is obviously more expensive. BTW, just saw this thread. I am near the VA off Garners Ferry. Nice to find local fellow brewers.

 

[SHAIV]

Will a rhizome planted this year produce hop cones or is it a second year producer?

It may. Mine did last year but I did plant them in April. I also got two crops though. I got a shoot coming up so I could just cut off the root and it'll already have a bit of plant coming up. It wouldn't be just the rhizome

 

[crescentfresh]

Where is the RTP area?

 

[Quasinovo1]

Where is the RTP area?

Research Triangle, i.e. Raleigh/Durham.

 

[TravelingLight]

I buy mine at Alternative Beverage in Belmont near the airport in CLT. I know Kevin at DIY offers 10% military discount if anyone is a vet, not sure if Rick offers anything at BetMar or not. If you see that several of you can do a group buy, volume may make a difference.

Lowes usually has those white food grade 5 G buckets with lids for a few bucks each. One 50# sack of malts fills two of those buckets.

Damn, I used to have a picture on my phone of Kevin's bulk price list at DIY but I seemed to have deleted it. He also offers a 10% discount for member of the palmetto homebrewers assn that he's president of. I haven't joined yet but hoping to make it to the meeting June 12.

 

[Morrey]

It may. Mine did last year but I did plant them in April. I also got two crops though. I got a shoot coming up so I could just cut off the root and it'll already have a bit of plant coming up. It wouldn't be just the rhizome

My brother in law planted his in late March and they aren't really doing much growing just yet. They get full sun, but other than that I don't know much about tending hop plants. I am interested in learning more about hops so I appreciate the feedback.

 

[TravelingLight]

My brother in law planted his in late March and they aren't really doing much growing just yet. They get full sun, but other than that I don't know much about tending hop plants. I am interested in learning more about hops so I appreciate the feedback.

Don't they take at least a year before they start producing cones? I could be WAY off, but I thought I'd read that before.

 

[Poopsmitherson]

Don't they take at least a year before they start producing cones? I could be WAY off, but I thought I'd read that before.

They'll produce but they won't produce much. First year rhizomes are spending a majority of their effort building their root system. After that, they'll flower much more. But there should still be cones on a first year plant.

 

[SHAIV]

It depends. Only 3 of the 8 I had last year produced and those same three are the ones that are 15 ft tall now. They are on the side of my house and only get the strong afternoon sun. You don't want them to dry out

 

[SHAIV]

I got like 3-4 oz my first year from 3 plants with two harvests

 

[TravelingLight]

I would love to get some rhizomes and get some vines going. My only problem is the rhizome availability. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like the only varietals available are Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, etc. Problem is, I rarely use those hops anymore. Maybe some columbus for bittering, but the last time I used columbus I wasn't happy with the final product. But man, if I could get rhizomes for Citra, or Mosaic or one of those guys, I'd be all over it.

 

[Poopsmitherson]

I would love to get some rhizomes and get some vines going. My only problem is the rhizome availability. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like the only varietals available are Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, etc. Problem is, I rarely use those hops anymore. Maybe some columbus for bittering, but the last time I used columbus I wasn't happy with the final product. But man, if I could get rhizomes for Citra, or Mosaic or one of those guys, I'd be all over it.

Check out Great Lakes Hops. I got plants (not rhizomes) and they've got a good selection. Also, is pretty sure citra and mosaic are still proprietary, so those aren't on the market as rhizomes, nor will they be any time soon. Same with any of the NZ hops.

 

[Poopsmitherson]

Anyone here involved in the area homebrew club? I'm curious if it's worth my time. Their meeting location is a bit inconvenient for me, so I haven't made it out to anything yet. But I was curious if anyone knew what the club was like--if they actually do anything besides meet once a month, like presentations, continuing ed, projects, etc. I know they put on a competition, but do they do anything else? Their website is super unhelpful.

 

[TravelingLight]

Anyone here involved in the area homebrew club? I'm curious if it's worth my time. Their meeting location is a bit inconvenient for me, so I haven't made it out to anything yet. But I was curious if anyone knew what the club was like--if they actually do anything besides meet once a month, like presentations, continuing ed, projects, etc. I know they put on a competition, but do they do anything else? Their website is super unhelpful.

Funny you mention that. You're talking about the Palmetto State Brewers thing that meets the second Monday of the month out on St. Andrews? I've been trying to go for months and months now. I've got this coming Monday on my calendar though! Hoping I can make it this Monday. Hope it's a good crowd. If it isn't, I'm not above starting my own club.

 

[Poopsmitherson]

Funny you mention that. You're talking about the Palmetto State Brewers thing that meets the second Monday of the month out on St. Andrews? I've been trying to go for months and months now. I've got this coming Monday on my calendar though! Hoping I can make it this Monday. Hope it's a good crowd. If it isn't, I'm not above starting my own club.

Report back after the fact!

 

[HealeyA87]

SHAIV has had pretty good luck with his hops so far considering it's a 2nd year crop. Mine not so much but I also don't have a good place for mine to grow. I need to build something for them to grow up. Problem is I live in Lexington but work in darlington mon-Friday and my wife is due with our 3rd kid next month... so time Is very limited. I feel like I would have much better results if I can have a good trellis or something tall they can grow up

 

[SHAIV]

Report back after the fact!

Ha yeah. I've been to their website and forum and tried to communicate on the forum but nobody really responded. I think someone responded and said yeah or something like that. Not a whole lot of traffic on their website.

 

[GammaRay4130]

I went to the meeting last month. The restaurant gets some craft bottles and cans from greens and cost $3 per beer so depending on what they get it could be a real good deal. From what was said there is usually a learning component but whoever was supposed to do it last month couldn't make it. They go through club news, previous competition results and upcoming competitions and some other stuff. After that whoever brought beer passed it around. It was pretty fun, I am going to try to make it to the meeting on monday.

They also do a brewery tour (I think once a year) where they charter a bus or something and visit a bunch of breweries. This year was Charlotte a couple months ago. They also have a booth set up at the beer festival every winter to promote the club and homebrewing as a whole.

 

[SHAIV]

I didn't see that booth

 

[TravelingLight]

I went to the meeting last month. The restaurant gets some craft bottles and cans from greens and cost $3 per beer so depending on what they get it could be a real good deal. From what was said there is usually a learning component but whoever was supposed to do it last month couldn't make it. They go through club news, previous competition results and upcoming competitions and some other stuff. After that whoever brought beer passed it around. It was pretty fun, I am going to try to make it to the meeting on monday.

They also do a brewery tour (I think once a year) where they charter a bus or something and visit a bunch of breweries. This year was Charlotte a couple months ago. They also have a booth set up at the beer festival every winter to promote the club and homebrewing as a whole.

Thanks for the heads up. I was planning on bringing a few of my beers. Just felt weird walking into a restaurant with a small cooler of beer!

 

[GammaRay4130]

I didn't see that booth

I didn't end up going this year but the festival 2 years ago was where I first found out about the club.

 

[crescentfresh]

It's brew day!

 

[SHAIV]

Sweet! That's always a good feeling. I haven't brewed a beer since the last weekend in January. Got plenty of hopped apfelwein in my kegs though

 

[crescentfresh]

TravelingLight stopped by our brew day today and brought over some beers to sample. Very good stuff. Thanks for coming out. I would love to get a collaborative brew day scheduled in the future.

 

[catdaddy66]

I am nearly up to temp on my strike water for a cream ale. Trying some experimental hops Kevin had, described as super Amarillo like.

 

[TravelingLight]

TravelingLight stopped by our brew day today and brought over some beers to sample. Very good stuff. Thanks for coming out. I would love to get a collaborative brew day scheduled in the future.

Yeah man! Thanks for inviting me by. Finally got to see a chugger pump in action and I am definitely down to do a big brew day this summer! Sounds like a great idea.

And dudes, lemme tell you, crescentfresh has a phenomenal blonde coffee stout right now. I could chug that beer.