When do you havest in illinois

[Glynn]

My neighbor who moved away this winter left his cascade and centennial hops plants and they are just bursting with cones. My new neighbor said i was more then welcome to have them My problem is i dont know when to harvest them

 

[cncquinn]

I harvested on Sunday and I live in Wisconsin

 

[WaltStarr]

I harvested yesterday and I live about 40 miles west of Chicago.

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

I'm in NW Wisconsin and harvested my Cascades late last week. I am guessing you should be close to ready if you are in Illinois.

There are lots of ways to know they are ready. There is the:

1. Squeeze Test - squeeze the cones and they should feel papery. Also you may hear some crunching.
2. Lupulin Color Test - take a cone and tear it in half lengthwise. The lupulin should be a deep yellow color
3. Aroma Test - take a whiff, it should smell like hops.
4. Browning Test - often when they are ready to go the edges of the cones will start to brown a bit.
5. The Scientific Way - Harvest some hops and weigh the sample. This is your wet weight. Take that sample and then dry it until completely dry and it isn't losing any more weight (you can use your oven on low or even a microwave). Now weigh your dry sample. Take your dry weight and divide by the wet weight which will give your moisture. Now subtract that number from 100 and you’ll have your dry matter weight. Once your hops get to 70-80% moisture content then it is harvest time. This only makes sense to do if you have a ton of hops. Otherwise any of the other methods work just fine for homebrewing.

Cheers!

 

[BBBF]

I harvested my cascade last weekend.

 

[TyTanium]

Fair bet you're good to go.

 

[Glynn]

I checked a few of them yesterday by tearing them and crushing them in my plams and they didnt smell as hoppy as i thought they should

 

[TyTanium]

If you can, a few pics would be helpful for the hop experts on here to chime in.

 

[ArrowheadHops]

I'm sure they are ready to be picked.

 

[sk888smooth]

Are there any extra over there Glynn?

 

[day_trippr]

I harvested my Cascades yesterday afternoon, cutting all the bearing side-arms and leaders off the plants with the cones still attached, then spent the evening sitting in my shop stripping cones off the bines while watching the ball game.

Just over 10 pounds wet.
The hop freezer is gonna be jammed tight when the Chinook come in...

Cheers!

 

[Glynn]

Are there any extra over there Glynn?

I'll gladly share a few bag with ya

 

[Glynn]

so i have stripped the bines of the hops and placed them in a open bin how long can i wait to dry these. i have more hops then drying screens

 

[TyTanium]

I wouldn't wait too long. In layers with no airflow they rot pretty quick. At least get them spread out thin, or vacuum seal/freeze.