Anyone mad enough to grow their own hops?

[Didge]

I have recently planted a Cascade and a Centennial in 15 inch pots, never grown them before but fingers crossed they will give me enough for a brew or two.

 

[Edison]

Hops grow pretty well in the UK as long as you have a sunny spot for them.

I have a Prima Donna (First Gold), you can plant a ryzome in the biggest pot you can it will be more managable and won't take over the garden. Let it do what it wants for the first year (just support the bines vertically, it wants to spiral up thick string clockwise) and don't expect many hops. It will die down to the ground in late autumn but come back strong next year as soon as the ground warms up.
Keep it watered well in the hot dry weather, train the three best bines in the second year on, feed regularly with general purpose liquid feed when growing in a pot. And sun. Lots of sun!
It should crop in August/September and either use the picked hops within a couple of hours or dry them with a food dehydrator or in layers of fine mesh and they can be vac packed and frozen for months.

 

[RummerMan]

I've just seen another post about growing your own hops and the results look amazing. Definitely going to try that!

 

[barleytown]

All good advice. If you are the gardening type, I've taken cuttings and layers pretty easily from hops so that you can have more plants.

 

[grooves]

I grow Cascade and Fuggles in half barrels next to the shed. I did make a beer with the Fuggles two seasons back, but the alpha acid content must have been lower than average and the beer came out much too sweet. As others have mentioned it's better to grow in (big) pots do they don't spread everywhere, and they require a lot of water - I've set up a hozelock automatic watering system for them. I'm not 100% sure I'll brew with the hops again, but as I train the hops along a kind of pergola next to the shed I get to sup my homebrewed lager in the shade of my homegrown hops.

 

[Sandimas]

Late to this thread - why is it a crazy idea, tons of commercial hops are grown in the UK and they even grow wild, quite a lot around here down by the riverbank.

I've been growing them for about 5 years, really easy, and they get better and better each year as they get more roots down. I grow Styrian Goldings and Cascade, and I just bought a 3rd one Challenger. Given how many roots they put down I suggest they'd be better in the ground than in pots. I got a huge amount off my 2 plants last season, more than I can use in a year: 6 or 7 100g bags off each plant.

 

[Edison]

Obviously, unless you happen to have easy access to a lab, you won't know how bitter your hops are, so best to bitter with bought hops and save your own for late/whirlpool/dry.
I would be interested in trying to grown some of the popular American varieties as First Gold isn't my favourite, not sure how they would compare to those grown in the correct climate though.

 

[Didge]

I would also suggest growing hops away from very young children as they have very abrasive stems that can cause quite serious skin sores when brushed-up against.

I learnt that lesson as a child while playing in a Kentish hop field.

 

[Edison]

Also, careful if you have dogs, I doubt they would be interested but they are toxic to them.

 

[RummerMan]

I just had no idea if they grow well in the UK, are good enough for homebrewing, yeild enough crops, or if it's just cheaper to buy them ready to use. Seemed like a lot of effort, but seeing you all grow and pick your own has really given me the appetite to try! Thanks all for your encouragement

 

[Sandimas]

Nice long thread on hop growing here, which a few of us contributed photos to last summer Hop plants/rhizomes - growing report

 

[RummerMan]

Perfect! Thanks

 

[Barkin]

Yes! Grew mine for the first time this year. Created a "single" hop beer - quite literally one single hop

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

Yes! Grew mine for the first time this year. Created a "single" hop beer - quite literally one single hop

Nice. I hope you managed to showcase that single hop

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I grew hops for 2 seasons. My problem is that I live at 30 degrees latitude and it is far too hot.

They're temperate plants so while they're not big fans of the heat, and really benefit from a bit of frost in winter, the real problem is daylength, they need to think they're going through the cycle of winter and summer.

Obviously, unless you happen to have easy access to a lab, you won't know how bitter your hops are, so best to bitter with bought hops and save your own for late/whirlpool/dry.

Best to start with dry hopping and work backwards - often you'll be able to have two harvests with the earlier developing cones going in the whirlpool and dry hopping with the later cones. Drying eveaporates off a lot of the most flavourful aroma compounds, so the best use of green hops is after the boil.

You can guesstimate the alpha acid content of home-grown hops by making teas and comparing them with commercial hops of known alpha, but it's a bit of a waste unless you've got lots.

I would be interested in trying to grown some of the popular American varieties as First Gold isn't my favourite, not sure how they would compare to those grown in the correct climate though.

There's no such thing as a "correct" climate, merely terroir. But you need a lot of sun to really bring out the flavours we think of as typical of New World hops - you can buy UK Cascade commercially and they're not the same as US ones. You can really tell the difference between different vintages of British hops - more earthy in cloudy years, more fruity in sunny years. Also bear in mind that most of the trendy New World hops like Citra are patented so aren't available to home growers - Centennial and Chinook are about as fancy as you'll generally get.

 

[Cwrw666]

Have to say using my cascade hops as a flameout addition gives a pale ale a nice citrusy flavour with a touch of grapefruit. The prima donna, which I believe is a dwarf variety of first gold, is similar but with distinct marmalade overtones. With the price of hops as they are they're definitely worth growing but bear in mind if you've a few plants it's quite a job picking them.
One year I cut the cascade and dragged it into the living room to pick them in comfort and they filled the entire floorspace. Needless to say Mrs Cwrw was not at home at the time.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

The prima donna, which I believe is a dwarf variety of first gold

First Gold and Primadonna are exactly the same thing, there's just some complicated legal issues about the name which means the rhizome should officially only be sold as Primadonna.

But whatever you call it, the variety was the first "dwarf" hop to enter mainstream cultivation, even if dwarf in this context means 10-12 feet rather than 20'. But it's a good place to start - it needs a much smaller support and is less vulnerable to wind, it's reasonably disease resistant and it tastes pretty good.

 

[Edison]

So I'm actually going to use some of my hops from last year in a brew today, I have 191g of First Gold, all from a single plant trained to three bines, dried in a food dehydrator and CO2 flushed, vacuum packed and stored in the bottom of the freezer since September.

I'm having to scratch around for fermentables so it's looking like 3.35kg MO, 0.4kg Munich, 0.3kg golden syrup (never brewed with this before, hope it works for a pale) aiming for something like 5% abv from the Voss Kveik in a 19l batch.

Bittering with 15g Columbus for 60min then 25g of my hops at 15 and 5mins, then 50g for 20min in a 75c whirlpool. Aiming for a very rough estimate of 45ibu, I like it bitter so if its more that's all fine and dandy.

Wish me luck!

 

[Barkin]

Nice. I hope you managed to showcase that single hop

Yes it was this one - I'm very proud!

 

[GeorgieV]

Hi all, I'm also considering growing my own hops. Can you recommend a reliable rhizome supplier for the UK?