Growing Hops in Eastern Scotland

[rlucas]

Is this worth attempting? I'd like to try the following varieties:

Cascade
Pioneer
Challenger
Crystal

Is there a source of supply for these in UK?

Many thanks

Richard

 

[Rafaj Ondrej]

Bump

 

[Richie_asg1]

I'm in Aberdeen and I grew hops from seed, so they do grow well in fertile soil. Mine were all male though so not sure on flowering. If you have a warm suntrap you should be fine.

 

[prog99]

This is obviously a very old thread but I've grown Challenger in Edinburgh for the last two seasons. Slight downside (and this may be where I planted them) but they do tend to ripen a bit later.
Dont do it to save money either!

 

[Hanglow]

Grow fine in my allotment in glasgow, I got about eight kilos wet from three plants this year, two of which were in large pots. So I think you can save money, although it takes a while to pick them so just don' t factor that in . but then you can also make a wet hop beer. Might be best to pick early maturing ones, I bore this in mind when picking the hops I wanted to grow so deliberately steered clear of the late harvest ones., Hallertau mittelfruh (early season) was harvested first/second week of september and the centennial (mid season) was late september.

 

[terrym]

T
Dont do it to save money either!

I agree with that. It takes a lot of time and effort and the rewards are marginal. If you enjoy a challenge do it, but its much easier and cost effective in the short to medium term to buy them as/when you need them. They are less convenient than bought pellets in my view, storage of largeish quantitites of home grown hops might be a problem unless you invest in a vac pack system or have a large freezer, and if you use them for bittering there is guesswork involved since the %AA will be unknown. I have two Prima Donna plants in pots and probably wouldnt have bothered had I known the baggage that comes from looking after them, harvesting and drying and storage to retain the freshness, and after two years I am nowhere near recouping my 'investment'. And there is always an obligation to use the hops you have grown rather than try other varieties

 

[Cwrw666]

Long term you will save a bit of cash but I agree there is always a perceived obligation to use your own - so make damn sure you pick varieties that you will use.
I've got a prima donna which I do like, but 2 cascades which TBH I don't. Unfortunately the cascades produce a much heavier crop than the p.d.s so I'm going to get rid of one of them.

 

[MickDundee]

I believe the guy who runs Law Brewing Co in Dundee grows his own Goldings. I’m not much more help than that though!

 

[AXW123]

Where can you buy them from?

 

[Cwrw666]

Google `Hops and Flowers'. Just had 3 from them and am very pleased with them. Cost £9.50 each plus postage.

 

[Oneflewover]

I got mine here: https://www.essentiallyhops.co.uk/

 

[Cwrw666]

That's the same place.

 

[Hanglow]

I used Willingham Nurseries
http://www.willingham-nurseries.co.uk/hop3.html

also looked at A-Plus hops in the past
https://www.aplus-hops.co.uk/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1826

 

[Oneflewover]

That's the same place.

Oops! I was pleased with the service and the product too.

 

[Brew_DD2]

The Hutton Institute just outside Dundee has been testing the commercial viability of growing hops in Tayside. As a huge berry-growing region they've clearly spotted the potential of hop growth here. Sure, it's cooler up here, but the hours of sunlight are much higher.

 

[Hanglow]

That's interesting

I'd have thought the wind would probably be one of the biggest problems, but if they concentrate on dwarf hops maybe that might not be a problem

 

[Brew_DD2]

That's interesting

I'd have thought the wind would probably be one of the biggest problems, but if they concentrate on dwarf hops maybe that might not be a problem

Wind may not be an issue at all if they decide on giant polytunnels.

 

[Hanglow]

Yeah I saw they grew them in tunnels when I googled it. They have a basic booklet out about growing hops in Scotland too. Would be nice to see some farmers try it out!

My hops tend to get a bit wind damaged in Glasgow and are just grown over fences so only get about 2.5 metres high.