Hop Growing in the garden

[Flyerstarter]

Thanks guys, last step completed today:

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[marlon]

Inspirational work flystarter, well done! Did you bag them at 100 grams? I only ask because you thought you had 'just under 500gms total' looks like you've got 7 bags there?

 

[Flyerstarter]

Inspirational work flystarter, well done! Did you bag them at 100 grams? I only ask because you thought you had 'just under 500gms total' looks like you've got 7 bags there?

I've portioned out some smaller sizes. 3 @ 100, 3 @ 60 and one @ 20.

Looking forward to getting the first brew on.


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[jceg316]

I'm in a predicament. My Cascade has loads of flowers on it - looks it's done very well this year - but I thought they'd be ready by now and they're not. It's planted in my parents' garden in London, and I'm heading back to Ireland on Monday only to return in late October.

Should I pick them before they're ripe so I can at least use them, or will they depart too much of grassy flavour to my beers once dried and packaged? Is that better than letting them all rot on the stem?

I can't ask my parents to do it, they wouldn't know how to pick and dry them properly and it's a massive hassle for them. Probably wouldn't do it properly either.

 

[marlon]

I'm in a predicament. My Cascade has loads of flowers on it - looks it's done very well this year - but I thought they'd be ready by now and they're not. It's planted in my parents' garden in London, and I'm heading back to Ireland on Monday only to return in late October.

Should I pick them before they're ripe so I can at least use them, or will they depart too much of grassy flavour to my beers once dried and packaged? Is that better than letting them all rot on the stem?

I can't ask my parents to do it, they wouldn't know how to pick and dry them properly and it's a massive hassle for them. Probably wouldn't do it properly either.

For god's sake man...!!!! Put off returning to Ireland...!! What could possibly be more important? - You know it makes sence.

 

[Personal91]

finally got a proper pic of my First Gold's and Cascade. Cascade is lagging a bit but I'm really happy with the yield given its the first year. Have watered regularly and fed with high potash plant food. Hopefully there will be no disasters between now and harvest time.

what plant food/nutrients are you feeding them as they look very healthy

best of luck :)

 

[jceg316]

Luckily most cones were ripe and I've picked them and they're drying in my dehydrator. It was a huge crop this year and could barely fit all the cones in the dryer.

 

[IronBlue]

This is my UK Cascade plant today, I bought it from http://www.essentiallyhops.co.uk in February 2014, it was just a 2" rhizome root. I had about 1.5kg of green hops in year one, 2.5kg last year which took me 6 hours to pick :-( . I think it is about twice the size this year, I can't get in the bloody shed! :-?

It looks like it will be ready to harvest in about 2 weeks, too green at the moment - hop picking bbq fresh hop brew day planned for 17th.

(I have since planted an EKG on the other side of the garden which is just pathetic in comparison and probably about 100g worth after 1.5 years. :-( )

 

[TartanSpecial]

what plant food/nutrients are you feeding them as they look very healthy

best of luck :)

sorry for late reply..been away. I fed them with miracle grow soluble plant food...once a week ..same stuff I used on my tomatoes. Am hoping they will be ready for harvest in the next week....they are just starting to go a bit papery.

 

[Personal91]

sorry for late reply..been away. I fed them with miracle grow soluble plant food...once a week ..same stuff I used on my tomatoes. Am hoping they will be ready for harvest in the next week....they are just starting to go a bit papery.

check online when they are best to harvest, some crops are better to harvest at certain conditions so the plant/fruit is at its optial eg some grapes are better to harvest at night when its colder, and some crops are only done when its a full moon :twisted:

 

[TartanSpecial]

- hop picking bbq fresh hop brew day planned for 17th.

thats a good idea.. :thumb:

 

[wfr42]

Is it too late to plant one for next year?

 

[TartanSpecial]

Anyone Brewed With Their Harvested Hops Yet??
Dried my First gold and Cascade in batches on greenhouse staging trays in a small room with a dehumidifier on and door closed...only took 2 or 3 days until they were paper dry. Then I put in the freezer in bags (I don't have a vacuum sealing machine thing).
Currently brewing a First Gold Pale Ale. I don't know the bitterness, so have used purchased Magnum for the 60min addition then the home grown First Gold for the 15min, 5min and flameout additions so I should be in the zone I'm aiming for. Currently smells great as it ferments, hope it tastes as good when finished.
22.5lt batch
5.5kg Extra Pale Maris Otter
0.5kg Wheat Malt
0.4kg Caragold
0.25kg Aromatic Malt
25grm purchased Magnum 60min
25grm home grown F. Gold 15min
25grm home grown F Gold 5min
25grm home grown F.Gold 0min.
OG 1.060
Yeast: Malt Miller West Coast Dried
Target FG 1.013, 6.1% abv.

If successful I'll see if I can get any additional hop varieties over winter, to plant in the spring and expand production.

 

[jceg316]

Anyone Brewed With Their Harvested Hops Yet??
Dried my First gold and Cascade in batches on greenhouse staging trays in a small room with a dehumidifier on and door closed...only took 2 or 3 days until they were paper dry. Then I put in the freezer in bags (I don't have a vacuum sealing machine thing).
Currently brewing a First Gold Pale Ale. I don't know the bitterness, so have used purchased Magnum for the 60min addition then the home grown First Gold for the 15min, 5min and flameout additions so I should be in the zone I'm aiming for. Currently smells great as it ferments, hope it tastes as good when finished.
22.5lt batch
5.5kg Extra Pale Maris Otter
0.5kg Wheat Malt
0.4kg Caragold
0.25kg Aromatic Malt
25grm purchased Magnum 60min
25grm home grown F. Gold 15min
25grm home grown F Gold 5min
25grm home grown F.Gold 0min.
OG 1.060
Yeast: Malt Miller West Coast Dried
Target FG 1.013, 6.1% abv.

If successful I'll see if I can get any additional hop varieties over winter, to plant in the spring and expand production.

I made a Belgian style blonde with my fuggles and it came out as a great beer. The fuggles hasn't come through that much but what I can taste is great. I only had enough for one batch.

I'm gonna make a Czech pilsner with my saaz in a couple of brews time, again only enough for the one brew.

I had a bumper cascade crop this year, but lost it all in the drying process. I can't tell you how upset I was.

On another note, has anyone cut back their bines yet? It may be a bit early for this but I haven't forgotten the rhizome swap which I'll post soon.

 

[marlon]

I made a Belgian style blonde with my fuggles and it came out as a great beer. The fuggles hasn't come through that much but what I can taste is great. I only had enough for one batch.

I'm gonna make a Czech pilsner with my saaz in a couple of brews time, again only enough for the one brew.

I had a bumper cascade crop this year, but lost it all in the drying process. I can't tell you how upset I was.

On another note, has anyone cut back their bines yet? It may be a bit early for this but I haven't forgotten the rhizome swap which I'll post soon.

Hey JCEG, I hate to bring up the obvious question, but....how did you come to lose your cascade crop? What happened? Sorry if it's a sore subject, but, I'm curious because I'll be harvesting next year.
I haven't cut back my bines yet BTW. Probably do that next month.

 

[jceg316]

Hey JCEG, I hate to bring up the obvious question, but....how did you come to lose your cascade crop? What happened? Sorry if it's a sore subject, but, I'm curious because I'll be harvesting next year.
I haven't cut back my bines yet BTW. Probably do that next month.

I'll happily say so that the same doesn't happen to anyone else. I had to harvest and dry during 3 days, a bit of long story but I think I may have explained earlier in the thread. After I harvested I put in my dryer for 9 hours, the usual time I set for drying, but because I had so many it wasn't long enough.

After I set the dryer I couldn't come back to it for 2 days as I had a friend's wedding in that time. On day 3 I checked them and they only half dried and went bad!

They had some moisture and we're kept warm for some time after the dryer turned off, so that was great for bacteria I suppose and they stank really bad.

My lesson from this: don't neglect the process. They would have been saved if I went back in 9 hours and set it for another 9 hours. And once finished, always vacuum pack and shove in the freezer straight away.

 

[TartanSpecial]

Mine are first years growth so am intending to let the vines die back naturally for a bit to let all the goodness go back down into the roots for next year. Will probably cut them back properly mid November. sorry you lost your cascades.

 

[AlanManley]

May give this a go next year, looks lovely! Bet the smell great too.

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[foxbat]

Mine are first years growth so am intending to let the vines die back naturally for a bit to let all the goodness go back down into the roots for next year. Will probably cut them back properly mid November. sorry you lost your cascades.

I go by the appearance of the plant. When the leaves have gone brown and are falling off then cut back a few inches from the ground with a diagonal cut so that rain doesn't settle on top of the wound. Don't leave it too long otherwise rot and fungus can set into the bine during a warm and wet Autumn.

I just cut back my Target and one of the Challenger plants today. My Fuggle and EKG are still green so they can wait a bit longer.

 

[TartanSpecial]

mine have just turned yellow, so will go with your advice and cut back when they turn brown and start falling. Thanks.