Hop identification

[Philmac]

I was donated a 2 year old hop plant- it is growing like mad and I am hoping to get a crop in September hopefully...
only thing is the person that gave me had no idea what variety it is- is there any way to identify hops that isn’t botany level complicated?!
Thanks

 

[Leon103]

No there's not

 

[Wouter]

No there's not

Indeed.

Even specialized hop growers would have a tough time to recognize a hop species from looks.

 

[MrRook]

You'll have to harvest them and use them in a small batch.

 

[Hoppy]

You can tell varieties by their bine colour, leaf and cone shape. Target and Challenger have reddish bines, Target have very compact, dense closed cones, Challenger looser larger cones. Fuggle only has three 'fingers' to the leaf, the bottom of a Golding cone is square with four pointed leaves. Cascade cones from above have a square shape and light and dark stripes on the petals...............................

 

[simon12]

Do you know if its even a variety for beer? If you can't rule out a wild or decorative variety you will never have a clue unless its clear by taste, it could be an amazing new hop never used in beer before.

 

[Hoppy]

Sussex Hop was found this way, growing wild!