Hop plants/rhizomes - growing report

[KegThat]

Is anyone doing a wet hop brew? I have a very successful Chinook and fuggles I might try it with.

 

[531Man]

Does anyone grow Glacier hops here? 1st year growing hops and have both a Cascade and Glacier planted out.. The cascade was amazing, not the biggest of yields, but nice big cones, fantastic citrusy aromas.. can't wait to get them in a brew later in the year.

But my main question is around the glacier cones.. I just don't get any aroma from them at all!.. i've harvested half the plant, and will do the rest later in the week.. Research is showing me that this isn't the most pungent of hops, but I still expected to get some aroma from a ripe cone when I cut them open.

Any experience of this hop variety and does it get better as it matures over the years? Somewhat underwhelmed with Glacier at the moment.. even to the point of considering replacing it next year which I won't do lightly mind..

Hi, sorry nothing to add than what you have found with your looking around. So long as the cones 'rustle' and the insides are yellow, they are ripe enough, as I'm sure you know.

Is the trouble perhaps that we have become spoilt with all these new blockbuster varieties of hops?

Perhaps try a lighter Pale ale recipe with a fair amount of the Glacier in it and see if you like the more subtle product.

If not pass it on, and plant another of the blockbuster varieties that will grow well under your conditions.

 

[Loonytoone]

Is anyone doing a wet hop brew? I have a very successful Chinook and fuggles I might try it with.

Yes
I don't bother drying them, I just go right ahead and brew the lot.
I like to brew on the day of harvest or the day after.
I use a 5:1 ratio by weight for ease (wet:dry).

 

[aolcot]

Hi, sorry nothing to add than what you have found with your looking around. So long as the cones 'rustle' and the insides are yellow, they are ripe enough, as I'm sure you know.

Is the trouble perhaps that we have become spoilt with all these new blockbuster varieties of hops?

Perhaps try a lighter Pale ale recipe with a fair amount of the Glacier in it and see if you like the more subtle product.

If not pass it on, and plant another of the blockbuster varieties that will grow well under your conditions.

Yeah will prob throw these into a hoppy lager or as you say a very light pale ale to see how they fare.. hoping they pack more flavour than aroma...

Just curious to see if many others grow this hop specifically and what joy they have had from it.. I didn't do much research on this hop prior to selecting it (), but research seems to show up plenty of others using a commercial version but not having an awful lot of good to say about it haha..

 

[531Man]

Came across this which is a nice guide to when to harvest hops. But generally - when the first few start to have a few brown scales is about right :
https://yakimavalleyhops.com/blogs/news/how-to-harvest-hops

Very informative.
I just came across this (below), good technical advice and photos.

The Brewing Shed • The Veg Plot

How do I know when my hops are ready to pick?​

4 years ago
2 Comments
by Nick

One of the questions we get asked most is ‘how do I know when my hops are ready to pick?’ Unlike most things we grow in the garden, hop harvest time isn’t obvious. Hop cones are the plant’s flowers, so they don’t ripen like fruit and veg, and the good stuff for beer (the powdery yellow ‘lupulin’) is hidden beneath the petals.
Thankfully, there’s a relatively long window for hop picking if you’re growing for home consumption and don’t need to worry about maximising yields. As with most harvests, the flowers develop at different rates on the same plant so when some are beginning to fade, and others are just coming up to readiness, most of the flowers in between will be at their best.
To give you a few clues regarding the best picking time, here are a few tips…
Picking season
Most hops in the UK are ready to pick towards the end of August and through September, so you can relax during peak summer and give up when cold weather becomes a bit more common.
Colour
As the hops swell they take on a vibrant, fresh green colour. When ready, the vividness begins to fade and you’ll start to see some browning around the edges.

Give it a squeeze
Texture
Unripe cones contain quite a lot of moisture so they’ll feel damp and soft to touch. When you squeeze them, they’ll stay squished. Hops that are ready begin to feel drier and more papery – gently rub them between finger and thumb and the petals are more likely to break off and your digits will feel sticky and oily.
Smell
After a squeeze of a cone, give your fingers a sniff. If it’s predominantly a green, grassy, vegetal aroma you’re sensing then they’re not ready. If the smell of hoppy beer takes over then it’s time to pick.

Yellow dots of lupulin = beer o’clock
Check for lupulin
Break up a cone and at the base of the petals you’ll see the powdery yellow lupulin dotted around. This contains those sticky oils that does the work so a ready hop needs a good smattering of this substance in order for it to produce the goods.
Overripe is better than underripe
If you’re still unsure then wait a little longer – overripe hops are better than underripe hops and, once you’ve seen how they look when they reach the overripe stage, it’ll be more obvious next year what an underripe hop looks like.
Unless you’re making a fresh ‘green hopped’ beer then you’ll need to dry the hops and store them.

 

[Cwrw666]

Have to say I never get any aroma from my hops when picking them. Sticky hands, yes, aroma no.
When made into beer though, loads of citrussy flavour from my cascade and prima Donna. I was very disappointed when I bought some packaged cascade and first gold, how weak they seemed compared to the homegrown.

 

[531Man]

Have to say I never get any aroma from my hops when picking them. Sticky hands, yes, aroma no.
When made into beer though, loads of citrussy flavour from my cascade and prima Donna. I was very disappointed when I bought some packaged cascade and first gold, how weak they seemed compared to the homegrown.

I like the time-honoured technique of assessing the aroma of hops.

Take a hop cone,
Place hop on the flat palm of one hand,
Place the other hand flat palm on top of the hop on the first hand,
Squish the hop whilst rubbing the two hands together like spreading soap between your palms, .
Open the hands a crack, like you are looking at a butterfly you have caught in the house to release it into the garden,
Sniff the contents of the crack (ie your cupped hands).

Do you have a greeny/yellow sticky oiliness on your palms with a Gorgeous hoppy beer aroma? Perfect. Great for brewing!

Only moist green, grassy, vegetal aroma? Too young and early.

Cheese/onion/skunk? Too late, aged and oxidised. DO NOT USE!

Oh, btw, I just LOVE the smell of good hops rubbed between the palms.
A transport of delight.

Enjoy it.

 

[531Man]

2nd tranche of locally gleaned hops collected.
Tuesday was 360g wet,
Yesterday 1365g wet
Total. 1725g
Dried that's about 350g, but I green-freeze them as I haven't got round to setting up a drying method/system.

New on-thread topic: My own hops (I hope) :
Today I drove over to "essentially hops" in Bekesbourne and collected 3 x Prima Donna (aka, First Gold) growing rhizomes. £12.50 for the three.

Ben there recommended they be planted immediately, so I did it in the rain.
All South to Southwest facing.
I am no gardener, but followed the planting guide on the pack, so here's that they take, grow and give me some hops of my own in the future.

 

[Sandimas]

Well, I've held my nerve and waited, now looks like we have a week of dry weather. They're looking very close, getting ready to pick in the next few days:. It's amazing how they've not changed that much visually in the last 2 weeks but have developed an aroma from nowhere, every few days it gets better and better, I can see why you leave the harvest as late as possible.

Styian Goldings are usually the first picked, almost there

Challenger looks massive and the hops are opening out, I think these are very close, further ahead than the Styrians

And finally the Cascade, usually picked last, a bit small this year

 

[Sandimas]

Today was the day, well it was meant to be, except I had so may Challenger I filled all my 4 drying trays. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Styrian Goldings and Cascade, they'll have to wait. And this is only year 2 of this Challenger plant.

Some of the hops were huge, way bigger than anything I've had before.

 

[Polcho]

That really great!
I did the rub test with my Fuggles yesterday, grassy smell and no yellow. Well, a couple of spots.
Good weather this week, I’ll look again at the weekend.
Its the first year, so fingers crossed.

 

[SMP Brewery]

Ben there recommended they be planted immediately, so I did it in the rain.

The ones I got from there have already ready had to be supported after just a couple of weeks, really good healthy plants.

 

[531Man]

The ones I got from there have already ready had to be supported after just a couple of weeks, really good healthy plants.

Same here, mine even had (white, presumably grew in the dark) shoots of differing lengths 1- 30cm, even some with leaf buds on.
They have opened up immediately after planting and watering-in (cute little leaves). I have supported each plant's shoots gently with garden string to a thin bamboo cane.

A question : Should these newly planted rhizome shoots be left to grow and naturally die back over winter, or cut back sometime?
It would be good to know.

 

[SMP Brewery]

A question : Should these newly planted rhizome shoots be left to grow and naturally die back over winter, or cut back sometime?
It would be good to know

Think I’m going to cut back when they have finished growing.

 

[Cwrw666]

Same here, mine even had (white, presumably grew in the dark) shoots of differing lengths 1- 30cm, even some with leaf buds on.
They have opened up immediately after planting and watering-in (cute little leaves). I have supported each plant's shoots gently with garden string to a thin bamboo cane.

A question : Should these newly planted rhizome shoots be left to grow and naturally die back over winter, or cut back sometime?
It would be good to know.

Plants that die back for the winter reabsorb nutrients down into the roots. So even with mature plants I leave them to die off naturally after picking. They don't do this commercially but I expect they do rather more fertilising.

 

[Polcho]

Same here, mine even had (white, presumably grew in the dark) shoots of differing lengths 1- 30cm, even some with leaf buds on.
They have opened up immediately after planting and watering-in (cute little leaves). I have supported each plant's shoots gently with garden string to a thin bamboo cane.

A question : Should these newly planted rhizome shoots be left to grow and naturally die back over winter, or cut back sometime?
It would be good to know.

Was that essentially hops?

 

[531Man]

Was that essentially hops?

Yes, "essentially hops" , at Bekesbourne, Kent.

 

[grooves]

Has anybody made something like this - Hop Oast - Brew Your Own - to dry hops?

Ps - my harvest was very poor this year so vines for the compost heap. I have hops growing in half barrels - I think I need to lift and split them.

 

[oldchap]

Has anybody made something like this - Hop Oast - Brew Your Own - to dry hops?

Ps - my harvest was very poor this year so vines for the compost heap. I have hops growing in half barrels - I think I need to lift and split them.

I was tempted to do something like that but free time is scarce over the next few weeks so I've just got one of these. Probably another week or two before harvest here in Stirling - still looking earlier than last year though. I was a bit concerned about last week's rain but we seem to have some nice weather for a few days to add some of that nice fruity scent to this Cascade.

A bit disappointed that this year 2 crop doesn't look much bigger than my year 1 though.

 

[Cwrw666]

Everything now harvested and dried.

Challenger - 75g
Progress - 80g
Prima Donna - 228g
Cascade - 732g

I guess that means I'll be doing citrussy beers for most of the year.