Hop plants/rhizomes - growing report

[aolcot]

Oh, that must have changed recently, you used to be able to get it from Aplus. I know someone I can ask about that...

Thanks.. would love to source a rhizome of this particular hop

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Thanks.. would love to source a rhizome of this particular hop

Just to be clear - I wasn't promising any material, but I can at least find out what's happening with its legal status. I'd not heard anything about its rights being controlled but A-plus would know, unless it's just a way to preserve scarce material for commercial growers.

 

[aolcot]

Just to be clear - I wasn't promising any material, but I can at least find out what's happening with its legal status. I'd not heard anything about its rights being controlled but A-plus would know, unless it's just a way to preserve scarce material for commercial growers.

I never had that expectation, I was just expressing a general desire to source this hop in the years ahead of me - so anything additional you can find out, or if things have actually changed since I had a brief email exchange with APlus a year or two ago would be great. My desire for this hop largely stems with it being the name of my dad so its has a somewhat personal connection - and its nice as well lol..

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I have looked for this hop, but got told by APlus that it is a licensed hop and not available to the general public. If anyone knows where I can get it from, I'd be keen to explore that.

Hmm, well I asked, and was told (as I expected, it's been sold previously) there's no plant breeders’ rights in place, so I don't know what's going on there. But I've just had a look at the official IHGC list and Ernest is listed there as under BHA rights, so I suspect that's where Aplus have got it from. That list has some other oddities like the Sapporo hop Toyomidori being listed as under BHA rights, so it's possible that Aplus are using an unreliable source.

But Ernest isn't listed on the official Seeds Gazette which is the official list of varieties protected in the UK. Whilst I was looking there, I thought I'd grab all the hops that are protected in the UK. It's interesting that Columbus wasn't applied for until 2003, it was originally bred way back when - but the legal situation was..."complicated" with Tomahawk and Zeus aside from the original "theft" of material from the USDA so I guess that's why.

Hops are one of the few crops where rights last 30 years rather than 25, so here's their decision date + 30 years - in reality it takes a little while for stocks to be grown up before they become available at retail.

2026	ADMIRAL	Wye Hops UK
2026	PIONEER	Wye Hops UK
2026	FIRST GOLD	Wye Hops UK
2033	COLUMBUS	Hop Union, US
2036	PILOT	Wye Hops UK
2036	PILGRIM	Wye Hops UK
2036	HERKULES	Hüll, Germany
2038	HU ZH APA1 (Golden Princess)	Hüll, Germany
2038	BOADICEA	Wye Hops UK
2040	SOVEREIGN	Wye Hops UK
2041	ADHA04 (Adeena)	ADHA, US
2041	RELAX	Martin Bauer, Germany
2041	VGXP01 (Amarillo)	Virgil Gamache US
2042	SUPGALENA	Hopsteiner Germany
2042	BRAVO	Hopsteiner Germany
2042	APOLLO	Hopsteiner Germany
2044	POLARIS	Hüll, Germany
2044	STYRIAN GOLD	Slovenia
2045	ARAMIS	France
2045	MANDARINA BAVARIA	Hüll, Germany
2046	TRISKEL	France
2046	HALLERTAU BLANC	Hüll, Germany
2046	HUELL MELON	Hüll, Germany
2047	DANA	Slovenia
2047	STYRIAN EUREKA	Slovenia
2049	BROKAT	Veltins, Germany
2049	MISTRAL	France
2049	BARBE ROUGE	France
2049	ARIANA	Hüll, Germany
2049	CALLISTA	Hüll, Germany
2049	STYRIAN WOLF	Slovenia
2049	STYRIAN CARDINAL	Slovenia
2050	SAMT	Veltins, Germany
2050	LEMONDROP	Hopsteiner US
2050	SULTANA	Hopsteiner US
2050	EUE05256 (Eureka)	Hopsteiner US
2050	K906901060 (Furano Magical)	Sapporo Japan

 

[aolcot]

Hmm, well I asked, and was told (as I expected, it's been sold previously) there's no plant breeders’ rights in place, so I don't know what's going on there

Thanks! - quite interesting what you have found out.. Clearly its still being grown in small amounts commercially in the UK (Pridewood, JW Barratt, Hukins based on google at least), so I can only assume that their Ernest fields are mature and no-one is breeding the variety currently for sale to the public due to a lack of demand? seeing if there are no rights in place at all for this particular hop. Is that your take on it based on info you have seen?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Clearly its still being grown in small amounts commercially in the UK (Pridewood, JW Barratt, Hukins based on google at least), so I can only assume that their Ernest fields are mature and no-one is breeding the variety currently for sale to the public due to a lack of demand?

Quite the opposite - Ernest is the one variety from Wye/BHA that is in demand from brewers and growers, it's expanding at the expense of other varieties which is why I thought Aplus might be restricting sales to the public to protect supplies to their commercial customers.

seeing if there are no rights in place at all for this particular hop. Is that your take on it based on info you have seen?

No - my suspicion is that Aplus are just reading off the IHGC list which is the international-standard list for these things, but why it's listed as protected on the IHGC list is another matter. I have asked the question...

 

[aolcot]

restricting sales to the public to protect supplies to their commercial customers.

ah ok starting to make sense.. So, subject to finding out why its listed on the IHGC and whatever/if anything that is blocking, potentially if there is significant increased demand, that ultimately may translate in the years ahead the variety becoming available to the public. Looking forward to seeing what response you get.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

potentially if there is significant increased demand, that ultimately may translate in the years ahead the variety becoming available to the public.

..again. Aplus used to sell Ernest to the public before the pandemic, but supplies were always stretched because of demand - that's why I was so surprised when you said they weren't doing it any more.

 

[conorm]

I've skimmed through this entire thread over the last hour or so, great reading and some fab looking plants and harvests! I've a few quick questions as my rhizomes will be here any day now. (First error, five plants, all different varieties!)

For this, first year, I'm not bothered with yield, just getting the plants a good root base for next year. With that in mind:

1. How many binds do you train per plant? I've read 4-5 but in a lot of the pics here it's 2-3? Solved: On another forum I read leave everything in year one, need the leaves to build up stores in the roots.

2. How tall should I expect my plants to get in year 1? (No dwarf varieties)

3. I won't have space / time to properly train and tend to five plants. I'm contemplating sticking two of them at the bottom of the garden in large ports and let them run wild along the wire fence. Quite shady, so no good for yield, but will the plants do OK in this setting?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I'm certainly no expert.
Hops like sunlight, water and food.
Not keen on wind!
They are climbers not ramblers but will roam around looking for something to climb.
Dangle some ropes off the top of your fence and they may well climb up.
Tangerine dream in my garden first year grew to about 25 foot.

One cutting I planted 2 summers ago in a shady area, untended this year grew about 5 foot and no hops.
The tended in a pot are doing well.