Hop plants/rhizomes - growing report

[Sandimas]

I would say to anyone thinking of growing a hop: just do it. They can grow as big or small as you want, need minimal effort, and a plant costs as much as a couple of bags of hops. I got way more from my two plants than I can ever use in a year, but I'll probably plant a 3rd one this winter, Fuggles or EKG. Just wish there was an easy way to measure the AA for bittering, but I still used mine for bittering with an approximate AA for the variety and the beers came out OK.

Bare-root plants will be shipping from places like Willingham Nurseries in November so now's the time to get on with it, if you are inclined Hop Plants from Willingham Nurseries

 

[Asherweef]

I would say to anyone thinking of growing a hop: just do it. They can grow as big or small as you want, need minimal effort, and a plant costs as much as a couple of bags of hops. I got way more from my two plants than I can ever use in a year, but I'll probably plant a 3rd one this winter, Fuggles or EKG. Just wish there was an easy way to measure the AA for bittering, but I still used mine for bittering with an approximate AA for the variety and the beers came out OK.

Bare-root plants will be shipping from places like Willingham Nurseries in November so now's the time to get on with it, if you are inclined Hop Plants from Willingham Nurseries

I’m going to give this a go at the allotment. Do I just stick in the ground over winter or does it need some TLC?

 

[Cwrw666]

Stick it in the ground and cover it with some straw or similar to keep the frost off it. Hops are a total weed, being related to nettles and will grow in just about any garden soil.

 

[Asherweef]

Stick it in the ground and cover it with some straw or similar to keep the frost off it. Hops are a total weed, being related to nettles and will grow in just about any garden soil.

Okay cool, I didn’t know they were a nettle relative, pub quiz gold!

 

[531Man]

Finally got round to making a small batch with my frozen EKG's.
Aiming for a Burton-style Light/Pale Ale, as that's what the kind land owner recommended (probably what he likes).
I used mostly Maris Otter pale malt, and a little Light crystal malt and mixed flaked grains (should have been flaked barley but Holland & Barret only had mixed flaked Oats, Barley, Wheat and Rye muesli base).
The boiled bittering hops are Fuggles and EKG pellets.
50g of the frozen fresh-in-the-green EKG's were reserved for adding at flame out, and I will add another 50g of them as dry (wet!) hopping later.
The aroma was incredibly fragrant when straining through them into the FV, and the occasional waft of it still passes by on air currents in the house.
Yeast is recovered Proper Job, pitched at 18C.
Fingers crossed for a successful outcome.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Okay cool, I didn’t know they were a nettle relative, pub quiz gold!

They're not that close - there's a subgroup of the order Rosales which includes the nettle family, the hemp/hop family, the mulberries and the elms, but they're distant cousins rather than siblings. Think of it more like the relationship between humans and monkeys, rather than gorillas or chimps.

They seem to be one of those things that usually grow like weeds but just don't work for some people. They are certainly hungry for food, and like steady and generous watering, without their bases being in standing water (hence traditionally they were grown on "hills"). A bit of frost is beneficial, they really need 30-60 days per winter below 4°C, but the young shoots can be quite vulnerable to late frosts.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

This is a brilliant thread, and is making me wonder if I can persuade my father to grow some hops - since it's a bit cold and wet up here for such things and he has emigrated to deepest South England. @darrellm that is a genuinely beautiful looking harvest of hops :)

Anna

I've certainly heard of people growing hops in Glasgow, so it depends where you are.

The big problem with Scotland tends to be either wind (which suggests a dwarf variety, which at the hobby level pretty much means First Gold aka Primadonna which is generally a great "starter" hop) and/or wet (which promotes the fungal diseases which "traditional" varieties like Fuggles are so susceptible to, you'd be better off with a more modern disease-resistant variety like Pilgrim).

 

[jMac]

@EarthKveik just posted in another thread. Aldi currently have a 10L dehydrator for £30. Might be useful come hop drying time?

https://www.aldi.co.uk/ambiano-food...Sxzuts1X2XQMiA38axBoCcEUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
ETA: although currently sold out

 

[Kveik Freak]

There still might be some in store even if they're sold out online

 

[Kveik Freak]

I've certainly heard of people growing hops in Glasgow, so it depends where you are.

The big problem with Scotland tends to be either wind (which suggests a dwarf variety, which at the hobby level pretty much means First Gold aka Primadonna which is generally a great "starter" hop) and/or wet (which promotes the fungal diseases which "traditional" varieties like Fuggles are so susceptible to, you'd be better off with a more modern disease-resistant variety like Pilgrim).

I've never grown hops but certainly for fruit, veg and herbs the damp is a big factor in Scotland. Good luck, see if you can find a variety that's had some resistance to fungal disease bred into it. People grow hops in Norway, so cold can't be too much of an issue!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I've never grown hops but certainly for fruit, veg and herbs the damp is a big factor in Scotland. Good luck, see if you can find a variety that's had some resistance to fungal disease bred into it. People grow hops in Norway, so cold can't be too much of an issue!

They're hobby growers though, they're not risking their livelihood on some plants avoiding mildew or wilt - most of the farmhouse brewers we hear so much about are importing Saaz etc from outside Norway.

And not all of Norway is tundra - they benefit from the Gulf Stream a bit, Bergen's climate isn't so different from Fort William or somewhere, lots of rain but the sea helps them avoid the really deep frosts - according to some random Googling, Bergen's lowest temperature ever was −16.3 °C, whereas Faversham at the heart of the Kent hopgrowing area, has recorded -17.8°C. And yes, hops like a bit of frost, they need a month or two below 4°C to set flower properly.

Aside from the disease risk, one of the big problems with what is politely called a "maritime climate" is that hops need sunshine to develop the nice fruity flavours, with cloud they tend to go earthy. Was really noticeable in 2018 when we had a long hot spell followed by cloud in August, even Goldings could go kind of earthy. Hopefully this year the combination of the early harvest and the cloudy coming a bit later will have been good for flavour development.

 

[jMac]

Aside from the disease risk, one of the big problems with what is politely called a "maritime climate" is that hops need sunshine to develop the nice fruity flavours, with cloud they tend to go earthy. Was really noticeable in 2018 when we had a long hot spell followed by cloud in August, even Goldings could go kind of earthy. Hopefully this year the combination of the early harvest and the cloudy coming a bit later will have been good for flavour development.

I like this. Never really thought of hops having ‘vintages’, but may well pay more attention to my different year harvests in future.

 

[ksmith91]

Finally reached the end of the thread - really enjoyed reading all about the hop growing you guys have been doing!

I received a couple of rhizomes for Christmas (A gentle nudge from my better half!!) and found this forum/thread which has been really useful to go through. I think I'll be planting mine out in large pots and leaving them outside but protected from the frost until spring. These will be first year growths so not expecting too much in terms of yield but at least they can get established

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I’d suggest you have a good insecticide on hand. Mine are in their second year. First year they were doing well but got infested with red spider mite (RSM) It was too late to gain control and save them by the time I’d realised (even though I am a keen gardener) And the plants just withered and browned. This year I moved them into the ground from pots away from against a south facing wall and got a pretty good crop from my Fuggles and Centenial plants because I spotted the RSM early and started spraying them regularly. It was still a constant battle though.

 

[Sandimas]

Where are people buying their hop rhizomes from now?

Willingham Nurseries, who many of us have bought from in the past, don't seem to have updated their website since 2018 so assume they're not trading anymore?

 

[jMac]

Where are people buying their hop rhizomes from now?

Willingham Nurseries, who many of us have bought from in the past, don't seem to have updated their website since 2018 so assume they're not trading anymore?

I used Willingham when I bought my plants a few years ago. I’ve been planning on getting some more this year, and so far have found essentiallyhops.co.uk to seemingly have the best range on offer. I have not bought from them yet however.

ETA: not sure what’s going on with Willingham - anyone know?

 

[ksmith91]

I’d suggest you have a good insecticide on hand. Mine are in their second year. First year they were doing well but got infested with red spider mite (RSM) It was too late to gain control and save them by the time I’d realised (even though I am a keen gardener) And the plants just withered and browned.

Thanks for that, I'll bear it in mind! I believe I need to go shopping

Where are people buying their hop rhizomes from now?

I checked and mine were ordered from essentiallyhops.co.uk. They came pretty well wrapped in some moss to retain the moisture and look (from my fairly inexperienced eyes) to be healthy.

 

[Sandimas]

Thanks - I've got two already, but my Mrs enjoyed training them around structures last summer to make a bit of a garden feature (also resulted in more hop cones) so looking to buy a 3rd one.

I had 1kg of hops off those plants last summer, the best year yet: year 5 or 6 of growing I think.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I think Willingham are still going, they just got a bit lazy with their website and are maybe winding down that side, I had some off them last year when the website was inactive.

A Plus are the main commercial suppliers and have some of the rarer ones like Keyworth Midseason (and small amounts of Ernest which always get snapped up), also a quid cheaper than Essentially.

 

[AXW123]

I bought mine from essentially hops they were very healthy with a great yield. Fingers crossed that year 2 is the same.