Wild hops and spring water

[Bluezephyr]

Just wondering if anybody has tried growing their own hops from cuttings acquired from a hedgerow, there is a wild hop near mine along a track which my mother says has been there for years, would anybody try using wild hops just for an experiment? It's not an ornamental, is there way of identifying certain types?

Also Does water make a lot of difference to beer/ale taste? Down the meadow round this way there is a lovely gin clear pond fed by a spring that keeps a reservoir topped up, with a Doulton filter to get rid of any nasties would this make a difference over chlorinated water?

 

[bobsbeer]

I'm not sure about the hop side, but your water is important. Things like mineral content is important not just the clarity. What sort of rocks do you have in your area?

 

[Bluezephyr]

Norfolk rocks :lol: . I have no idea what it's filtering through! But I can probably pull some strings and have it tested at work in the laboratory.

 

[Duncs]

I've used wild hops I've found growing down by the river, just for a 2 gallon batch. I've no idea if it was the hops, but that turned out tasting exactly like cider. I'm going to give them another go this year as I think some of the hop plants were better than others judging by the smell of them.

 

[RokDok]

Just wondering if anybody has tried growing their own hops from cuttings acquired from a hedgerow, there is a wild hop near mine along a track which my mother says has been there for years, would anybody try using wild hops just for an experiment? It's not an ornamental, is there way of identifying certain types?

Also Does water make a lot of difference to beer/ale taste? Down the meadow round this way there is a lovely gin clear pond fed by a spring that keeps a reservoir topped up, with a Doulton filter to get rid of any nasties would this make a difference over chlorinated water?

Try making a batch using both. I've not used wild hops, but have used local water from a spring fed stream - despite this being a very hard water area the beers have been good. It would be a buzz to use your local sources. RD

 

[oldjiver]

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