Any hop gardeners here?

[rocketman]

Have seven plants, all new for this year, grows like crazy last 24 hours almost 20cm and 10 of those during the night to today!

Northern brewer, cascade and saaz.

[dinnerstick]

my back yard is a construction site, but my first-year cascade bine is pretty happy. made it above the neighbor's grape.

[BrauTim]

my back yard is a construction site, but my first-year cascade bine is pretty happy. made it above the neighbor's grape.

I like it - grape vs hop

[hughjampton]

I planted a Nugget about ten weeks ago which is now about 3 meters tall and growing about 6 cm a day. I chose nugget because I read that it's a good variety for clay soil. If it does OK I'll try another variety next year, probably Mathon.

I don't expect any Nugget cones until next year but if I do get some I don't know what to make. I think it'll make a great stout. Any suggestions?

[niels]

I want to put some hops in the garden, but since the garden was unattended for a few years (previous owner was in a home and during renovation the garden wasn't a top priority) I will have to continue my efforts to get it presentable. This weekend I went loco with a small crane and drill to get rid of a lot of trees/roots.

Next: fixing the damage I did to the garden and hopefully I can put some hops in the ground by next season.

Someone on the Flemish homebrewers forum has a huge Fuggles plant and I will probably start with some seedlings from this plant. Oh, and his plant is near his compost heap which seems to have a very positive influence!

Niels

[rocketman]

I'm almost afraid that my first year northern brewer will soon take over the house has grown almost a meter in a week.

[dinnerstick]

cones! backlit.
for a first year bine this thing is really making loads, i didn't expect much. there is no aroma as yet.

[McMullan]

cones! backlit.
for a first year bine this thing is really making loads, i didn't expect much. there is no aroma as yet.

DSC_0571.jpg

Congratulations Will aroma develop when drying them? I was going to try growing some here. Not sure how they'd cope with the long cold winter, though. -15 guaranteed, -20 quite likely.

[dinnerstick]

this is my first go at it, but the aromas will develop as they ripen, and they start to produce oils and various aromatic compounds.
hops are pretty cold resistant, as the rhizome stays buried through the winter. i'm sure you can find the information you need online, but if your ground is completely frozen, you can grow hops in pots and store the rhizomes in a cellar through the winter.

[gert]

This is a picture from last week: from left to right: Fuggles, Annabel, East Kent Golding
Next week will be harvesting time!

[Eldoreth]

Any good topics for a beginner. A small explanation of what is needed and the dos or donts + info on when to plant, when to harvest and post-harvest treatment before usage in the kettle would be nice. Any ideas on existing materials? Cheers

[perdido]

It gets quite cold in the Hallertau in wintertime. The rizhomes will handle -15C -20C no problem.

My first year hop plant has no cones yet. I don't have the best growing area... just a pot in the balcony.
I have located some wild hop plants 1 hour from my place and will be harvesting next weekend. The cones are big and ripe and have no ideaof what variety it may be. They do smell nice. I will use them ti dry hop the ipa I brewed today.

[McMullan]

It gets quite cold in the Hallertau in wintertime. The rizhomes will handle -15C -20C no problem.

My first year hop plant has no cones yet. I don't have the best growing area... just a pot in the balcony.
I have located some wild hop plants 1 hour from my place and will be harvesting next weekend. The cones are big and ripe and have no ideaof what variety it may be. They do smell nice. I will use them ti dry hop the ipa I brewed today.

Cheers, perdido. I just got off Wikipedia, reading up on hop plants. Didn't realise they die back each year when it gets cold and sprout again in the spring. Some of them look as tall as triffids! I've got to give it a go. Difficult to get hop cones in Norway. I usually have to get them from UK. Will you guesstimate the AA% after the first use?

[dinnerstick]

there are lots of wild hops growing here, the hedge in front of my house is full of them, but they smell like diesel. i keep chickening out of using them. maybe this year i'll make a few liters of something nasty....

[perdido]

Wild hops are not too common in Spain so I always get excited whenI find a plant. There is some commercial hop yards in Northern Spain, mainly nugget and some Columbus.

I'm not planning on using them for bittering, just for dry hopping. No much need to know AA.