# Growing Hops In Se Queensland



## Bretto77 (17/3/10)

Hi all,
with all the great success stories of this years hop harvest I must say that my first season attempt of growing hops has been a huge disappointment. I know that the southerners in Vic, SA and Tassie have a great advantage and constantly hear of their success stories. I am wondering if any hop growers in SE Queensland have any particular tips for those of us that are trying to grow our crops being latitude challenged? My location is Boonah which is 40km south of Ipswich and about equal lat to the Gold Coast, i.e. west/inland of the Gold Coast.

My method has been in line with the BYO mag article by Chris Colby titled "Container Hop Gardening" March-April 2009. I'm guessing the causes are:
1. Wrong latitude
2. Told hops grow better in the ground than pots (pots are 50cm though i.e. big)
3. Has been a hot summer
4. The container hop method has meant that much of the vines have been coiled at the base of the hop perhaps not good may increase risk of disease.
I know that SE Queenslander on this site have been successful with hop growing, so I'm wondering what is your secret boys? I can't even get flowers forming
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheer
Bretto


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## QldKev (17/3/10)

Bretto77 said:


> Hi all,
> with all the great success stories of this years hop harvest I must say that my first season attempt of growing hops has been a huge disappointment. I know that the southerners in Vic, SA and Tassie have a great advantage and constantly hear of their success stories. I am wondering if any hop growers in SE Queensland have any particular tips for those of us that are trying to grow our crops being latitude challenged? My location is Boonah which is 40km south of Ipswich and about equal lat to the Gold Coast, i.e. west/inland of the Gold Coast.
> 
> My method has been in line with the BYO mag article by Chris Colby titled "Container Hop Gardening" March-April 2009. I'm guessing the causes are:
> ...



I've had hops for a few years now; up in Bundy. This year is the first time I have had issues. Looks like mine got confused with day length and tried to mature all the cones at a small size, ie a few mm long. That was about 5-6 weeks ago. The second crop on the bine has come through excellent, so I will be having some fresh hops from this season after all. Up here we will never get huge crops, but will get some fresh flowers, yum.

I grow mine in pots, and use searles potting mix, at the start of every season I try and refresh as much potting mix as I can. I am no green thumb by any means.

QldKev


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## Bretto77 (17/3/10)

Thanks QldKev. They many have just got fried in the summer heat.

Bretto



QldKev said:


> I've had hops for a few years now; up in Bundy. This year is the first time I have had issues. Looks like mine got confused with day length and tried to mature all the cones at a small size, ie a few mm long. That was about 5-6 weeks ago. The second crop on the bine has come through excellent, so I will be having some fresh hops from this season after all. Up here we will never get huge crops, but will get some fresh flowers, yum.
> 
> I grow mine in pots, and use searles potting mix, at the start of every season I try and refresh as much potting mix as I can. I am no green thumb by any means.
> 
> QldKev


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## thesunsettree (17/3/10)

Bretto77 said:


> Hi all,
> with all the great success stories of this years hop harvest I must say that my first season attempt of growing hops has been a huge disappointment. I know that the southerners in Vic, SA and Tassie have a great advantage and constantly hear of their success stories. I am wondering if any hop growers in SE Queensland have any particular tips for those of us that are trying to grow our crops being latitude challenged? My location is Boonah which is 40km south of Ipswich and about equal lat to the Gold Coast, i.e. west/inland of the Gold Coast.
> 
> My method has been in line with the BYO mag article by Chris Colby titled "Container Hop Gardening" March-April 2009. I'm guessing the causes are:
> ...



hi mate,

this is not a trolling question but do u have grow/hort experience? i know someone in boonah who may be able to help if ur experience in general plant growing is limited

cheers
matt


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## TidalPete (17/3/10)

Bretto77 said:


> Hi all,
> with all the great success stories of this years hop harvest I must say that my first season attempt of growing hops has been a huge disappointment. I know that the southerners in Vic, SA and Tassie have a great advantage and constantly hear of their success stories. I am wondering if any hop growers in SE Queensland have any particular tips for those of us that are trying to grow our crops being latitude challenged? My location is Boonah which is 40km south of Ipswich and about equal lat to the Gold Coast, i.e. west/inland of the Gold Coast.
> 
> My method has been in line with the BYO mag article by Chris Colby titled "Container Hop Gardening" March-April 2009. I'm guessing the causes are:
> ...




Bretto,

Not wanting to discourage you in any way but I always loved my garden\yard & have put a lot time into it acquiring a little botanical knowledge over the years. The one thing I wouldn't be bothered trying to grow is hops. Just too much trouble up here & much less time & effort is involved just slinging a few dollars around for the finished product.  
Not saying it can't be done in certain areas but must be a proper PITA trying to wrest out a few kilos this far north. 
If hops are too expensive in Brissy try further afield.

T
Edit --- And no Chap Chap I'm not being "Grumpy" again, just factual.


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## QldKev (17/3/10)

TidalPete said:


> Bretto,
> 
> Not wanting to discourage you in any way but I always loved my garden\yard & have put a lot time into it acquiring a little botanical knowledge over the years. The one thing I wouldn't be bothered trying to grow is hops. Just too much trouble up here & much less time & effort is involved just slinging a few dollars around for the finished product.
> Not saying it can't be done in certain areas but must be a proper PITA trying to wrest out a few kilos this far north.
> ...




Sounds grumpy to me Pete :chug:


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## TidalPete (17/3/10)

QldKev said:


> Sounds grumpy to me Pete :chug:




Ah well Kev tell me how your hops are getting on? Any bumper crops yet? :beer: 

T


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## praxis178 (17/3/10)

QldKev said:


> Sounds grumpy to me Pete :chug:



+1 h34r: 

Pete old mate, When you were at my place picking up those Sazz pellets, did you take a look out the kitchen window? I have two first year mounds of Pearle in the ground (helps them not fry bin the heat).

Before I planted mine, I dug two holes under where the mounds would go, as big as the mound was going to be in the first year and as deep as I could go (900mm in my case) and back filled these with a 50/50 mix of the dirt I dug out and well composted mushroom compost, on top of this I built the mounds out of 30/70 dirt/compost and manure. I let this sit for a few weeks before planting.

I built a tall trellis (~5m) and just let them go for it, limiting them to three bines per mound. Each mound got about 10L of water per day as 5L morning and afternoon. 

What I'm really sweating is will it get cool enough to get them to go dormant enough for proper flowering next year? I'm on the Sunshine coast so well North of the OP, so it can be done.....


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## Screwtop (17/3/10)

Depends on soild type and location as to how happy they are. I dug up and moved 6 varieties from the Sunshine Coast when I moved to Gympie. Transplanted them in the middle of flowering and didn't give them much hope really. They are now growing in a duplex soil and floating rock over clay on a sloping block. Surprisingly the hop varieties that were doing well on the coast in the sandy soil have struggled and vice versa, Perle and Wurtemberger and POR are struggling, Cluster has died while Chinook Cascade are booming. Rhizomes were basically thrown into the ground and had very little attention during the move. Popped 200g of Chinook flowers in a brew made by my youngest son 10 days ago, it smells awesome.

They don't bear in large quantities here as would be expected but I enjoy growing my own hops. 

Cheers,

Screwy


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## QldKev (17/3/10)

Sorry if getting too far off topic,

Here is some pics; taken as off a few mins ago... As I said this year has not been very good, but this is this years bine. Normally I have got a hell of a lot more than this. I have never got commercial yields, but I enjoy growing them; and absolutely love fresh hops for aroma.




That run over 2m high and over 6m across




The crappy little pot it is growing from




Some yummy flowers waiting to be picked. Once you have had fresh hops there is no turning back.


QldKev


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## winkle (17/3/10)

I got a small crop from perle, hallertau and Goldings this year - would have done much better except for the bloody possums.


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## TidalPete (17/3/10)

Thomas J. said:


> +1
> 
> Pete old mate, When you were at my place picking up those Sazz pellets, did you take a look out the kitchen window? I have two first year mounds of Pearle in the ground (helps them not fry bin the heat).
> 
> ...



Hey Young Thomas, 

You seem to have done everything right there mate. Sorry I never took a good look but remember to give your spring water a go. :super: 

Good luck with it mate but I still reckon we're too far north to get a good permanent crop even though those mounds will help a lot. (No emoticon for stubborn old bastard)

T

PS ---Screwy, Kev & winkle,
Just saw your posts but still reckon I'm right re permanent. :lol: :icon_cheers:


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## MarkBastard (17/3/10)

People using pots that have done so for more than one year, what do you do in the winter?

BTW in answer to the thread, I planted three different varieties this year in pots. One of them has always been awesome, that was Chinook. The others (POR and Tettnang) have been a disappointment. The POR had had heaps of shoots but no flowers. The Tettnang had just two main shoots and did create lots of flowers, but the biggest ones are only an inch.

The Chinook reached up much higher with much thicker diametre at the base and has a few MASSIVE hops.


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## browndog (17/3/10)

Mine had a terrible season this year Brett, along with my cumquat tree and the big seville orange tree in the neighbours yard not to mention my chillis which are now only starting to flower.

cheers

Browndog


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## QldKev (18/3/10)

Mark^Bastard said:


> People using pots that have done so for more than one year, what do you do in the winter?
> 
> BTW in answer to the thread, I planted three different varieties this year in pots. One of them has always been awesome, that was Chinook. The others (POR and Tettnang) have been a disappointment. The POR had had heaps of shoots but no flowers. The Tettnang had just two main shoots and did create lots of flowers, but the biggest ones are only an inch.
> 
> The Chinook reached up much higher with much thicker diametre at the base and has a few MASSIVE hops.



Mine just get cut back to ground level at the end of season and stay in the pot until the following season. 

QldKev


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## Nick JD (18/3/10)

Perhaps :icon_offtopic: but is there a variety(s) that is more suited to a warmer climate? A bit of selective breeding would find a good warm weather hop you'd think...


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## MarkBastard (18/3/10)

Thanks QldKev, I was hoping that'd be the case. I'm guessing you wait until the bines have withered before cutting back?

Nick JD, I think that would be the case. Like I said my Chinook has gone a LOT better than the others. I may even sell the others and propagate the chinook among a couple of different pots.

Anyone reckon it may be American hops that work better?


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## QldKev (18/3/10)

Yep, I let the bins die right back and once they get too ugly I just cut them off. 

There was a brewer on here back in 2005/2006, further up north who used to dig them up and put them in the fridge every year. But can't remember who it was. 



QldKev


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## Bretto77 (18/3/10)

Thanks for your response matt, yeah I have a pretty green thumb. The vegi garden is doing great. I know lotas about organic gardening nutrients etc. Pretty confident this isn't the issue. However leaves appear discoloured which may mean nutrient difficencies ie nitrogen



thesunsettree said:


> hi mate,
> 
> this is not a trolling question but do u have grow/hort experience? i know someone in boonah who may be able to help if ur experience in general plant growing is limited
> 
> ...


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## Bretto77 (18/3/10)

Thanks for your input Tidal Pete. I am well aware of the limitations of what I'm doing. Primary motivation is flavours that come from home grown hops not cost. You are welcome to your opinions and obviously its not for you. But I happen to know that hops can be grown up here obviously in lower yeild. 

So I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one IMO



TidalPete said:


> Bretto,
> 
> Not wanting to discourage you in any way but I always loved my garden\yard & have put a lot time into it acquiring a little botanical knowledge over the years. The one thing I wouldn't be bothered trying to grow is hops. Just too much trouble up here & much less time & effort is involved just slinging a few dollars around for the finished product.
> Not saying it can't be done in certain areas but must be a proper PITA trying to wrest out a few kilos this far north.
> ...


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## Bretto77 (18/3/10)

How have you gone with the heat???



Thomas J. said:


> +1 h34r:
> 
> Pete old mate, When you were at my place picking up those Sazz pellets, did you take a look out the kitchen window? I have two first year mounds of Pearle in the ground (helps them not fry bin the heat).
> 
> ...


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## Bretto77 (18/3/10)

Was wondering how yours went this year browndog, unfortunately that Chinook hops I got from you was a disaster too, got fried in the heat after transplant. I'm sure we can do better next year by following some of the ideas. Thanks for all the suggestions all will be helpful to me


Bretto



browndog said:


> Mine had a terrible season this year Brett, along with my cumquat tree and the big seville orange tree in the neighbours yard not to mention my chillis which are now only starting to flower.
> 
> cheers
> 
> Browndog


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## unrealtb (25/7/11)

Hey I am an brissy brewer, looking for some hops rhizomes, I have a bit of horticultural experience, reckon I'll be right. Can anyone hook us up with some rhizomes? I am around chermside area of brissy.
Cheers


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## Bribie G (25/7/11)

unrealtb said:


> Hey I am an brissy brewer, looking for some hops rhizomes, I have a bit of horticultural experience, reckon I'll be right. Can anyone hook us up with some rhizomes? I am around chermside area of brissy.
> Cheers



Hi, pop into the BABBs club meeting on Thursday and have a chat, I know there are several people growing hops in Bris. 

:icon_cheers:


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## CosmicBertie (26/7/11)

How do you gauge the AA% of home grown hops? Is it basically calculated as the same as shop bought ones that have the AA% on thr label, or can you do a test of some sort?


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## drsmurto (26/7/11)

I've sold quite a few hops into QLD this year so hopefully later this year they will be able to report on how successfully they grow. Not sure where in QLD as the place names mean nothing to me.

As for the AA%, i guesstimate and generally only use them for flavour and aroma additions. Why waste fresh flowers by boiling them for 60 mins? That said, Phillip and I did a 10 min IPA using 400g of my homegrown chinook flowers and after a tasting session with several other local brewers it was conculded that we were in the ballpark on our desired IBU (50). We used 9% which is the what i have settled on as about right after brewing with them a few times.

That said, 9% is only valid for my backyard, they will no doubt be different to other regions of the country depending on soil, rainfall, etc etc etc


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## CosmicBertie (26/7/11)

DrSmurto said:


> I've sold quite a few hops into QLD this year so hopefully later this year they will be able to report on how successfully they grow. Not sure where in QLD as the place names mean nothing to me.
> 
> As for the AA%, i guesstimate and generally only use them for flavour and aroma additions. Why waste fresh flowers by boiling them for 60 mins? That said, Phillip and I did a 10 min IPA using 400g of my homegrown chinook flowers and after a tasting session with several other local brewers it was conculded that we were in the ballpark on our desired IBU (50). We used 9% which is the what i have settled on as about right after brewing with them a few times.
> 
> That said, 9% is only valid for my backyard, they will no doubt be different to other regions of the country depending on soil, rainfall, etc etc etc




Surely if you're growing your own and you had a good crop then you could/would use them for bittering too?

I guess if you know the AA% of commercial hops that you're growing, then its just a case of experimentation around that value.


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## Blue Dawg (29/7/11)

I'm moving up to the Sunshine Coast in the next few weeks from the Victorian Coast and will be taking my Cascade and Por with me.
I donated one Cascade to the Forrest Brewery and have kept one rizhome of each strain.
Will be interesting to see have they go as I picked enough to brew a dozen batches down south.


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## drsmurto (29/7/11)

Cosmic Bertie said:


> Surely if you're growing your own and you had a good crop then you could/would use them for bittering too?
> 
> I guess if you know the AA% of commercial hops that you're growing, then its just a case of experimentation around that value.



You could use them for bittering or you could buy high AA% bittering hops with a known AA value such as Magnum and save the wonderful fresh flavour and aroma additions for the homegrown hops where the IBU contributions are less and as such a guesstimate is normally close enough.


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## kymba (29/7/11)

check this out http://pw2.netcom.com/~dluzanp/backyard.htm

_excerpt..._


> *Estimating Hop Bitterness *
> 
> The old standard method to estimate alpha-acid percentage is to make an educated guess and then modify the guess as you gain brewing experience with your hops. Because homegrown hops are fresher and have suffered less handling, they are more bitter than commercial hops. Estimating their alpha as 50 percent higher than the average alpha for the same commercial cultivar is a pretty good guess. Knowing the exact alpha of your hops is less critical if you use them only for flavor and aroma additions.
> 
> ...



makes sense



Cosmic Bertie said:


> Surely if you're growing your own and you had a good crop then you could/would use them for bittering too?
> 
> I guess if you know the AA% of commercial hops that you're growing, then its just a case of experimentation around that value.


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## kymba (4/8/11)

i planted this golding from DrS last saturday and it is shooting already

it was covered with a layer of cane mulch but i just had to take a peek

nothing yet from the POR or chinook


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## alfadog (6/6/12)

From skimming over this thread it seems that hops can be grown in SEQ but am not too sure about the quality of the product. I know a lot of the essential oils and aromatics are produced when grown slowly to combat the colder climate, but in warmer climates the plants do not produce the high energy consuming oils due to the fact they are not required. Do the SEQ hops compare to the real deal?


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## fergi (6/6/12)

slightly off topic, i have two hop plants that i planted last season.
they grew to about 7 foot with about 6 bines on each plant, there wasnt any flowers in the first season, probably due to not having the time in the last 12 months to look after them properly,
this coming season i hope i can do the right thing by them.

my question is do i cut off the dried bines which are dried out, and do i leave the plant in the ground over winter.

located 70 k,s north of adelaide.

cheers fergi


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## kalbarluke (6/6/12)

alfadog said:


> From skimming over this thread it seems that hops can be grown in SEQ but am not too sure about the quality of the product. I know a lot of the essential oils and aromatics are produced when grown slowly to combat the colder climate, but in warmer climates the plants do not produce the high energy consuming oils due to the fact they are not required. Do the SEQ hops compare to the real deal?



My mate and I grew hops for the first time last year in SE QLD (Scenic Rim shire). From my experiences I made the following discoveries:
1) The warm climate will produce hops faster than in southern states.
2) The warm climate will reduce yield compared to southern states.
3) I don't know if the product grown in SE QLD is any worse quality. IMO there would be many variables that contribute to the quality of hops, eg: soil quality, daylight hours, water, wind, nutrients, diseases. I know we had success with cascade and chinook which were lovely. The goldings variety were very strong in flavour. 
4) Good drainage in your soil is essential.

I know of other people (on this forum) who have grown a range of varieties in SE QLD (as far west as Toowoomba and Dalby and as far north as Bundaberg) with varying degrees of success. I am by no means an authority, but I have some experience. 

My advice is to get some rhizomes or cuttings in August/September and have a go. Growing your own hops is a great experience and make your beers extra special.


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## Malted (6/6/12)

fergi said:


> slightly off topic, i have two hop plants that i planted last season.
> they grew to about 7 foot with about 6 bines on each plant, there wasnt any flowers in the first season, probably due to not having the time in the last 12 months to look after them properly,
> this coming season i hope i can do the right thing by them.
> 
> ...


G'day Fergs,

Generally one would cut off the dried bines but it seems like you don't have to if you don't want to. 

Yes leave them in the ground over winter. Put a bit of mulch/compost/horse poo over them to prepare the soil for next season and away you go. Water, nutrients and sun (but not baked) are good for them.


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## fergi (6/6/12)

Malted said:


> G'day Fergs,
> 
> Generally one would cut off the dried bines but it seems like you don't have to if you don't want to.
> 
> Yes leave them in the ground over winter. Put a bit of mulch/compost/horse poo over them to prepare the soil for next season and away you go. Water, nutrients and sun (but not baked) are good for them.




thanks malted, i will leave them in the ground.
are you growing any out at burton.
cheers fergi


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## phoenixdigital (7/6/12)

kalbarluke said:


> My advice is to get some rhizomes or cuttings in August/September and have a go. Growing your own hops is a great experience and make your beers extra special.



Exactly! I recommend doing this too. Its only going to set you back maybe $20 tops per rhizome unless you know someone local who can give them to you.

That said I planted 
3 x cascades
1 x POR
1 x Saaz
last September and they grew relatively well. 

No flowers this year which was a bit disappointing. Hopefully next year something will come of them.


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## Anofre (7/6/12)

Alphadog: they will grow in SEQ. You are right, you won't get the AA they get down south. I'm fairly certain that the 'light hours' makes the difference. Though you can't buy 'green' hops (which make a tasty & unique beer). So growing them is the only option. 
I failed at Tett, Cascade, Columbus on the 27 latitude & wouldn't recommend. 
I find cluster the most voracious in the region. Looking into it, I figure I must have the early golden cluster variety. It was original sold to me as 'Vienna Gold'. 
Fergi: cut them off each year. I only winter in ground every second year to revitalise the bed.

All: cluster, goldings & POR grown in SEQ still for sale. Pm me.


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