# Tasmanian Wild Hop



## probablynathan (3/1/11)

I was reading that Pride of Ringwood was bred using pride of Kent and a wild Tasmanian hop. I also remember that Boag's made reference to a Tasmanian hop used in their Honey Porter called Van Diemen. these are probably not the same variety by could be related?

Does any one know anything about this Tasmanian wild hop? Very interested in any information people may have on these Tasmanian hops.

Thank in advance.


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## speedie (3/1/11)

from battery piont if you drink too much you will have a wild hop


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## gregs (3/1/11)

speedie said:


> from battery piont if you drink too much you will have a wild hop




Ignore this person; hes from WA their doing their best to de-rail AHB.


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## NickB (3/1/11)

speedie said:


> from battery piont if you drink too much you will have a wild hop


 Sorry for the OT, but what are you on about speedie? Seriously!


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## DJR (3/1/11)

NickB said:


> Sorry for the OT, but what are you on about speedie? Seriously!



Battery point is the old part of Hobart - think cobblestone streets etc. I guess if you were drunk you could trip over on the gaps in the cobblestones.

If you don't understand it you obviously aren't a good brewer


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## NickB (3/1/11)

DJR said:


> Battery point is the old part of Hobart - think cobblestone streets etc. I guess if you were drunk you could trip over on the gaps in the cobblestones.
> 
> If you don't understand it you obviously aren't a good brewer




Don't worry DJR, I grew up in Hobart, know Battery Point well. Just sick and tired of the bullshit coming from speedie's keyboard.....


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## barls (3/1/11)

speedie said:


> from battery piont if you drink too much you will have a wild hop


speedie. 
i think i speak for all here, lay off the drugs or start sharing.
its the only way your posts are going to make sense to the rest of us.


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## speedie (3/1/11)

it would seem that you have a small tolerance for humour
even one with two heads could see the funny side


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## Bribie G (3/1/11)

Hops are not indigenous to Australia; all current varieties have been derived from Europe or America (Cluster being a good US example) at various times since the early 1800s. The first hops were grown by James Squire the man (not the later brewery who adopted his name) at Ryde in Inner West Sydney but it soon became apparent that Victoria and Tasmania had better hop growing climates. 
Hops escaped from the farms over the last couple of hundred years and can be found around the place.. like blackberries and volunteer sunflower plants and sugar cane along highways etc. So there are no real "wild" hops in Australia just as there are no "wild" rabbits, camels etc. 

However it's interesting that many of these _feral_ hops would be from old long abandoned cultivars and it would be great to brew from some of them and possibly recreate some of the flavours enjoyed by drinkers in the days of Henry Lawson et al. I read that there's a brewpub in Victoria using feral hops growing in the area.


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## Newbiebrewer (3/1/11)

has anyone tasted brews made with the feral hops? or more importantly has anyone attempted to grow them?


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## probablynathan (3/1/11)

Thanks BribieG, I didn't think there were any native hops in Australia but I was curious what was meant by "wild hop" and what variety was used. The more I read up on these early hop variety's grown and used in colonial Australia the more interested I become. I will defiantly be looking into this some more.

Thanks again.


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## Braumoasta (3/1/11)

I wondered about wild hops (feral) in Australia, as for most crops there are specimens which have also made their way into the wild. Having a look on Flora Base (database of plant species in WA) it appears there are wild hops in the Perth region - http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/18296
Perhaps a good old wild hop hunt is in order! :beerbang: :lol:


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## Ducatiboy stu (3/1/11)

You could/maybe/probaly not say that there are wild hops in OZ..

I think what the OP was asking was, where did this wild hop come from. No doubt it would have been some hybred hop that was a result of cross pollination 

Think of the peach tree you see on the side of a country road, sometimes these are the best fruiting or most prolific peach tree you will ever see, but never both.

I would guess that POR was made from kent and a wild hop that was noted for a particular characteristic 

Its called plant breeding


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## Bribie G (3/1/11)

Yes breeders are often on the lookout for "wild" hops, Bullion and Brewers Gold came from crosses with "escaped" hops growing in Canada.


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## InCider (3/1/11)

There's some 'wild' hops growing up here in Landsborough and Peachester. You can tell because when they produce most fruit (after the winter rains) the Police helicopter sits above your house for longer than usual.


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## Bribie G (3/1/11)

The  was a pretty wild hop in its day - yes folks that's what your great grand parents used to get up to. 
Naughty corner, Nan & Poppie


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## brettprevans (4/1/11)

There has been a few posts in the past about 'wild/feral' hops in various parts of Australia. From memory one thread was about tassie. Can't remember if it got anywhere as to what type of hop it was though. There were pics of it though if u feel like searching for interest sake.


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## super_simian (9/1/11)

One of the 2 Metre Tall 'real' ales uses wild hops, according to their spiel. Also heard of wild hops in the Bright area in Vic.


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## HoppingMad (9/1/11)

There was an old thread about hop rhizomes (about two years back) and a few people in Sth Australia raised Lobethal as a source of 'wild roadside hops' as well as rhizomes. Word has it this area was historically a large hop growing area with European types of hops planted in the vicinity.

Never been out there with a shovel but there was talk on AHB two years back about some thinking they might go digging for gold... don't know the area myself but a Lobethal local would be able to set you straight on whether this is fact or malarky.

Hopper.


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## dug (18/1/11)

One of my mates has a "wild" hop growing on his block, (between kettering and cygnet). Have not made a brew with it... yet maybe this season.

I might pay to have a walk around hopfields in Margate. It got that name for a reason.


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## Yob (19/1/11)

dug said:


> One of my mates has a "wild" hop growing on his block, (between kettering and cygnet). Have not made a brew with it... yet maybe this season.




Nice area.. I lived in Cygnet for a few years... careful though.. you can get shot at looking for 'hops' down that way


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## homebrewkid (1/3/11)

hey guys where do i get seeds from so i can grow my own hops?


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## barls (1/3/11)

mate you dont grow them from seeds, you grow them from root stock.
its also the wrong time of year to buy them, they are normally up for sale around mid year.


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## Silo Ted (1/3/11)

Some time ago I was discussing the presence of a native australian hop species with a friend of mine who studies the botanical flora distribution specific to the Sydney basin region. The genus Dodonaea was mentioned, because of it's common name of 'hop bush'. 

Sources on the internet vary, but the Australian National Botanic Gardens site has this to say about Dodonaea viscosa: 

_a member of the Sapindaceae family. Dodonaeas are known as hop bush as they were used to make beer by early European Australians. Dodonaea viscosa has also been traditionally used by Aboriginal Australians to treat toothache, cuts and stingray stings._

The website anpsa.org.au also has this to say about Dodonaea viscosa: 

_Both Aborigines and colonists valued hop bushes for their cultural and medicinal properties.

So impressed were the early colonists with the similarity in looks and taste, which its winged seed capsules had to hops, they were inspired to successfully brew a tangy, bitter but drinkable beer. The name 'Hop bush' still remains its popular common name._

SOURCES:

http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2007/do...ea-viscosa.html

http://anpsa.org.au/APOL2007/feb07-2.html


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## Malted (1/3/11)

Silo Ted said:


> Some time ago I was discussing the presence of a native australian hop species with a friend of mine who studies the botanical flora distribution specific to the Sydney basin region. The genus Dodonaea was mentioned, because of it's common name of 'hop bush'.
> 
> Sources on the internet vary, but the Australian National Botanic Gardens site has this to say about Dodonaea viscosa:
> 
> ...


Personally I don't really see that much of a similarity:




On the Fraser Coast of SE Qld, in a past life, we used to tell the punters a story about the 'native hop bush'...

When the early settlers saw the hop bush they thought they'd use it to make beer, maybe they'd been drinking too much rum. But since the hopbush wasn't the same as the hops that they were used to, the beer turned out considerably different to what they were used to. Because of these flavours, they put it in a green can and called it Green Death. It didn't sell very well so later on they changed the name to Victoria Bitter!


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## HoppingMad (5/4/11)

Thought I'd update as it's relevant to this thread. The Age Epicure article today refers to a 'Wild hop' being used by Otway estate in their once yearly batch. Hop is from fringe areas of Otway ranges and is reported by Otway to be 'Canterbury Goldings' a relative of the East Kent Variety.

Apparently the Otway & Colac region was a major supplier of hops for 'Ballarat Bitter' a beer which had a thin moustached fellow on the label called 'Bertie'.

Apologies to those who've just read this on another thread. Thought I'd update it here too.

Hopper.


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## Tim (5/4/11)

There was a wild hop which was doing the rounds with AHB brewers and on the old Grump's form years ago. Try a search on Pride of Pemberton!


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## Greg.L (5/4/11)

You can buy hop seeds from chiltern seeds 

http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item.php?id=696E

You may get male plants, and the females may take ages to flower, but you will definitely get wild hops, and can give it a new name. All hop cultivars came from seed originally.


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## outbreak (5/4/11)

gregs said:


> Ignore this person; he's from WA their doing their best to de-rail AHB.




Im sorry but do you mean West Australian board members are doing there best to derail AHB? Or just Speedie.... Because if any other state wants him.... they can have him.


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## [email protected] (5/4/11)

HoppingMad said:


> Thought I'd update as it's relevant to this thread. The Age Epicure article today refers to a 'Wild hop' being used by Otway estate in their once yearly batch. Hop is from fringe areas of Otway ranges and is reported by Otway to be 'Canterbury Goldings' a relative of the East Kent Variety.
> 
> Apparently the Otway & Colac region was a major supplier of hops for 'Ballarat Bitter' a beer which had a thin moustached fellow on the label called 'Bertie'.
> 
> Hopper.



They're probably from around the Forrest area - there's a great book from the local historical society about the hop industry in Forrest. The industry died out after WW2 and they replaced hops with spuds and cattle.

I also seem to remember talking to someone else on this board who had wild hops on his property around Pennyroyal creek.


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## prestonpaul (5/4/11)

Hopz said:


> They're probably from around the Forrest area - there's a great book from the local historical society about the hop industry in Forrest. The industry died out after WW2 and they replaced hops with spuds and cattle.
> 
> I also seem to remember talking to someone else on this board who had wild hops on his property around Pennyroyal creek.


They were grown around Timboon as well, until some sort of blight got them.


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## pbrosnan (5/4/11)

There are tonnes of hops growing wild around the Scotsdale area in Tasmania. It's a hop growing region so it's nt unexpected. I picked a couple of handfuls just show the old man when I was over. They smelt great. I would suppose they were POR. You could have free POR for life if you brewed and lived in the area.


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## Greg.L (6/4/11)

It's interesting to consider the spreading of wild hops around, and the breeding. Because you need a male and a female to produce seed, the opportunities for the spread of seedlings would seem limited if there aren't many males around. Having male plants nearby is obviously not good because they will pollinate the female, and seeds in the hop is not good, much the same with hop's close relative. They are wind pollinated so the spread of pollen would be up to a kilometre. If there aren't any seeds then the rhizomes have to be spreading around. Hops can live for a long time and are pretty weedy but I think spreading by rhizomes would be pretty slow. Of course there are probably people willing to spread them around, and maybe wild hops are in places with old abandoned farms or gardens. Roadside plants would probably be from seed. Where I live there is lots of asparagus growing by the road.

I wonder how they breed hops, because they have to use males, and the males will have largely unknown genetics. They must need to raise a lot of seedlings to get one female plant with the desired characteristics.


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## jphowman (8/4/11)

Just pick a bunch of wild hops from an area between Forrest and Colac. There looked to be a few different varieties since many of the bines hadn't flowered yet. 

Will late hop with them for the next brew and let you know how it goes.

:chug: hopefully


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## [email protected] (9/4/11)

franks said:


> Just pick a bunch of wild hops from an area between Forrest and Colac. There looked to be a few different varieties since many of the bines hadn't flowered yet.
> 
> Will late hop with them for the next brew and let you know how it goes.
> 
> :chug: hopefully



If they're from the old industry they're likely to be Canterbury Goldings or American Clusters.

Let us know how you go...


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## Tim F (9/4/11)

Every time I visit Port Arthur I am tempted by this big hop plant that is growing up the side of one of the cottages - the one that was used up until the 70s or something, with the picket fence and fruit trees. I managed to sneak out a cutting last time but it didn't make it back over on the ferry.


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## earle (11/4/11)

Silo Ted said:


> Some time ago I was discussing the presence of a native australian hop species with a friend of mine who studies the botanical flora distribution specific to the Sydney basin region. The genus Dodonaea was mentioned, because of it's common name of 'hop bush'.
> 
> Sources on the internet vary, but the Australian National Botanic Gardens site has this to say about Dodonaea viscosa:
> 
> ...



This is interesting as my mother has told me about my grandfather (now deceased) making hop beer when they lived around the Macleay area. I assumed it was made from these hop bushes but was not sure. Will have to ask her is she has a recipe.


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## DU99 (11/4/11)

tried the beer at the forest hotel :beer:


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