2010 Hop Plantations

[ekul]

Hops are one of the easiest plants to root.

Cut a piece of bine that has at least two bits where the leaves come out (called nodes). If you have a sharp knife or razor blade this is best to use when making the cut.

Trim away the bottom leaves

Put cutting in glass of water. Change water every few days

Roots will appear in a week. As soon as the plant has roots it can go in some potting mix.

I made some chinook cuttings earlier in the yeasr and they ended up being as tall as my other chinooks, and produced about the same. The other plants were rhizomes were first year plants.

Because the plants flower depending on the light cycle it might be important to break the bight cycle, this can be done by having the plants inside where lights will be on at night time, or use a flouro.

 

[clarkey7]

Not sure if milling the flowers will help, let us know how it goes.... :lol:

Not sure if you have read it but Dr Smurto says that from his experience factoring 9% AA is a good bet for home grown Chinook (in the Adelaide Hills).
I used about 200g of fresh Chinook at 20 mins, no chilled in a Pale Ale and it is probably not bitter enough (nor flavoursome enough but that may be the no chill).

Thanks Malted...yeah I remember reading that...but I use different fertilizer on my hops, have shorter day length and a very wet year etc....so who knows what I'm starting with?
I figured that I would make a big enough beer (7.5%), that if using averages of hop IBU's the malt would stand up to a 1:1 IBU/BG....and if they weren't bitter enough....they would probably still be fine....

I tasted the wort remaining in the pot after draining. It wasn't as bitter as what I was expecting and tasted a bit grassy.
Must have been those 5 wet hop cones I chucked in

I too am No-chilling, but have about 35g of chinook for a hop tea for after fermentation has slowed down.....not really keen on just chucking them straight in.

If all else fails I could add some commercial hops for aroma or make a mini batch and blend etc.....

Let you know.

PB

 

[Tony]

I chopped my hop plant back to leave a few buds at the base.......... and now its growing again.

Winter crop???

 

[raven19]

Mine have yet to die back Tony also! They should go dormant once it gets darker and cooler over winter months for sure.

 

[kelbygreen]

mine are still growing after all the leaves and all but 1 bine on each plant survived the heat and neglect. I am just leaving them die off on there own now havnt really checked them this week but didnt get a single cone of them they was forming when it died back.

 

[matho]

I chopped my hop plant back to leave a few buds at the base.......... and now its growing again.

Winter crop???

hey tony my plants do that some times, they will only grow about 1 in and have small leaves on them and they will say like that all winter, nothing to worry about.

cheers matho

 

[Newbee(r)]

I got 50-odd grams (dry) of Cascade and Tardiff de Borgogne.... Not a good yield compared to last year and my Goldings did SFA again this year. Has anyone had much luck growing Goldings? Not sure if the plants are no good or whether the Otways weather is too wet for them.



Are you in the Otways Blue Dawg? Didn't know the Forrest Brewery was after home grown hops, will bear that in mind next year if my harvest is good.

My goldings seem to go gangbusters with lots of water - they also really need lots of sun and compost. I got a pound off a second year goldings despite the lower sunshine in Canberra this year.

 

[mmmyummybeer]

Hops and Peas - can you grow both
​

I'm just in the process of cutting my hops down and have been thinking that as they are dormant over winter I might try to grow a crop of winter pea's in the same spot. I figure I might as well make us of my strings whilst the hops are dormant and I know peas are renown for putting nitrogen back into the soil, which I reccon the hops would love. Only problem I can see is that there might not be enough room for the pea roots to grow, as the rhizome is getting quite big. Any way I am going to give it a go. Just wondering on any one else's thoughts, or has anyone else come up with the same idea and tried it. Cheers :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Newbee(r)]

Hops and Peas - can you grow both
​

I'm just in the process of cutting my hops down and have been thinking that as they are dormant over winter I might try to grow a crop of winter pea's in the same spot. I figure I might as well make us of my strings whilst the hops are dormant and I know peas are renown for putting nitrogen back into the soil, which I reccon the hops would love. Only problem I can see is that there might not be enough room for the pea roots to grow, as the rhizome is getting quite big. Any way I am going to give it a go. Just wondering on any one else's thoughts, or has anyone else come up with the same idea and tried it. Cheers :icon_chickcheers:

I see no reason why not. The hop is dormant over winter and you would just cut the peas down to the ground as the hops start to shoot and should be fine. Be aware some peas and beans (scarlett runners for example) will keep coming back put down some good root systems, so better to cut them. Not sure of your climate but if you get a frost in winter better off to get pea straw and give the hop a good mulch with it.

You could always divide your hop crown (good for them every few seasons I understand) and have two hop crowns for next season and have peas!! :icon_cheers:

 

[HeavyNova]

My 2 hop plants still have plenty of green on them, however I don't think they're really growing anymore. I take it it's ok to just let them die off on their own and then chop off the dead stuff and wait until next spring for it to start all over again?

Or is there anything else to do that will help them out?

 

[proudscum]

Has anyone in Victoria had much success with growing SAAZ?

Or for that matter which cultivars have you had a good yield from?

 

[Wolfy]

Has anyone in Victoria had much success with growing SAAZ?

Or for that matter which cultivars have you had a good yield from?

This year I found my UK/EU varieties grew best with Goldings and Tettnang being most prolific.
While the Saaz grew fine, some have suggested that the local-flavour-profile might be different to Cz-Saaz.

 

[raven19]

My 2 hop plants still have plenty of green on them, however I don't think they're really growing anymore. I take it it's ok to just let them die off on their own and then chop off the dead stuff and wait until next spring for it to start all over again?

Or is there anything else to do that will help them out?

Yeah, best to let them die back on their own accord, let the rhizome draw back what it can from the leaves, etc. Then chop them back at the ground.

 

[Nevalicious]

Yeah, best to let them die back on their own accord, let the rhizome draw back what it can from the leaves, etc. Then chop them back at the ground.

Brad, I did this... They really have died right back. I mean, the plants look dead... Anyway to tell in your experience whether I may still have viable plants for next year. Check the rhizomes or root ball etc??

I sorta forgot about watering them after the harvest due to work etc etc etc. Any advice?? If you require a pic (as the bines are still in place to be chopped back this weekend), I'll try to get one tomorrow night!

Cheers

Nev

 

[HeavyNova]

Yeah, best to let them die back on their own accord, let the rhizome draw back what it can from the leaves, etc. Then chop them back at the ground.

Cheers Raven. Makes sense.

 

[MaltyHops]

G'day Nev,

These BYO articles have some notes on pre-wintering care:

Grow Your Own Hops

10 Tips for Hop Growers

T.

 

[Lecterfan]

Pretty sure I made some silly beginners mistakes (being a silly beginner)...

All the brews I've used my hops in seem to have a similar taste to them...regardless of hersbrucker, cascade or chinook. I think a couple of things may be at fault: when I did a final harvest of everything I was sick of picking them so stripped the bines bare, this means probably %10-%15 (visually) of the cones appeared to be a little immature compared to the majority. Also I had real trouble drying them out and am wondering if part of the flavour I am imparting is actually a bit of a mildewy taste?

In regards to the first part, regardless of the actual variety, do young/"
unripe" hope cones maybe throw a similar flavour?

Also, given that all three grew in the same conditions (soil, water sunlight etc), I suppose it could be reasonable that there is a regional similarity between them?

Undoubtedly it could be a combination of all these things. At this point none of the beers are bad, just they have a similar taste at a certain level...and this is disconcerting as one of these beers is my schwarz for the case swap that I've used some homegrown hersbrucker in.

Anyway, as always, experienced opinions are welcomed.

In answer to proudscum my cascade, hersbrucker and chinook all provided over 2kg WET weight of cones, so I consider that pretty good going.

 

[drsmurto]

Pretty sure I made some silly beginners mistakes (being a silly beginner)...

All the brews I've used my hops in seem to have a similar taste to them...regardless of hersbrucker, cascade or chinook. I think a couple of things may be at fault: when I did a final harvest of everything I was sick of picking them so stripped the bines bare, this means probably %10-%15 (visually) of the cones appeared to be a little immature compared to the majority. Also I had real trouble drying them out and am wondering if part of the flavour I am imparting is actually a bit of a mildewy taste?

In regards to the first part, regardless of the actual variety, do young/"
unripe" hope cones maybe throw a similar flavour?

Also, given that all three grew in the same conditions (soil, water sunlight etc), I suppose it could be reasonable that there is a regional similarity between them?

Undoubtedly it could be a combination of all these things. At this point none of the beers are bad, just they have a similar taste at a certain level...and this is disconcerting as one of these beers is my schwarz for the case swap that I've used some homegrown hersbrucker in.

Anyway, as always, experienced opinions are welcomed.

In answer to proudscum my cascade, hersbrucker and chinook all provided over 2kg WET weight of cones, so I consider that pretty good going.

You should easily be able to distinguish between hersbrucker and the c hops. I've used home grown hersbrucker before and they aren't that dissimilar to the german imported version. Chinook is very resinous and best compared to B Saaz, cascade similar to NZ cascade.

Have had a beer or 2 from brewers who picked early and used immature cones. No hop flavour/aroma was the result. In a lighter style that comes across as slightly vegetal, in a dark beer its largely hidden.

 

[Lecterfan]

You should easily be able to distinguish between hersbrucker and the c hops. I've used home grown hersbrucker before and they aren't that dissimilar to the german imported version. Chinook is very resinous and best compared to B Saaz, cascade similar to NZ cascade.

Have had a beer or 2 from brewers who picked early and used immature cones. No hop flavour/aroma was the result. In a lighter style that comes across as slightly vegetal, in a dark beer its largely hidden.

Ok - well the subtlety I am putting down to the %age of immature cones. Yes, I can easily pick the difference in the beers, I was just concerned that there was another flavour lingering in the background....

....having said that the schwarz is CC-ing and I just drew off a sample and tasted it and it's (predictably) not throwing the same flavours as it was a few days ago so maybe I am/was pre-empting this one.


Cheers, sorry to wander o/t.

 

[raven19]

Brad, I did this... They really have died right back. I mean, the plants look dead... Anyway to tell in your experience whether I may still have viable plants for next year. Check the rhizomes or root ball etc??

I sorta forgot about watering them after the harvest due to work etc etc etc. Any advice?? If you require a pic (as the bines are still in place to be chopped back this weekend), I'll try to get one tomorrow night!

Cheers

Nev

It sounds like yours are ready to chop off at the ground, cover in mulch then set and forget for 6 months.

(Mine are still green as, we move in 6 weeks so I need mine to die back soon so I can transplant them to the new house garden!) Crazy Adelaide weather!

The plants will definately be ok for next year, the rhizome just goes into a 'hibernation' of sorts over the winter months. Left in the ground with some mulch cover and they will be fine. Dr S will agree that its pretty hard to kill these weeds! B)

I don't water mine at all either, just leave them be. When I had them in pots over winter a few years ago, they were under the pergola (hence dry), I watered them maybe once in that 6 month period, and they were fine after the winter.