2011 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hops!

[Judanero]

This is the Chinook, when I moved the wine barrel is fell over and lost a fair bit of soil, not sure if it stunted but really hasn't had a lot of growth.

Cascade

 

[Judanero]

Fuggles


Goldings

 

[Adam Howard]

Went on a road trip to Brisbane, came back and the Cascade had gone NUTS. No burrs at all when I left.
Whole top half is covered in this density, stoked, looks like they'll all come on around the same time for harvesting.

Chinook doing nicely too. Thrown a bunch more laterals lower down and plenty of burrs turning into full cones.

 

[hoppy2B]

Thanks for that Yob. Your Tettnang looks just like mine with small dark leaves. :blink:

 

[Yob]

It happened to the fella I got mine off too... guessing that it's not uncommon.

:icon_cheers:

 

[insane_rosenberg]

I have done an ale with only using Perle. It was a lovely beer, I still have two stubbies left that I can't bring myself to finish becuse then I wont have any left.

Might have to brew it again.

Thanks Mate,

Glad to hear it can be done (and taste good). Depending on the size of the harvest for the first year Perle, I might have to ask you for some recipe tips.

 

[crazyhorse]

Couple of pics of my first year Chinook.

Just playing the waiting game now so that I can get them into a brew, no vacuum seal here so they will have to go straight in after harvest!

 

[Shed101]

no vacuum seal here so they will have to go straight in after harvest!

Seems a bit OTT - hops have been around a lot longer than vacuum sealers, surely if you store them dry and cool they'll last.
I've read of ten year old hops doing a pretty good job of bittering.

 

[crazyhorse]

Seems a bit OTT - hops have been around a lot longer than vacuum sealers, surely if you store them dry and cool they'll last.
I've read of ten year old hops doing a pretty good job of bittering.

Probably true but given the likely volume of the harvest I think it would be easiest for me to just to wet hop the next brew.

 

[Adam Howard]

Once I've picked and dried mine I put them in a freezer bag, then squish as much air out with both hands while someone else seals it. Got 50g of Chinook from last year in the freezer with plenty of aroma left in them. Probably use them for bittering this year and use fresher stuff for later additions.

 

[ledgenko]

I have been waiting patiently .. watching all your pics of your little babies ... dreaming of a possible bud popping up on my 1st year Cascade ... Well .. here she is !!!

And a pic of the vine .... where she lives with 13 of her brothers and sisters


Hopefully there is a massive family reunion soon and little bursts of green pop up everywhere ... but happy just getting one flower this year.. next year hopefully a heap more .... and SWMBO / Commander Sector West has given the OK for a few more plants to cover Pergola ...

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Getting jealous of all your amazing hops. My first years have come out pretty woeful after starting so well.

Pretty sure my main issue is some sort of fungus - no doubt thanks to Canberra's wet, mild summer.

It's pretty much right through:



and gets kinda bad:



I have pretty much resigned myself to let it go for this year - let them establish themselves underground and give them some more care next year. I'd normally put sulphur on my roses in the winter to try and keep black spot down - I think I'll give that a go this year - any reason not to? Anything else to suggest?

At least I am getting some flowers (these are my cascades):



...but they're ripening in such a way that I only get a couple at a time. Oh well.

Now next question - take a look at these Chinooks - the end flowers are browning off before the closer ones and before they fully grow. Could this be because the win barrel is too small for that length of bine? Or something else?

 

[kymba]

was tidying up the hop planters on the weekend and found that the goldings want to go another round

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

I'm getting the same from my cascade Kymba. I haven't finished the third harvest off it yet and I'm getting a lot of new bines coming up. Still nice long days of sunshine so fingers crossed.

 

[hoppy2B]

Getting jealous of all your amazing hops. My first years have come out pretty woeful after starting so well.

Pretty sure my main issue is some sort of fungus - no doubt thanks to Canberra's wet, mild summer.

It's pretty much right through:

View attachment 52057

and gets kinda bad:

View attachment 52058

I have pretty much resigned myself to let it go for this year - let them establish themselves underground and give them some more care next year. I'd normally put sulphur on my roses in the winter to try and keep black spot down - I think I'll give that a go this year - any reason not to? Anything else to suggest?

At least I am getting some flowers (these are my cascades):

View attachment 52060

...but they're ripening in such a way that I only get a couple at a time. Oh well.

Now next question - take a look at these Chinooks - the end flowers are browning off before the closer ones and before they fully grow. Could this be because the win barrel is too small for that length of bine? Or something else?

View attachment 52061

I think you have nutrient deficiency. You may also need to increase watering during hot dry spells.
I don't recommend using sulfur. Alkaline soil produces sweet crops. East Kent soil is made up of chalk.

 

[jyo]

I have been waiting patiently .. watching all your pics of your little babies ... dreaming of a possible bud popping up on my 1st year Cascade ... Well .. here she is !!!

And a pic of the vine .... where she lives with 13 of her brothers and sisters


Hopefully there is a massive family reunion soon and little bursts of green pop up everywhere ... but happy just getting one flower this year.. next year hopefully a heap more .... and SWMBO / Commander Sector West has given the OK for a few more plants to cover Pergola ...

Matt! I'm finally a grandad :lol:

 

[Tony]

Here is my POR as of yesterday:

This is about 1/100th of whats growing on it...... its going to be a bumper season.

I picked some that were ripe and feeling papery

And the new vacuum sealer works a treat. Will keep my fresh hops fresh.

 

[kymba]

Duke of Paddy - how good is it - free hops! just hope they don't get too wet...fkn damp here currently

Mr No-Tip. - as suggested, they might need some more water and maybe even give it some seaweed solution...i remember all of mine looking brown and sickly like that after i transplanted them, back when it was bone dry...i upped the water and they came good

Tony - Nice! how old are your plants?

 

[Tony]

Tony - Nice! how old are your plants?

Thats a 2nd year PoR, but it put out for me last year too..... only this year its better by about 50%

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Mr No-Tip. - as suggested, they might need some more water and maybe even give it some seaweed solution...i remember all of mine looking brown and sickly like that after i transplanted them, back when it was bone dry...i upped the water and they came good

I think you have nutrient deficiency. You may also need to increase watering during hot dry spells.
I don't recommend using sulfur. Alkaline soil produces sweet crops. East Kent soil is made up of chalk.

Thanks for the advice guys. I topped up with blood and bone and manure before xmas and took advice on this thread to go easy on it. Always fortnightly with the seasol though, hence why I thought fungus rather than any deficiency. Maybe some trace elements would be the go.

Perhaps the drainage is a bit efficient in the wine barrels - I am watering them frequently but a lot seems to pass through...

 

[oaf]

Growing hops is the best, man!
These are my second year hops. Mt. Hood on the left and Saaz on the right:



I gave up trying to stop the Mt.Hood from growing into the Saaz... Also gave up trying to keep bines to 4 on each rhizome...
I read somewhere I should've separated the climbing strings by minimum 600mm - failed there too!
Oh well... gotta leave some room for improvement.



It's awesome seeing all the hop addicts progress out there. You guys rock! It inspired me to be more creative next season. Think I'll get another trampoline frame and give the plants a trellis each...hmmmm.

I'll be on cloud nine when I'm sitting back and sucking down some home-hopped Pilsners, Lagers 'n Wheats's.

Mt. Hood's the one with advanced flowers, but the Saaz has many a buddling now coming along.

The Saaz wasn't given a trellis the first year - too lazy But it did take over about two sq metres of garden. It must've done the rhizome wonders as the main two bines were at least 1/4 inch thick and healthy as!!

The Mt. Hood produced flowers the first year, but amatuer me didn't pick them on time, so wasted the smallish crop.

I'm onto it this year though! Even invested in a vac-sealer for optimum freshness all year round - I only brew about a case a week now. Hopefully I won't need to buy hops this year, but have no idea how far the flowers go, so don't know yet...

Cheers and cheers! Love the topic! Time for a beer... Byee

 

[Philthy79]

Matt! I'm finally a grandad :lol:

Indeed!

Here's some more of yours

 

[keifer33]

Is there any drama with vac packing the hops without them being dried prior? I only got a very small harvest this year and cant use them right now so was just going to vac pack and use them later and cant be bothered drying like 20 cones.

 

[hoppy2B]

Is there any drama with vac packing the hops without them being dried prior? I only got a very small harvest this year and cant use them right now so was just going to vac pack and use them later and cant be bothered drying like 20 cones.

You should be ok if you are planning to freeze them. They don't freeze them commercially, they store them in the fridge so they need to be dried.

 

[DJR]

Jealous. My 1st year Hersbruck (thanks matho) is growing well but it's only just got burrs - we have had a run of about 2 weeks of miserable weather so it hasn't gone to cones yet.

Cascade has grown well but no burrs, Saaz didn't really grow that well, Perle never came out of the ground and neither did my Goldings. All just 1st year though , hopefully it'll be a better run next year. Even if i get 50g i'll be happy though

 

[Yob]

Is there any drama with vac packing the hops without them being dried prior? I only got a very small harvest this year and cant use them right now so was just going to vac pack and use them later and cant be bothered drying like 20 cones.

Personally, I would dry them, sealing wet hops camt be good for them

 

[hoppy2B]

Is there any drama with vac packing the hops without them being dried prior? I only got a very small harvest this year and cant use them right now so was just going to vac pack and use them later and cant be bothered drying like 20 cones.

Try it and let us know how you go. :blink:

 

[jyo]

Indeed!

Here's some more of yours

Good work, Phil, I forgot about those!

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

Try it and let us know how you go. :blink:

I've done half dry and half wet so far. All frozen after vac seal. I'll report back.

 

[kelbygreen]

how long do they take to dry??? I would say alot of mine are ready to pick (will have a look if it ever stops raining) but only being home 4 days a fortnight is a bit hard. Plus this wet weather wont make it easy to dry them, I got a electric fan heater I guess I could use but need a cupboard or something to put them in as wont be any good in my shed that has holes you can walk threw in every side lol