2011 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hops!

[proudscum]

a few of the many hersbrucker flowers.getting close to having a first pick.i did cut some escapee bine off that had gone over the fence and 20ft up the neighbours silver berch.got maybe 300grams

 

[kelbygreen]

I like POR and hve never brewed with it fresh from my hops. But I am not a big fan of chinook , I dont mind it but I will skip past it if I have a chance lol So growing it is a bit silly I guess but you grab what you can when It comes available and people say hops taste different from every plant so will have to see I might like it lol. If not I can dig it up and give it away to locals as I wouldnt bother with stuffing around with packaging then and all.

 

[Stinger]

I have noticed through this thread that alot of people heap **** on POR but love to grow them and use them.

Am i missing something? are they a clean bittering hop? Do they have a better aroma fresh then the hop bags you get at the LHBS?

Pride of Ringwood are bred in Australia for Aussie conditions and are likely to grow better than other varieties bred in other countries.

I have Cascade, Chinook and Saaz and you can really see the difference in the way they grow. the Cascade crank compared to the other two.
The Saaz starts to grow and flowers a lot later than the Cascade and Chinook do which could be explained by the Saaz coming from Europe and being bred for a longer season than we get in Oz.

 

[felten]

Here's my ratty looky plant, harvested the first lot back in dec (~140g) and those bines have lost their leaves and are dying off. Picked a 2nd lot about ~140g wet again this week from some new bines that came up after the first harvest.
And there's still a few bines there that came up late with hops on them. Bit of a PITA but what can you do.

Only the 2nd harvest had laterals with multiple hops growing on them. The others just had single hop cones on either side of the main bine, where the laterals should have been. :|

 

[kelbygreen]

well I bagged my first harvest 41g POR and 12g chinook. Not a big harvest but cant tell that anything has been taken off the plant.

 

[Pennywise]

Bugger, this is my third season with my Chinook and got nothing. Might have to move it to an in ground situation

 

[Yob]

First year chinook (in the ground) is producing far more than a second year bine (background lower right) still in a pot... all will go into the ground next year h34r:

@ DocS - Cheers mate, going to be a bangin year next season I hope/suspect :beer:

Yob

 

[Tony]

I just picked about 50 Goldings cones this morning, they spent the day in the dehydrator, and just dropped them in a keg and racked 50 liters of IPA onto them

I could smell them when i closed the keg up and they smelt GREAT

Mo pics sorry but i couldnt help using fresh hops like that, picked and dry hopped 6 hrs later

 

[Doubleplugga]

first year cascades, going to do my second harvest today. 128grams wet off the first pick

alot more this time around

 

[DJR]

Hoping i get some more, have about 10-20 cones maturing on the hersbrucker, none yet on the cascade. Had pretty marginal weather lately.

Whatever I do get will go straight in a hoprocket batch

 

[matho]

did yours survive the hail storm mate, mine are shredded, doesn't matter they weren't doing well anyway

 

[cam89brewer]

I used to like going on this thread when mine were growing but now that every one else's are flowering and mine are it is kind of depressing

 

[DJR]

did yours survive the hail storm mate, mine are shredded, doesn't matter they weren't doing well anyway

When was that? I'm away for the weekend so if it was today I might be well outta luck

 

[matho]

When was that? I'm away for the weekend so if it was today I might be well outta luck

yeah mate it was huge we still have hail on the ground and the roof now and it was at about 2pm this arvo. Lots of rain too our roof started to leak and water was pissing in through the light fittings in the kitchen.

 

[DJR]

yeah mate it was huge we still have hail on the ground and the roof now and it was at about 2pm this arvo. Lots of rain too our roof started to leak and water was pissing in through the light fittings in the kitchen.

Gee, will have to see what's happened, insurance company might be getting a ring!

 

[bruce86]

Hey guys i had a look into having a crack at growing hops a while back (just research) and i spoke to a person at a brew shop who said that perth and north of it which is where i live doesn't really work for growing them. He said i could get a plant to grow but the they wont have the right oils or something. Does this sound right i kinda just threw the idea in the bin after that untill i saw this post.
I live in Geraldton which is 28 46' 0" S / 114 36' 0" E. i have read that they have trouble growing in certain lats but as i can see by Cats75 post he has had some luck.

 

[Doubleplugga]

yeah i guess i have had some luck mate, but that may also come down to the fact that the wife is a real green thumb. beneath the surface of my vines there is plenty of mulch and worm juice from the compost bins and i have no doubt this has helped greatly. I live at edgewater and the soil is not too bad in the yard either compared to the sandy soil found mostly around perth. they say Albany is the right Lat and Long to grow hops, something to do with the length of the day, sun time etc. but mate i reckon give it a go at least, you never know until you do. they seem to be coping quite well considering the heat and wind we have had this summer. I will be doing another harvest today and it looks like quite a good yield for first year plants.

 

[bruce86]

yeah i guess i have had some luck mate, but that may also come down to the fact that the wife is a real green thumb. beneath the surface of my vines there is plenty of mulch and worm juice from the compost bins and i have no doubt this has helped greatly. I live at edgewater and the soil is not too bad in the yard either compared to the sandy soil found mostly around perth. they say Albany is the right Lat and Long to grow hops, something to do with the length of the day, sun time etc. but mate i reckon give it a go at least, you never know until you do. they seem to be coping quite well considering the heat and wind we have had this summer. I will be doing another harvest today and it looks like quite a good yield for first year plants.

cool i might have another look into it. Thanks mate

 

[kalbarluke]

Bruce, people also said hop plants don't (or won't) grow in SE QLD, but they do. People have grown them in Bundaberg. I don't really see why Geraldton would be that much different.

Have a go and if they fail then they fail. But you never know your luck and your home brew will thank you for it if you are successful..

 

[hoppy2B]

Hey guys i had a look into having a crack at growing hops a while back (just research) and i spoke to a person at a brew shop who said that perth and north of it which is where i live doesn't really work for growing them. He said i could get a plant to grow but the they wont have the right oils or something. Does this sound right i kinda just threw the idea in the bin after that untill i saw this post.
I live in Geraldton which is 28 46' 0" S / 114 36' 0" E. i have read that they have trouble growing in certain lats but as i can see by Cats75 post he has had some luck.

The reference to oils is probably a suggestion that you won't get good flavour from your hops, however soil is likely to have the greatest influence on the quality of hops you grow.
East Kent Goldings are grown on chalk based soil which would be highly alkaline. I have highly alkaline soil on my place and everything I grow comes out tasting nice and sweet.
Probably a good idea to put in as many varieties as you can and see which you like the best.