2011 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hops!

[booargy]

Well compared to last season's crop, I've increased my yield by 633%

You probably should grow them outside.

 

[MaltyHops]

Well compared to last season's crop, I've increased my yield by 633%

You probably should grow them outside.

Funny you should say that as I was starting to think the same thing.

 

[Adam Howard]

180g of wet Chinook. About a 5th/6th of what's left on the plant. Going to try and keep as many of the remaining flowers on the bine until next Monday. Planning a 'Gembrook Pale Ale' i.e. simple malt bill (ale malt and a bit of victory) an early bittering addition and then all homegrown hops bursted into the kettle in the last 15 mins. Will be a blend of dried and freshly picked Chinook and Cascade hops. Very excited.

 

[Fish13]

mine are giving me more shoots everyday. just no cones. will keep trying though

 

[Deebo]

If I have small hop cones that are turning brown, is it likely the sun is frying them (ie they look too small the be mature and has been pretty hot in perth the last few weeks)?
I try to water them every couple of days and add some seasol every couple of weeks.
Have noticed a number of leaves get brown spots then turn yellow and die off, not sure if this is related.

 

[felten]

I've had a few random undersize cones on my plant this year and last, they ripened but wouldn't grow any bigger, so I just picked them along with the others.

Not sure what it's down to as there are plenty of normal sized cones as well.

 

[adryargument]

Mine started to go a bit brown so i picked them before they either died or got better.
Had quite a few undersize, however i managed around:

180g Hersbucker
20g Chinook
50g Columnbus
60g Mt Hood

Note that these were dried for 5 days on flyscreen... They are lucky if they have 3-4% moisture, feel like fish food.

Lots more buds popping up on the plants, so i should have a 2nd crop in the next few weeks.

Golding's has not had one bud yet

 

[Malted]

Second and last harvest from my first year Victoria. About 500g wet weight of cones in this pic of the flyscreen.
First harvest was about 400g wet weight. Total of 900g wet weight of hops from its first season.

Edit: when ever the air is still, you can clearly smell the hops as soon as you step out the door to the backyard, particularly so in the cool morning air.

 

[hoppy2B]

Nice pic of the cones next to the ruler. Appreciate being able to gauge their size.
My Goldings cones just keep getting bigger and bigger. I'll put some pics up when I come to harvest.

 

[Superoo]

Vaccuum packed my cascade today. Heaps more aroma than last year, I left them on the bine until they were really dry, and some browning, but they smell way better.

Picked 1950 grams of wet hops, dried 4 days in the shed just on a screen door, packed 530 grams.

So ended up with about 25% of original fresh picked wet weight, enough for at least 11 brews.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[petesbrew]

Hi guys,
Got a noob hop drying question here.
As you can see above, my hop drying rack is pathetically lo-tech and completely worth laughing at, so go ahead.

I've dried a bunch out successfully (up to about 100g now), but as I was cleaning up last night, I noticed a shitload of the "yellow powder" from the dried hops had settled on my workbench (old kitchen bench). Wiping it up with a damp sponge then smelling the sponge, it was pretty obvious there was more aroma in the sponge than dried hops!

I'm thinking of putting a tray underneath, catching that powder and pour into bag with dried hops. but if anyone advises against this and has got any better suggestions short of "get a dehydrator" I'm all ears.
Cheers in advance
EDIT... pic didn't work, fixing now.

 

[hoppy2B]

Hi guys,
Got a noob hop drying question here.
As you can see above, my hop drying rack is pathetically lo-tech and completely worth laughing at, so go ahead.

I've dried a bunch out successfully (up to about 100g now), but as I was cleaning up last night, I noticed a shitload of the "yellow powder" from the dried hops had settled on my workbench (old kitchen bench). Wiping it up with a damp sponge then smelling the sponge, it was pretty obvious there was more aroma in the sponge than dried hops!

I'm thinking of putting a tray underneath, catching that powder and pour into bag with dried hops. but if anyone advises against this and has got any better suggestions short of "get a dehydrator" I'm all ears.
Cheers in advance
EDIT... pic didn't work, fixing now.

You could make a wet hop brew and not have to worry about the yellow lupulin falling out.
That powder is pretty sticky. May stick to the bag. :lol:

 

[Malted]

Hi guys,
Got a noob hop drying question here.
I noticed a shitload of the "yellow powder" from the dried hops had settled on my workbench
I'm thinking of putting a tray underneath, catching that powder and pour into bag with dried hops. but if anyone advises against this

The yellow powder is the Lupulin glandular resinous powder. When the cones are not that ripe it is a pale yellow colour, when ripe it is more of a golden or orange colour. It is why we grow and use hops. It is the stuff that has the bitterness, aroma and flavour. The green leafy bits aren't really much use to the brewer other than catching trub.
Yes by all means, capture the powder and bag it with your hops (or sprinkle a bit into a glass of beer... ), afterall it is IS the good stuff we are after.

 

[humulus]

OK i harvested about 400g of cascade some of the cones looked slightly brown/rotted at the tip on opening it there was a little weevel/grub in it!
What is the ******* and how do you manage it i had a few cones with the grubs
cheers

 

[booargy]

OK i harvested about 400g of cascade some of the cones looked slightly brown/rotted at the tip on opening it there was a little weevel/grub in it!
What is the ******* and how do you manage it i had a few cones with the grubs
cheers

Stop having cones with them and they may not hang around.

 

[petesbrew]

The yellow powder is the Lupulin glandular resinous powder. When the cones are not that ripe it is a pale yellow colour, when ripe it is more of a golden or orange colour. It is why we grow and use hops. It is the stuff that has the bitterness, aroma and flavour. The green leafy bits aren't really much use to the brewer other than catching trub.
Yes by all means, capture the powder and bag it with your hops (or sprinkle a bit into a glass of beer... ), afterall it is IS the good stuff we are after.

Yeah it was tempting to dip the sponge in a schooner. it smelt delicious.
Thanks for the simple answer, malted.

 

[Malted]

Yeah it was tempting to dip the sponge in a schooner. it smelt delicious.
Thanks for the simple answer, malted.

Take a few hop cones and bung them in a glass of Oettinger pils or such, dunk them around a bit and wring them out. A lot of the yellow goodness will get into your beer. It doesn't really dissolve much and you will see it floating about. Some folks say to not leave the hop cones in the glass for too long as it will make it grassy, I haven't had that problem myself.
Glass hopping is just another way to enjoy your hops and maybe get an idea of the flavour contribution they make. 3-4 cones will make quite a difference. Do it for shits and giggles.

 

[Wolfy]

The yellow powder is the Lupulin glandular resinous powder. When the cones are not that ripe it is a pale yellow colour, when ripe it is more of a golden or orange colour. It is why we grow and use hops. It is the stuff that has the bitterness, aroma and flavour.

According to the hopunion-variety-databook.pdf (Which I presume I downloaded from their website) the colour and quantity of Lupulin is dependent on the hop variety.

Glass hopping is just another way to enjoy your hops and maybe get an idea of the flavour contribution they make. 3-4 cones will make quite a difference. Do it for shits and giggles.

Some beer-gardens, pubs and micro's have hops growing for ornamental-type-purposes, glass-hopping is also a way to 'improve' on one of the beers that you think might need a bit more hoppy-goodness.

 

[Malted]

According to the hopunion-variety-databook.pdf (Which I presume I downloaded from their website) the colour and quantity of Lupulin is dependent on the hop variety.

Dang, it appears you can't download it anymore. The current variety book on their webpage does not mention lupulin colour. It mentions total yield and total oils.

 

[Wolfy]

Lets see if this upload-thing works (this is the copy I have):

(right click, save as works best)

View attachment hopunion_variety_databook.pdf