2011 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hops!

[almopec]

Hi All,
Here's one of my three hop vines so far (haven't taken any pics of the others but will do).
Anyhow its a one year old Mt Hood, growing in about 40L of soil as we rent, but I pile on the chook poo. I've trained it up the downpipe upto the roof line (maybe 6m) and am also training horizontally. Its also starting to produce cones.

 

[felten]

Harvested once last month, but now there's some new shoots coming up that are finally throwing out laterals with more spurs on them.

The first bines didn't put out any laterals at all, which is weird because that's the first thing they did last year.

 

[adryargument]

Mine are starting to 'pop' from little starbursts into hops.

Im guessing that theres at least 500-1000 flowers / burrs at this point in time. Hopefully a decent crop.
Pumpkins going absolutely nuts, and the bloody tree on the left is pulling the vines down, Front row is starting to drag.

The Lot:


Chinook:


Columbus:


Hersbucker:

 

[Fents]

my hops have actually come back to life after the xmas day hailstorm in melb, so have the veggies.

even got cones starting to form. only going to get maybe 50G from each plant, no where near the KG's i got last year but still they have come back to life after being put through a shredder! (golf ball size hail)

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

Hoppawatti is going well in it's second year, all from a modest cutting last year... Flowers have started to form now too!! :beerbang:

 

[Malted]

Hoppawatti is going well in it's second year,

Best not bend over in front of it!

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

Best not bend over in front of it!

Awesome aroma with unexpected penetration!!!

 

[chefeffect]

Cascade first, followed by Hallertau, Perle, and Saaz on end.

This is a better one of the Saaz

They are all first year my Goldings rotted and the Perle and Mt hood don't seem to be taking off they are a bit stagnant, just had some really humid days and they look like they are ready to start climbing. They are all in the same type of soil with heaps of rotted manure, compost, and blood and bone. Does anyone know if Mt Hood and Perle take time to grow?

The Saaz is going really well which surprised me I had heard they are harder to grow.

 

[glennheinzel]

I've just ordered some Bramling Cross rhizomes from my local hop supplier so I can't wait to grow my own again. I was considering Goldings given that I live in Kent, however I don't live in East Kent so that just wouldn't be right.

 

[waggastew]

First round harvest kicked off today. Only the POR (1st Year) and Chinook (2 x 2nd year) are ready. The Super Alpha and Saaz are not far away, the Goldings are still setting burrs. I use a 'flag pole' system so I can pick over a couple of weeks.

Ended up getting 350g wet Chinook and 120g wet POR. I find they usually lose about 3/4 of their weight when dry which works out to be 85g of Chinook and 20g of POR. There is plenty more to come off both plants so I will get a brew out of each of these varieties for sure.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Mmm. Almost ready to pick

 

[booargy]

mine are coming along nicely. all first year
Saaz

Hersbrucker or Hallertau not sure

 

[Malted]

mine are coming along nicely. all first year
Saaz
View attachment 51776

Nah not big enough yet

 

[hoppy2B]

My first year Saaz has 11 bines. They're 4 metres long. Would have gone 10 metres easy if I had the structure to support it.
Wind did a lot of damage knocking the bines together. I have recently spread the bines out as much as possible. Should produce a fair yield. I have a few cones coming on similar to the ones displayed several posts earlier today.
I'm not sure if Saaz cones will grow as large as some other varieties Malted. :mellow:

 

[BjornJ]

nothing like what you guys are showing off, I know.

but still very happy my first hop plant is growing in the pot on the balcony, and now even has a couple of tiny hop flowers!!

I was quite pleased when I saw these last night

 

[Yob]

I was quite pleased when I saw these last night

awwwwww

like me you will get enough to jam into a glass and have a few fresh glasses!! Least thats what I plan on doing with them...

No photo's yet but my Cascade has a few flowers as well so I should get some POR, Chinook and Cascade flowers.

:beer:

 

[almopec]

mine are coming along nicely. all first year
Saaz
View attachment 51776
Hersbrucker or Hallertau not sure
View attachment 51777

I have a quick question as I too have a saaz and hersbrucker (my saaz hops aint quite as big as in the pic, but my hersbrucker are slightly bigger, maybe 3cm long).
My question is when is the right time to pick them? As I picked what I thought was a bigger hersbrucker hop on the weekend and it just smelt like grass.

I know it will vary from place to place and year to year, but is there a general rule of thumb to use?
Most of the hop cones still have the little stringy bits attached to them if that helps anyone...

Cheers
Al

 

[hoppy2B]

I have a quick question as I too have a saaz and hersbrucker (my saaz hops aint quite as big as in the pic, but my hersbrucker are slightly bigger, maybe 3cm long).
My question is when is the right time to pick them? As I picked what I thought was a bigger hersbrucker hop on the weekend and it just smelt like grass.

I know it will vary from place to place and year to year, but is there a general rule of thumb to use?
Most of the hop cones still have the little stringy bits attached to them if that helps anyone...

Cheers
Al

Dude I'm a first year hop grower and I have no idea either.

Best bet is to keep checking them and feeling them. Cut the occasional one open and have a good look for lupulin. If you brush the cones backward and all the petals fall off they're well and truly cooked. After a while a quick look and feel should be enough to tell if they're ready.
At least that's what I'm planning to do.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

Dude I'm a first year hop grower and I have no idea either.

Best bet is to keep checking them and feeling them. Cut the occasional one open and have a good look for lupulin. If you brush the cones backward and all the petals fall off they're well and truly cooked. After a while a quick look and feel should be enough to tell if they're ready.
At least that's what I'm planning to do.

you two need to revise the last 40 pages, it's all in there.... h34r:

 

[Yob]

From what I understand it's when the edges of the cones feel dry and papery, the leaves will start to turn brown.