2012 Hop Plantations

[capsicum]

Hey gang,

I've read all the info but just want to make sure - do you think these bad boys are ready to be plucked from the bine? There's still a bit of moisture in there but they're pretty aromatic. It's a cascade and there seems to be a bit of variation in maturity of the cones.

What's the harm in leaving them to dry on the bine rather than on flywire etc? I just don't want to pull them off too soon.

Pretty happy with the first year's yield though!

 

[drsmurto]

Picture below shows the difference between hops that are ready to pick and ones that aren't.

On the left is Victoria, on the right is Chinook.

You can see how the chinook is more 'open' and the lupilin a darker yellow. It is ready to be picked. The Victoria needs another week or 2.

If you pick too early you will get lacklustre aroma. The squeeze test to see if they are papery is good but it does help to open a few up and see what they look and smell like.

 

[Wakt]

I'm also getting ready to harvest and finding it a little tricky to tell if they are ripe for the picking yet.
Your example should make it much easier now DrSmurto.
Thanks for posting.

Here is how mine are looking at the moment:



Hopefully one more week and they should be done. Fingers crossed.

 

[hoppy2B]

What variety are yours Wakt? They look a bit small and unripe.
Capsicum's above, (the browning ones) are well and truly ripe and should be picked straight away. Just as or slightly before they start turning brown like that is a good time to get them.
Smurto's example above is quite interesting. I was thining of asking the Doc what date he normally picks them on. Some of my Victory are starting to get a slight golden glow to them. Not quite ready yet but need to be watched in this hot weather as it can bring them on pretty quick.

 

[Wakt]

What variety are yours Wakt? They look a bit small and unripe.

Well that's an interesting question. It's either a POR or a Tettnang that I got off someone on the forum here a few years ago.
I originally ordered 2 x POR and 2 x Tettnang rhizomes and passed them on to my Mum in the country to plant in pots with instructions to label them clearly.
Unfortunately the labeling was done using a black permanent marker on a black pot which seemed fine at the time, until the sun hit the writing and within a week faded away. I now use aluminum labels cut out of old cans after I learnt my lesson the hard way.

Eventually they were planted out late in the season that year as it took me a while to design and build my over engineered Hop trellis ( I wanted it to last many years). They barely got up the vine that year which I expected from first year rhizomes.

Second year they started off well, but disaster struck when we had continuous rain for over a month during summer and 2 of the 4 rotted away.
So I'm left with 2 with plans to get more at the end of this season (Looking for Cascade and Saaz)

The photos were taken at the lower parts of the bine to try to get a decent shot and seem to be the smaller of the cones on the plant.
Higher up the Bine are larger plump Hop cones.

On a side note: To try and help me hopefully determine the variety, I have started making a tea using one hop cone in a shot glass chopped up.
I half fill the shot glass with boiling water and let sit for 5 mins. I then taste the tea every 5 mins to see how bitter/aromatic it is.
It's not very scientific but it has lend me to believe the plant I have been testing is most likely POR (Tea is super bitter after 10 mins and little Aroma).

My other plant is doing ok but didn't feel like climbing much this year for a total height about 1.5 meter. I have a total of 4 Hop cones on that plant
Atleast it should be enough for another Tea test. :beerbang:

 

[hoppy2B]

Looks like you're right Wakt, I expect its a POR.
My tett grows well in spring and then dies off over summer and starts growing around this time of year again. I'm pretty sure its an issue they have with day length. They're growing in the Adelaide hills region.
What part of the country are you in?

 

[punkin]

Results are in and suffice to say... I will NEVER freeze hop flowers wet again.

Thanks for suggesting it Yob and i'm glad i did it for myself.

The second keg with fresh green cascade is absolutely beautiful and tastes like good cascade after 1 day. Looking forward to trying it tommorow, and may try some of the ones i have drying in the shed in on top of the frozen hop keg in a day or two when they are completely dry. Maybe it will improve it a bit.




BloodyBeautifulPunkin

 

[Wakt]

Looks like you're right Wakt, I expect its a POR.
What part of the country are you in?

I'm up in the Northern Tablelands of NSW. About 30 degrees Latitude.

 

[Yob]

My tett grows well in spring and then dies off over summer and starts growing around this time of year again. I'm pretty sure its an issue they have with day length.

pretty typical behaviour for Dwarf plants you have there

 

[hoppy2B]

pretty typical behaviour for Dwarf plants you have there

Not as far as I'm aware its not. I'd be surprised if you don't have the same problem with your Fuggles.

 

[hoppy2B]

Results are in and suffice to say... I will NEVER freeze hop flowers wet again.

Thanks for suggesting it Yob and i'm glad i did it for myself.

The second keg with fresh green cascade is absolutely beautiful and tastes like good cascade after 1 day. Looking forward to trying it tommorow, and may try some of the ones i have drying in the shed in on top of the frozen hop keg in a day or two when they are completely dry. Maybe it will improve it a bit.




BloodyBeautifulPunkin

I've never used wet frozen hops for dry hopping. They seem alright in the kettle though. At the moment I have a bit of a no dry hopping policy as I think I get better results using hops late in the boil.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

pretty typical behaviour for Dwarf plants you have there

I had heard that some dwarf hops have full size flowers....

 

[Camo6]

Big hops, big flowers. Little hops, ALL flowers!

 

[hoppy2B]

Victoria hops, 2 first year plants.


Nice cones.

 

[KingKong]

About what time of year do hop bines start popping up for sale / distribution ?

 

[Camo6]

Victoria nearing harvest 16 February 2013 007.jpg
Victoria hops, 2 first year plants.

Victoria nearing harvest 16 February 2013 008.jpg
Nice cones.

Nice formations Hoppy2b, did you limit the amount of bines on first year plants or just let em go?

 

[punkin]

About what time of year do hop bines start popping up for sale / distribution ?

You want to concentrate more on what time of year you can plant. I bought two rhizomes in the colder months, wrapped in damp newspaper in the crisper. By the time the last frost was over, one looked like it was never going to fire and one looked ok, but never fired. Bought one Cascade rhizome (and received three thank you very much) planted them straight away and all three are going well.

Moral of the story for me, is that buying when you are ready to plant is the best bet.


Hoppy, i could smell the off smells when i opened the frozen package. It smelt like lawn clippings. I won't say what you should or shouldn't do, but i won't be freezing them green regardless of my intended use. Especially when drying them is as easy as putting them on a screen in the shed for a couple of days.

 

[chefeffect]

These are my first year Clusters on left, picked 180 gm wet last week and another 230 gm today. Cascade on right, and Perle in front. Still got a heap of clusters, and my Chinook should be ready next week.



This is the Cluster:

 

[hoppy2B]

Nice formations Hoppy2b, did you limit the amount of bines on first year plants or just let em go?

I let them go. One plant has 9 strings and the other 10. A number of strings have a couple of bines on them.
Victoria has a very efficient growth pattern. It only put up the number of bines you can see in the photo. My other varieties seem to keep putting up more and more bines through the season. Victoria bines grow very strong and thick and they have excellent climbing ability, being able to get up bamboo poles where other varieties struggle. As far as I'm aware Victoria is the highest yielding variety available to home growers. Has a nice peach aroma.

 

[raven19]

My single Victoria produced around 500gm dry weight hops this year from 4 bines to a height of arod 5-6m. Hoping for more next year now the rhizome has had 6months in the ground since being moved.

+1 on an excellent yielding variety.