2013 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hop Garden!

[BlueMutt]

First year Victoria and Chinook are performing well, also billeted some Cascade off to a few friends to grow on larger properties in the ground on an exchange beer for lots of hops program.

 

[JB]

Some of my Cascade fatties

 

[JB]

Some of my Cascade fatties

Sheesh, my hand looks deformed in this pic :blink: it's the angle ... I'm not deformed, I just checked :huh:

 

[philmud]

My chinook are just about ready to go

 

[sp0rk]

I've heard a few people mention not getting any cones on their first year Hallertauer.

Mt Hood is a better option. It is an American hop bred from Hallertauer to be higher yielding.

Cascade is one of the better craft type hops to go for if you want a yield first year. There are a few good ones.

Yeah, I might seek out another chinook from Dr Smurto if he's selling and a couple of Cascade rhizomes next year (I use a whole lot of cascade)

 

[timmi9191]

My first year smurto chinooks are booming!!

Once harvested, what's everyone's preferred drying technique?

 

[carniebrew]

I was planning on laying them out on an old screen door in my garage, up off the ground. Turning them occasionally. I'm hearing "a couple of days" of this should do it, but the info on the interwebs is pretty bloody varied in this regard....here's one:
http://www.northwesthops.com/Harvest_and_Drying_Hops_s/14.htm

 

[carniebrew]

Actually this is an interesting read: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/drying_hops_on_a_small_scale

It suggest that hops can dry out to around 25% of their original weight when picked...which gives me an idea....

1. Lay all my hops out on my screen in the garage
2. Measure out a ~100 gram sample of those hops onto my scales, and put the sample back on the screen, separated from the other hops.
3. After a couple of days, weigh the sample hops again to see how much they've dried (e.g. the 100 grams should be getting down towards 25 grams)
4. Repeat step 3 every few hours, and when the weight has stopped dropping, assume they're as dry as they need to be...bag, label & vac seal them.

Thoughts?

 

[brewtas]

I dried mine with a food dehydrator.

 

[hoppy2B]

Actually this is an interesting read: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/drying_hops_on_a_small_scale

It suggest that hops can dry out to around 25% of their original weight when picked...which gives me an idea....

1. Lay all my hops out on my screen in the garage
2. Measure out a ~100 gram sample of those hops onto my scales, and put the sample back on the screen, separated from the other hops.
3. After a couple of days, weigh the sample hops again to see how much they've dried (e.g. the 100 grams should be getting down towards 25 grams)
4. Repeat step 3 every few hours, and when the weight has stopped dropping, assume they're as dry as they need to be...bag, label & vac seal them.

Thoughts?

A screen door works well as long as you don't put them too thick. No more than about 2 inches depth seems ok.

I wouldn't bother turning them as it will likely just cause the lupulin to drop out of the cones, with some varieties more prone than others e.g. Golding. But it does pay to check if they are drying properly all the way through.

You should be able to feel when they are fairly dry, and anyway different varieties tend to dry down to different weights.

 

[Weizguy]

I cut down my Chinook about a week ago. Dried and bagged, but not weighed. I have a large zip-lock bag full. Maybe 200g...

Hoping for the same from the Mt Hood and the Hallertauer and the Perle. Maybe a ounce from the Cascade, and the Hersbrucker produced no no flowers yet, but a nice ground cover. Photos to come.

 

[Danwood]

Here's a sample of my Cascade...they're huge! Almost fist sized !

And my fox jumper is pretty spesh also...

 

[hoppy2B]

I won't argue with you Danwood as I have some pretty nice Cascade cones coming along also, but I must mention that your hand is looking a bit fat and puffy. You might want to get a professional to check it out. :huh:

 

[SmallFry]

Here's a sample of my Cascade...they're huge! Almost fist sized !

And my fox jumper is pretty spesh also...

Also, looks like you've never done a hard days manual labour in your life...

 

[Danwood]

I'm actually very sensitive about my fat hands and wrists...'sniff'.

My wardrobe is killer though, so I'll get over it.

 

[pilgrimspiss]

First 3 vines picked, dried and bagged. Cluster, hersbrucker and flinders. They all pumped for 1st years. Flinders did really well. Beautiful 'Piney citrus' aroma. See how it goes for bittering. Bagged hops, Mrs screwin around with her 'hop antellers, and me loving the hops!!

 

[Dan Pratt]

First year harvest.....lol. Not really going to get much but it was fun picking them and smelling them fresh of the bine.

Cascade, only half a bowl.



East Kent Goldings, full bowl.



The home made drying screen.

 

[Danwood]

Look forward to next season, Pratty. If your Cascade is like mine, your harvest will be 3-4 times the size.

 

[Yob]

First fresh hops in a glass, Chinook, picked the other day and left to dry so as to minimise grassiness...

Delightful

 

[unclebarrel]

Oh yeah man.
thats rad.