Growing rhizomes for beer money

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Does anyone grow a small amount of hops in their backyard and harvest the rhizomes each year to sell for a bit of beer money? Got a decent amount of garden with a basic irrigation system in place already. When I moved in the gardens were pretty badly overgrown so I have slowly ripped most of it out and mulched to keep the weeds away. Been thinking of something I could grow to make a bit of extra pocket money for awhile now, so what about rhizomes? They seem to always be in demand by home brewers anyway. Cheers

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Don't think you would make much money from that enterprise, the demand isn't there for a start. Could think of other crops you could do a lot better with.

 

[Mardoo]

If you have popular varieties you can do OK. From my only experience selling rhizomes I'd say $500-$1000 is reasonable yearly, possibly a bit more if you really go for it. You'll need to know how to propagate rhizome from bines if you're looking for annual income. Annually digging up a crown will hamper growth significantly from what I've seen.

You may wish to PM Dr. Smurto and Hoppy2B. They've both sold rhizomes annually for the past few years and might be willing to give you tips.

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Yeah I'm not wanting anything over the top, few popular varieties along the back fence, keep the bines well trimmed and easily manageable. Just something I could sell to make a bit of money to pay for a few brews and a bit of new gear here and there. Got the added bonus of a fresh hopped beer each year too. Cheers

 

[Mardoo]

My top four hops for both production level, popularity, and vigorous growth in OZ are Cascade, Chinook, Victoria and Mt. Hood. Mt. Hood isn't as known here as the other three, but it does really well here and has great flavour. Those are the four I would grow. Cluster also does well here, I just don't happen to like it as much.

 

[barls]

I've done 3 variety this year and only made about 200 bucks. i didn't go crazy trimming though.

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Thanks Mardoo, that was going to be my next question.

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

I've done 3 variety this year and only made about 200 bucks. i didn't go crazy trimming though.

How many plants was that from barls?

 

[barls]

3 plants and about 20ish rhizomes.

 

[tugger]

I must say barls was very generous in the size of what he was selling as a rhizome.

 

[barls]

I must say barls was very generous in the size of what he was selling as a rhizome.

yeah i could of cut them smaller but it would of been more work for me also it helped that i didn't trim them last year.
also i only took from the edges of my plants.

 

[Yob]

Didn't hoppy rage quit after the great vinegar debacle of 2016?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

He did take offence, I was going to say something about cutting up mushrooms and placing them around his hops in the belief he could grow mushrooms, but I didn't want to douse his belief.

 

[Vini2ton]

How far north can you successfully grow hops? I would of thought that fungal diseases would **** them over without drenching them with chemical?

 

[drsmurto]

Does anyone grow a small amount of hops in their backyard and harvest the rhizomes each year to sell for a bit of beer money? Got a decent amount of garden with a basic irrigation system in place already. When I moved in the gardens were pretty badly overgrown so I have slowly ripped most of it out and mulched to keep the weeds away. Been thinking of something I could grow to make a bit of extra pocket money for awhile now, so what about rhizomes? They seem to always be in demand by home brewers anyway. Cheers

I've been selling rhizomes for several years. It will take a few years of growth, depending on climate, soil, water etc. but once established it's not hard to pull up the runners and divide them up. Like Barls, I would rather provide a good sized, viable rhizome with as many nodes as possible. As such, I only cut them small enough to fit in to a freezer bag with some damp coir. I could cut most rhizomes in halves or thirds and they'd still grow.

When i first started selling rhizomes they were being sold on ebay by 1 seller, 1 rhizome per variety at a time for upwards of $100/rhizome. Now there are many sellers and many varieties to choose from not too mention the many generous brewers who give away a few rhizomes for free or a beer. There are plenty still for sale on ebay.

Bank on $10-15/rhizome. I figure that is a fair price given the effort that goes into the process.