Hop Growing 2016

[scuppeteer]

Sounds like I need to order some UK-grown Bullion and see for myself in a homebrew.

Do you have HB suppliers in the US then? Its like rocking horse poo here!

I'd definitely be able to get you some at harvest time but not before.

[barneey]

Barneey and Scupps, I stand corrected. The Bullion hopped brews I best remember are Schlafly Hop Trial, Schlafly Dry Hopped Farmhouse Ale, Schlafly IPA, all of which contained USA grown Bullion as you predicted. Those were good but not great, the hop character too coarse and weedy for me. I've also tasted Bullion in numerous Avery brews, St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, Summit Saga IPA, and old Guinness, all of which I enjoyed more, so perhaps those featured UK grown Bullion? Sounds like I need to order some UK-grown Bullion and see for myself in a homebrew.

Cheers!
-Seymour

Good luck on that Scups wont even tell me where he got them, a pair of pliers was required to prise his fingers from the 100g he gave me

Anyway if you want a true hop experience http://abushelofhops.co.uk/ have a look how they dry them.

[seymour]

Sounds like I need to order some UK-grown Bullion and see for myself in a homebrew.

Do you have HB suppliers in the US then? Its like rocking horse poo here!

Probably not, then. I hadn't even looked, but if there are only two growers, and you know them both, and they are so rare...I'll take your word for it.

I'd definitely be able to get you some at harvest time but not before.

I'll take you up on that! Put me down for a bit of Bullion Rocking Horse Poo, please.

[hazelbrew]

My First Gold from about 10 days ago. I have put the supports up now. need another pic

[hazelbrew]

First Gold - picture taken today




sunny spot with three supports.

[Monkeybrew]

Nice one HB, they certainly grow fast once they break ground.

Cheers

MB

[seymour]

Looks like more First Gold being grown than any other variety. I don't remember that being the case in past years.

Maybe we should plan a JBK Homegrown Hop Group Brew Day for the upcoming autumn? We could brainstorm a basic grainbill to emphasize hops, complete with some basic instructions pertaining to brewing with green hops, or how to dry your own harvest, etc...

[BenB]

I think some info re using them would be great. I've got some year 2 plants which hopefully this year will be productive.

2* Fuggles
2* EKG
1* Styrian Goldings

These were the ones I left (bare rooted) stuck in a carrier bag under my bed for five months before "re-discovering" them last year and planting them up. The only loss was 1 Styrian Goldings which isn't such a shame as I tend to use EKG and Fuggles more! I reckon it would have been okay but I wasn't expecting them to grow so stuck 3 plants in each pot (I only had two pots) and one of the SGs was a late starter and was rather in the shadows of one of the EKGs which went bonkers. This year I've potted them into individual 40cm pots with some proper compost.

Still trying to work out how / where I'm going to train them if they go for it this year- last year they only grew max 12 foot (probably due to the late start)....

[seymour]

Good morning, Miss Cobb, sorry to wake you so abruptly. I know you've come a long way from East Kent, but I think you're going to like it here in America.

[Tony1951]

Wow that is great Seymour. Good to see it looking so strong. May it prosper and bear you many great hops and fine brews. Great to see that.

The weather here is abominable. I was working with a farmer pal of mine today lambing sheep out in mid Northumberland. It was like February. The land is at about 1200 feet above see level, the temperature was around 1C and we had strong wind and driving sleet all day. We lost two lambs from cold and wet. We skinned them and put the skins on two orphan lambs and got the bereaved mothers to take the orphans on... It worked, but I am not happy that more more lambs may be lost tonight. I can't recall a recent end of April with this kind of weather for so long a period. We are quite far north at 55N, but this is dire. I put some plastic over my three hops which have sprouted the other night as I am not sure if they can take frost. It wasn't very cold - about zero centigrade - the sleet melts pretty quick, but I'd hate to lose them. Here's hoping we will get an improvement soon. I'll be up there lambing again on Wednesday... I'm retired by the way so that explains why I can go about doing stuff like this instead of earning a regular living.

Cheers

Tony

[seymour]

Tony, you're blowing my mind.

Meanwhile, my Northern Brewer hops are off to a good start too.

[windrider]

It’s warming up down in Devon and the First Gold has got going.

[Hanglow]

I meant to order a Northdown from Willingham nurseries but I ballsed up and got a hallertau .

No idea if it'll grow ok here in glasgow, I know some fuggles are grown down the clyde valley that have ended up in a commercial beer beer before although I understand hallertau are a bit more picky. Anyway, it will go in a very large pot in my allotment assuming I don't kill it in the next couple o f weeks

[robbarwell]

My Chinook has broken ground, must be nearly 10 shoots coming up. Looks mighty compared to its first year last year

That's great news! Here's hoping for a big crop. You got some good Chinook IPA recipes lined up for the fall?

It's growing like a train..last year the growth was really weak but this year is a different story..It's in a very sunny spot

[robbarwell]

Love Chinook in sub 5%abv hop forward pales