Hop Harvest 2010

[bosium]

I decided to cut down my 2x Saaz and my 1x Willamette plants today. Got a surprising amount considering it's my first year of growing, and in pots no less. Once dried, I think I will have enough Saaz for a 20L batch of pilsner (I may combine this with the Mt Hood), and enough Willamette for a small batch of ale (may combine this with the Cascade).

From left to right: Willamette, Cascade, Saaz, Saaz, Mt Hood. I will harvest the Mt Hood next weekend, and the Cascade in a few weeks with any luck (the cones are still quite small).



Saaz


Cascade


Mt Hood


My harvesting sack - a cardboard box in a shopping bag. I looped one handle around my neck so I could just drop hops into it while picking.


Box 'o Saaz


Saaz harvest from two plants - this worked out to be 420g after removing some stems and leaves.



Willamette harvest

[leedsbrew]

Wicked that matey!

[adm]

Nice!

Must grow some hops myself......do you know what the best time of year to get them started is?

[bosium]

Must grow some hops myself......do you know what the best time of year to get them started is?

I planted mine in May from already-sprouted cuttings, but ideally you should plant from rhizome just after the last frost. I probably would have had a much bigger harvest if I'd started a month or two earlier.

Not like it saves any money, but it's really cool to harvest, cure and use your own hops in your own beer!

[adm]

I might give it a go next year.....I've been thinking about it not just for the hops, but to provide some cover over the patio by having them grow along strings like you've done in your pic.

[bosium]

I might give it a go next year.....I've been thinking about it not just for the hops, but to provide some cover over the patio by having them grow along strings like you've done in your pic.

Yeah it's really rewarding - nothing like sitting on a deck chair under the shade of your hop bines, sipping a homebrewed pint

[bosium]

After five days of drying on newspaper in my spare upstairs room, the hops were bone dry and all of the wildlife had pushed off. I packed them into food-saver ziplock bags and pushed as much air out as possible, then sucked the rest out using a straw before sealing the packets. I put both packets into one of those clip-lock tupperware thingies with the gasket in them and popped in the freezer until I'm ready to brew with them.





There was a ton of yellow lupulin on the newspaper afterwards, and my hands were really greasy from the hop oils. The Saaz smelled just like a chewy pineapple-flavoured sweet, with some definite hints of chronic cannabis (or so I'm told). The Willamette smelled more piney, and actually not as fragrant as the Saaz.

The bags themselves weighed 7g each, so I ended up with 92g of Saaz and 26g of Willamette. I can't wait to brew with them! I have some Magnum for clean bittering, so I'll definitely be able to make a 5-gallon batch of Bo Pils with my homegrown Saaz. Not quite sure what to do with my Willamette yet, maybe a bitter?

I still have Mt Hood and Cascade to harvest in a few weeks' time. The Mt Hood is the most beautiful hop plant I have - really dark green leaves with purple stems and big cones. I'm hoping to make some sort of German lager with it. I'll probably just make a Cascadey pale ale with my Cascade to really showcase the flavour. I have a Hallertau and a Sterling too, but these were serious underachievers and I'll probably get maybe one handful of each. Maybe they'll do better next year.

I'm simply amazed at how much I've been able to harvest from my first year plants, and in pots too.
Who says you don't get many cones in your first year??

[bosium]

Added another 29g dried of Mount Hood to my stash last night. I'm going to make a German-style lager with them, hopefully it turns out OK. Now it's just the Cascade to go, will hopefully try get them in tomorrow evening

[leedsbrew]

looking very nice matey!

[WishboneBrewery]

The Strings leading to the house look good I half-planned that this year but the hops are pot-bound and struggled, so didn't climb as far as the hooks I bolted into the house.
Hopefully next year

[Stomach]

Hi

That is fantastic!! where do you buy the plants from to get going?

Many thanks

Matt

[Ben Cutlet]

I'm sick with jealousy. I live in North Essex (distinct from the Gorblimey youtube clip).and I'd love a hop garden even a bit like the one in the pics. Can anyone help with plants please??? By the way, Maldon is within hop scrumping distance of here-so keep your eyes peeled.

[Beeru]

My 2 ( 1,5 year, old finnish drain ) yield about 100g / plant ( 40% moisture when measured ) in one of espoo´s island near Helsinki. I harvested late in october when there was first night frosts all ready. Winter came this year early. The cones where still small in early october. The plant should start to yield well after 3 years of growing. To grow in Finland problem is lot of light and not much night in the summer at all ( they stay in wegetative period not growing cones ). Change of night frost in autumn.

Some what i have learned this far. To start. Real large hole for plant in good spot and soil. In the beginning not too much fertilizer, so roots can grow first. Simple system plants to grow so easy to harvest, even little by little picking up.

I have some seller links from UK, US and DE who sell to EU.

[bosium]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I got my hops from various places:

Johnnybeer (forum member) gave me the Saaz,
Fatcontro11er (forum member) sold me the Cascade,
Awalker (also essex forum member) sold me the Hallertau,
and I bought the other three american varieties from a lady on ebay.
I know aplus hops also sell rhizomes and whole plants online.

Generally you can expect to pay £10-£15 for a plant, which you could buy a lot of dried hops for but I guess most people grow them because it's fun, they're beautiful plants and it's really cool to make beer with your own hops