Hop Growing 2014

[Padalac]

so it turned out to be columbus??

[YeastWhisperer]

Columbus, Tomahawk, and Zeus are sold as a family here in the US. The closest match is Zeus. Zeus is notorious for becoming sexually confused.

[killer]

How much does it cost to get multiple analyses like that done over there ? GC and UV/Vis spectrophotometry* over here is not cheap. I know you are involved in hop cultivation but I didn't know if you were hardcore enthusiast or actually worked in the industry.

* Edit spelling

[YeastWhisperer]

Alpha Analytics charges $100.00US for their full hop profile package (https://www.alphaanalyticstesting.com/h ... e-package/). The service is targeted at hop growers and craft breweries. I am merely a hardcore enthusiast. I consider myself to be more of an amateur brewing scientist than an amateur brewer these days. I have been brewing all-grain beer and culturing yeast for over two decades.

[snakepie@hotmail.com]

Perle, cascade and northern brewer hop harvest 2014.




Have left the northern brewer on as these seem to be taking a little longer to mature, but cascade and perle are on the stackable oast i made from ply and metal mesh. A pic of some of them below:


Gareth

[keith1664]

I harvested my Cascade yesterday afternoon and this morning... Yes it took that long!







Plus another 1.5kg in a green hopped beer I made today makes 5.8 kg off one plant!

[hophit]

I harvested my Cascade yesterday afternoon and this morning... Yes it took that long!

I have soem cascade but not sure how to tell if they're ready to harvest. I picked one and rubbed it - didn't seem to have many aromoatics - so assumed it wasn't reeady - that right?

[keith1664]

If they feel papery, crunch when squashed, fall apart when handled and a few are starting to go brown at the edges then they 're ready.

[YeastWhisperer]

I harvested my Cascade yesterday afternoon and this morning... Yes it took that long!

<images snipped>

Plus another 1.5kg in a green hopped beer I made today makes 5.8 kg off one plant!

Are you sure that your plant is Cascade? The cones are the wrong shape. Cascade is one of the most frequently mispropagated American cultivars. There are at least four different cultivars named Cascade in the United States, only which of which is true Cascade.

[keith1664]

I harvested my Cascade yesterday afternoon and this morning... Yes it took that long!

<images snipped>

Plus another 1.5kg in a green hopped beer I made today makes 5.8 kg off one plant!

Are you sure that your plant is Cascade? The cones are the wrong shape. Cascade is one of the most frequently mispropagated American cultivars. There are at least four different cultivars named Cascade in the United States, only which of which is true Cascade.

Well it came from a reputable company and that's what it was described as.

[kebabman]

I was dubious of people saying that you need five times the weight of wet hops to dried, it seemed to me to be such a huge drop if the hops had been harvested when starting to feel a bit papery. I have just weighed some hops that seem dry and they are only just under half the weight that they were when wet. Dividing the wet weight by 2.08 gives the dried weight. It is entirely possible that I haven't dried them enough but they look and feel like you get from a home brew supplier so I think this 5:1 ratio is misinformation repeated by people who haven't tested it out for themselves.
I will vac pac them and then see if they go mouldy or not.
Has anyone else done this wet/dry weight comparison please.

[keith1664]

I was dubious of people saying that you need five times the weight of wet hops to dried, it seemed to me to be such a huge drop if the hops had been harvested when starting to feel a bit papery. I have just weighed some hops that seem dry and they are only just under half the weight that they were when wet. Dividing the wet weight by 2.08 gives the dried weight. It is entirely possible that I haven't dried them enough but they look and feel like you get from a home brew supplier so I think this 5:1 ratio is misinformation repeated by people who haven't tested it out for themselves.
I will vac pac them and then see if they go mouldy or not.
Has anyone else done this wet/dry weight comparison please.

I picked 5.8kg and used 1.5 wet, the remainder I dried and vac packed. I have 9 packets of 100g and one of 130g so roughly 4:1 in my case.

[hophit]

I was dubious of people saying that you need five times the weight of wet hops to dried, it seemed to me to be such a huge drop if the hops had been harvested when starting to feel a bit papery. I have just weighed some hops that seem dry and they are only just under half the weight that they were when wet. Dividing the wet weight by 2.08 gives the dried weight. It is entirely possible that I haven't dried them enough but they look and feel like you get from a home brew supplier so I think this 5:1 ratio is misinformation repeated by people who haven't tested it out for themselves.
I will vac pac them and then see if they go mouldy or not.
Has anyone else done this wet/dry weight comparison please.

Five times the amount does seem quite high doesn't it? I wonder if rather than vacuum packing them now you leave them a couple more days and see if they lose any more weight? That way you'll know if they are fully dry or not. Would be interested to hear your result (ratio wise) as I intend doing a 'wet' hopped beer; I haven't picked mine yet as they don't seem quite ready (not very aromatic and they are Cascade!).

[kebabman]

Keith, many thanks for your ratio info.
Hophit, yes good suggestion, I was wondering about leaving a smallish amount to keep drying, I will do it as I still have my drying frame set up.

[kebabman]

I have done some research and from the US site HomeBrewTalk several people say this " I dry mine until the strig (stem inside the cone) snaps when bent."
I cannot snap the strig as it is still too pliable. So it looks like that the bracts maybe dry but the strig isn't so I have recommenced drying.
The trouble is the aroma of hops in the drying area has now largely gone but the hops did feel sticky when packing them. I still have my Cascades to harvest and for the maximum aroma I intend to brew with them wet. These Yeoman hops that I am trying to dry are extra to what I have done a brew with so no great loss if they lose aroma and I throw them out.