Hop picking

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Jules T

Hop picking

Post by Jules T » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:38 pm

Hi all,

Planted my first hops back in Feb this year and forgot all about them.

I came back from being on holiday for a few weeks to be faced with what looks like a cracking crop (thought it wasn't meant to crop well in the first year?) but don't really know how to tell when they are ready to harvest?

Comments welcome

J




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Rookie
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Re: Hop picking

Post by Rookie » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:52 pm

They should feel fairly dry, like paper, and should have a nice smell to them.
I'm just here for the beer.

Jules T

Re: Hop picking

Post by Jules T » Sun Aug 28, 2016 10:27 pm

Rookie wrote:They should feel fairly dry, like paper, and should have a nice smell to them.
what happens when the weather breaks in the next few weeks and it gets damp? Will they still dry like this or rot?


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Re: Hop picking

Post by Rookie » Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:09 pm

Jules T wrote:
Rookie wrote:They should feel fairly dry, like paper, and should have a nice smell to them.
what happens when the weather breaks in the next few weeks and it gets damp? Will they still dry like this or rot?


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You need to wait for the next dry day or two. I had to wait a couple of days before harvesting some of mine when it was raining and they dried back out.
I'm just here for the beer.

Fil
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Re: Hop picking

Post by Fil » Tue Aug 30, 2016 1:01 am

they shouldnt rot, just check em daily,, and if you get a real down pour give the vine a wee shake to aid it drying out when the weather breaks again ;)
ist update for months n months..
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Jules T

Re: Hop picking

Post by Jules T » Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:49 pm

Well, I think the hops are ready for picking and drying.

A couple of questions;

I was intending to cut off 'clusters' of hops rather than pick the individual cones so how much of the plant can i cut back without doing it any harm? think i saw somewhere that they can be cut down to a foot or so above the ground?

I'm intending to dry them in a pillow case in my workshop with a desk fan underneath, not sure if this will work but thought i'd give it a go, how do i know when they are dried enough?

Thanks in advance

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Rogermort
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Re: Hop picking

Post by Rogermort » Tue Sep 13, 2016 8:30 pm

Picked mine for the first time this evening. Cascade and Northern Brewer. The latter are huge, probably because I cut back to just three bines early, had five growing from the Cascade and I think the many, many small flowers had been competing too hard.
I cut the bines off two feet above the ground and then dropped down the whole plant to pick them.
Laid the entire bine across the daughter's old trampoline and chopped it into small sections to pick the flowers section by section. Both harvests (probably around five or six litres each) now drying in mesh bags in the garage.


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scuppeteer
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Re: Hop picking

Post by scuppeteer » Wed Sep 14, 2016 12:44 am

Pick each cone individually. Do not take short cuts. Trying to dry them in a pillow case will allow them to generate their own heat and those in the middle will rot. Movement of air is key to drying effectively. Something like a large roasting tin with cooling racks will help, the thinner you can spread them out the better. If they are laid thick rotate them once or twice a day, you will feel the heat from those on the bottom if there is insufficient air. But remember to protect from any breeze as they will blow away when dry.
Weigh your hops when you pick them, they will be about 1/4 of the weight when fully dry.
They can be picked wet, they'll just take longer to dry.
Dave Berry


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BenB

Re: Hop picking

Post by BenB » Wed Sep 14, 2016 11:10 am

Sadly picking my hops is not going to take long- I had five plants in my garden. Four of which got completely mullered by wilt. I had 2 fuggles, 2 Styrian Goldings and 1 EKG. Only the EKG produced any hops at all- but only about 30 cones! The other plants are still alive but don't look very healthy. I might just plant them out in some guerrilla hop planting at work on our chain-link fence, see if they are any happier there....They should have been happy at home- south facing wall, nice vertical string to climb up. They climbed well but then immediately got walloped by wilt :(.

Jules T

Re: Hop picking

Post by Jules T » Wed Sep 14, 2016 1:41 pm

scuppeteer wrote:Pick each cone individually. Do not take short cuts. Trying to dry them in a pillow case will allow them to generate their own heat and those in the middle will rot. Movement of air is key to drying effectively. Something like a large roasting tin with cooling racks will help, the thinner you can spread them out the better. If they are laid thick rotate them once or twice a day, you will feel the heat from those on the bottom if there is insufficient air. But remember to protect from any breeze as they will blow away when dry.
Weigh your hops when you pick them, they will be about 1/4 of the weight when fully dry.
They can be picked wet, they'll just take longer to dry.
if i lay them out in a single layer do you think id need to introducing something to circulate the air?

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Re: Hop picking

Post by Hogarth » Wed Sep 14, 2016 8:02 pm

Jules T wrote:
scuppeteer wrote:Pick each cone individually. Do not take short cuts. Trying to dry them in a pillow case will allow them to generate their own heat and those in the middle will rot. Movement of air is key to drying effectively. Something like a large roasting tin with cooling racks will help, the thinner you can spread them out the better. If they are laid thick rotate them once or twice a day, you will feel the heat from those on the bottom if there is insufficient air. But remember to protect from any breeze as they will blow away when dry.
Weigh your hops when you pick them, they will be about 1/4 of the weight when fully dry.
They can be picked wet, they'll just take longer to dry.
if i lay them out in a single layer do you think id need to introducing something to circulate the air?
I don't. I just lay them on newspaper in the airing cupboard with the door closed. Three or four days later ... perfect dried hops!

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Re: Hop picking

Post by Hanglow » Wed Sep 14, 2016 8:53 pm

I think that's what I'll do. As long as the temperature doesn't rise above 40c or so it should be good. I'm quite impressed with the amount I seem to have got from my first year, pot grown hallertau mittelfruh up here in glagow. Hopefully the bugger wont' die over winter :)

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Re: Hop picking

Post by Rookie » Wed Sep 14, 2016 10:15 pm

Jules T wrote: I was intending to cut off 'clusters' of hops rather than pick the individual cones so how much of the plant can i cut back without doing it any harm? think i saw somewhere that they can be cut down to a foot or so above the ground?
Harvest them individually and don't cut the bines back until they are all dried out and brown. The plant will continue to produce "food" for the hops and if the bines are left until they dry up all that stuff will make it's way back down to the roots and give next year's crop a good head start. I did that last year and got a way better crop this year: almost more than I can use.
I'm just here for the beer.

Jules T

Re: Hop picking

Post by Jules T » Wed Sep 14, 2016 10:33 pm

IMG_3921.JPG
Well, picked about half the hops (individually) and now drying in my workshop with a desk fan gently moving the air


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Bobba
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Re: Hop picking

Post by Bobba » Sun Sep 18, 2016 10:13 am

That's a pretty nifty hop drying rack. Any idea where to source something like that?

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FV: -
Conditioning: AG34 Randy's Three Nipple Tripel 9.2%, AG39 APA for a mate's wedding
On bottle: AG32 Homegrown Northdown ESB, AG33 Homegrown Cascade Best
On tap: -
Garden: 2x cascade, 2x Farnham whitebine (mathon), 2x northdown, 1x first gold

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