Hop Growing 2013

[DC]

Hi Seymour, it wasn't till after I posted the pics that I noticed the hops that have grown the most are actually the challenger hops and not the Cascade hops ! As for the redness you mentioned in your post, I have checked both the challenger & cascade and both lots of bines are red for at least 2 or 3 inches at the bottom, the Fuggles mean while are green all the way from bottom to top ! I am assuming its hop plant specific ? Hopefully one of our resident hop experts can shed some light on this ?

Just having the first Chimenea night of the year ( hops in the background)



Cheers DC

[Eadweard]

As for the redness you mentioned in your post, I have checked both the challenger & cascade and both lots of bines are red for at least 2 or 3 inches at the bottom, the Fuggles mean while are green all the way from bottom to top ! I am assuming its hop plant specific ? Hopefully one of our resident hop experts can shed some light on this ?

Yes, bine colour is variety specific. Challenger have red bines, Fuggles green, though with red leaf stalks, particularly on the upper side.

[StuAlban]

Hello all, thought I'd jump onto this thread with a photo of my Prima Donna (First Gold) which was planted in February this year. Got the rhizome from Essentially Hops and I'm pleased that eventually it has shown some life. Being new to hop growing I'm just hoping it doesn't take over the whole garden!

[Bobba]

I don't want to play the gooseberry but if I can butt in on this thread my Mathon has now emerged, though as it's in Surrey I've decided it can now revert to being a Farnham Whitebine:

Very much enjoyed reading your blog Ed regarding the Farnham whitebine. Very interesting stuff! I've planted 2x mathons as it happens this year, and am very happy to find out its link with Farnham, as I'm from that area originally but only more recently found out the scale of hop farming in the region. I'm renaming mine too (despite being in Cambridge!)

[DaveJNeal]

Are there any guides to identifying hops please ? I've got some lovely hops obtained semi wild, very vigorous, which kinda makes me think they're cross bred of 100% not a names type. I'm hoping tho that they're usable escapees from the hop market that used to run up this way - apparently Essex hops were considered to be the best in the country, but that 'fact' did come from the village web site so ....

thanks in advance

D

[scuppeteer]

Are there any guides to identifying hops please ? I've got some lovely hops obtained semi wild, very vigorous, which kinda makes me think they're cross bred of 100% not a names type. I'm hoping tho that they're usable escapees from the hop market that used to run up this way - apparently Essex hops were considered to be the best in the country, but that 'fact' did come from the village web site so ....

thanks in advance

D

Hi Dave,

Unfortunately you cannot assume a wild hop is of any particular parentage unless you have it analysed. If you are sure of a particular variety grown close by to where you have found these hops you can guess, but that is all. A green or green/reddish bine will suggest an aroma style and a red should be a higher alpha type.
If the aroma is good when dried then use them, if you get any hint of garlic then don't bother. I found a wild one last autumn, it smelled great so dumped in a single hop brew and the result is like a supercharged Bramling X, absolutely full of blackcurrant flavours, quite unique I think. So much so I took a cutting last month which is now growing very nicely.
As for Essex hops being the "best" in the country, I think you will find many counties took that crown at some point, depending on what variety was grown at the time. Obviously Essex ones were the best and that's why you won't find a single hop garden in Essex now!
Best way to try your hops is in a smash, I always brew mine to the same grist schedule, gravity, bitterness ratio, yeast and 100g of hops. That way I find I get a true comparison to all the different hops varieties I have tried.
Hope this helps.

Cheers

[Eadweard]

Very much enjoyed reading your blog Ed regarding the Farnham whitebine. Very interesting stuff! I've planted 2x mathons as it happens this year, and am very happy to find out its link with Farnham, as I'm from that area originally but only more recently found out the scale of hop farming in the region. I'm renaming mine too (despite being in Cambridge!)

Excellent, glad to hear there' are Farnham whitebines in Cambridge too!

[Naich]

I'm pleased to say I can now post in this thread, having sorted out a new plant from Willingham Nurseries. It arrived in great shape and I put up its climbing frame this afternoon.





That's not a fish eye lens - the wall curves like that Fingers crossed I don't kill this one.

[seymour]

...That's not a fish eye lens - the wall curves like that

Do you live in the moat of a castle or something?

[Bobba]

Stepped up my hop growing this year:
2x cascade (1st year)
2x mathon aka Farnham whitebine (1st year)
2x northdown (1st year)
1x first gold (3rd year, but dug it up and moved it each year so far)

Here's the first gold, planted separately from the rest of the hops, along a fence. Being a dwarf variety, I'm not planning on doing anything other than string some twine along the fence. I've had this one for 3 years. The first year it was on a pot in scotland, which it didn't like very much. Last summer it produced 100g dried hops in the ground in my previous house in Cambridge. I dug it up over the winter and planted it up a few weeks ago. Doing pretty well. Chopped down around 10 other sprouts yesterday, leaving 4 or so plus a patch of others near the fence post. Going to let it grow a bit before selecting the eventual 4 sprouts.


As for the new ones, I've put some large posts (3metre, with now 7'10" remaining above ground) in the ground...


an unexpected visitor before concreting the posts in (done worry, safely relocated


still early days, looking a bit worse for wear after planting up from pots:


I've got 9 posts, arranged in 3 triangles, one for each variety (5feet between them to avoid tangling, hops spreading, room to pick etc.). Per triangle, I've planted 2 plants, so only 2 of the 3 posts have a plant next to it. One of the hops I'll grow to the full height, and have it run two bines in each direction around twine running around the top height of the triangle. The other hops will have two bines running a little lower than the other hop at ~6feet. The circumference of each triangle is around thirty-odd feet, so probably not this year, but I'd expect them to get the full way round quite easily by year 2.


I've got some good quality coconut twine, and also so galvenised steel wire. Still in two minds as to whether to go for the wire, which I should be able to get nice and taught without too much effort, and will stay there over multiple seasons; or go for the proper coconut twine, which I'll cut down at the end of the season. The wire seems easier in the long run, except if it's too tricky to get the plant off it when I got to pull it all down in the autumn. Any thoughts?

[Cazamodo]

Somethings eating my growing tips.

Ive been training the largest bine along my trellis and now two of my three hop plants have had the growing tip taken off! Not happy!

[barneey]

Here is progress on mine, just reached the eaves, so decided to use the gutter brackets to string the support wire.

[Naich]

Somethings eating my growing tips.

Ive been training the largest bine along my trellis and now two of my three hop plants have had the growing tip taken off! Not happy!

I found that snails had a real taste for my last Cascade plant last year. I was growing it up a fence, so they climbed up that and hopped off onto the plant for a nibble. Little bastards. This time I'm growing them away from the wall so the snails can't get them.

[Bobba]

Somethings eating my growing tips.

Ive been training the largest bine along my trellis and now two of my three hop plants have had the growing tip taken off! Not happy!

Could be birds. Any sign of the leaves being munched or is it just the tip's missing?

[scuppeteer]

2x mathon aka Farnham whitebine (1st year)

Think you'll find that's a Canterbury Whitebine!

Good job on the garden, a little short for most of your varieties but the First Gold will love it. The steel wire across the tops will be your best option, then you can string from each plant to the wires and cut down each Autumn, much easier.