Hop Growing 2013

[far9410]

My crop is looking about ready, so hoping to do this on sunday, cant calculate the alpha or the dried weight of hops, so using magnum to get me somewhere near the target ibu, then all the green hops in late on, straight from the plant!


Green Hop

Date:

Gyle Number:

Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 9 lbs. 11.1 oz 4400 grams 89.80%
Torrefied Wheat 4 EBC 0 lbs. 7.0 oz 200 grams 4.10%
Oat Flakes 2.5 EBC 0 lbs. 3.5 oz 100 grams 2.00%
Crystal Malt 130 EBC 0 lbs. 7.0 oz 200 grams 4.10%


Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio
magnum Whole 13.50% 45 mins 0 lbs. 0.9 oz 25 grams 17%
Northdown Whole 8.30% 5 mins 0 lbs. 2.1 oz 60 grams 41.40%
Northdown Whole 8.30% 0 mins 0 lbs. 2.1 oz 60 grams 41.40%


Final Volume: 2300% Litres
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.011
Alcohol Content: 4.80% ABV
Total Liquor: 33.2 Litres
Mash Liquor: 12.3 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 42.05108775 EBU
Colour: 16 EBC

[far9410]

My crop is looking about ready, so hoping to do this on sunday, cant calculate the alpha or the dried weight of hops, so using magnum to get me somewhere near the target ibu, then all the green hops in late on, straight from the plant!


Green Hop

Date:

Gyle Number:

Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 9 lbs. 11.1 oz 4400 grams 89.80%
Torrefied Wheat 4 EBC 0 lbs. 7.0 oz 200 grams 4.10%
Oat Flakes 2.5 EBC 0 lbs. 3.5 oz 100 grams 2.00%
Crystal Malt 130 EBC 0 lbs. 7.0 oz 200 grams 4.10%


Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio
magnum Whole 13.50% 45 mins 0 lbs. 0.9 oz 25 grams 17%
Northdown Whole 8.30% 5 mins 0 lbs. 2.1 oz 60 grams 41.40%
Northdown Whole 8.30% 0 mins 0 lbs. 2.1 oz 60 grams 41.40%


Final Volume: 2300% Litres
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.011
Alcohol Content: 4.80% ABV
Total Liquor: 33.2 Litres
Mash Liquor: 12.3 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 42.05108775 EBU
Colour: 16 EBC

[Padalac]

Early morning should be fine. The night before, I'd make sure they aren't wet with dew or rain and store them between sheets of newspaper to keep them dry. By the way, glad the hops were a success. Nice to see the babies growing up so fast!

cheers for the tips! yea the hops were a real delight in the garden this year, even if none of my other plants seem to want to flower.. will be a shame to see them go in a way, but I am pretty damn excited about brewing with them no doubt about that!

[fego]

First pick of this year's crop. East Kent Goldings grown in North Kent and smelling lovely, toasted with 'Rainy Regatta', a Pale Ale I made in Cornwall a couple of weeks ago.



I'm drying these out to see if I can learn more about harvesting times (because it's probably a bit early yet) but will be harvesting the rest of the hops hopefully next week and brewing with some of them straight from the bine in a green hop bitter. I'll also be vac pack and freezing some green to brew exactly the same beer to learn what affect freezing has on them. I've also grown some Target that will need harvesting too.

[WishboneBrewery]

they look great

[Bobba]

How are you folk drying your hops out after picking?
Last year I put them in the airing cupboard, which worked great, but I've moved since and will have to cobble something together this year.
Was hoping to do a green beer this year, but the 4 varieties look to be all ripening at different times so I'll at the very least have to dry out the Northdown and First Gold

[Blackaddler]

If you can get hold of some mushroom trays, you can line them each with a sheet of opened out newspaper, spread out a layer of hops, close the newspaper over them, and then stack them up. Preferably somewhere darkish with plenty of air. Allow 7-10 days for drying.

Farm shops, greengrocers etc should let you have some trays, if you ask nicely.

[fego]

I stack mine two or three high on a tray and put in the airing cupboard. Those that can't fit in the cupboard get laid out on the dining room table on newspaper. I leave the window open a bit and create a flow of air. I then mix the airing cupboard ones up with the table ones and replace/swap them around to speed up the process. I swap them/turn them over twice a day and after two or three days when they are paper dry and crunchy but still green, I squash them in freezer bags, crush them under weight and then suck the air out and seal the bag (see below).

When I've written a label, they go straight in the freezer....



This bag contains at least a thousand flowers I reckon. Before they went in the bag, they completely covered an eight seater table. It's amazing how much you can squash into just one bag.

[Twistedfinger]

Anyone up north picking yet? Think mine need three more weeks

Mine are still some way off. I checked today and there is some yellow but no stickyness or much aroma. We could do with some more Sun but its forcaste cold and rainy

[greenxpaddy]

Anyone up north picking yet? Think mine need three more weeks

Mine are still some way off. I checked today and there is some yellow but no stickyness or much aroma. We could do with some more Sun but its forcaste cold and rainy

Yep mine still look a little small to be honest

[WishboneBrewery]

Mine have a bit more of the yellow stuff but still look a bit too green and fresh.

[jmc]

Anyone up north picking yet? Think mine need three more weeks

Mine are still some way off. I checked today and there is some yellow but no stickyness or much aroma. We could do with some more Sun but its forcaste cold and rainy

I'm just a bit north of fego (in Beds) but mine are still not ready and of course now very wet.

[SiHoltye]

I noticed on the beer legends website they give harvest times early/medium/late on each variety page. So I'm resting a little easier that my Challenger are still on the plant. I may have always harvested them a little early.

[seymour]

I noticed on the beer legends website they give harvest times early/medium/late on each variety page. So I'm resting a little easier that my Challenger are still on the plant. I may have always harvested them a little early.

I agree that is a cool sight for broadly summarized data, but beware trusting it as an end-all-be-all reference. For instance, all the actual UK and US grower data I've seen for Wye Challenger states "Medium to Medium-Late" maturity, not simply "Late" as Beer Legends state.

That's a minor quibble, though. And so much depends on regional and seasonal variations, that info is largely useless. We're still early in harvest season right now, and as you said, there's absolutely no reason for concern regarding the ripening of your own Challenger hops. And who am I to talk? My Challenger plant hasn't even flowered (yet?) this year!

[SiHoltye]

They are ready when they are ready. My freezer drawers say there is no rush

I watched a harvest program over here tonight that said because of conditions 2 popular crops actually under performed below 2012 standards due to the cold winter/spring and dry summer. That's a lack of homegrown wheat and oil seed rape for us UK boys What some farmers did however is when the crops looked unviable or impossible to get in the ground in time instead opted for ugly stubborn old predictable BARLEY. Wheat and rape are down 15-20% nationally on 2012 (and that summer was rubbish - technically all that rain was still summer) but barley this year is expected to be 25% UP.
So my natural conclusion living in this market led economy as we do is that we can all expect 20% off our malt prices for the next year