Hop growing for 2007

[Chiltern Brewer]

Id be interested to hear how it all goes, ive planted some maryinka hop seeds just, and although it may be a bit late for anything either this year or even surviving i thought it a worth while experiment.

Sorry Chris, from what I understand seedlings won't come up as true to the mother plant. Still, you never know you might come up with something interesting...

I plan to grow next year with the aim to get some for dry hopping/small amounts so any info would be looked forward to.
Chris

My plants took a few years to establish before I got a decent crop - literally just a few hops as I recall in the first year. Any way I'll try to publish something on hops before next year... you'll learn lots from just reading this thread in the mean time. Buying a few hop plants wouldn't cost the earth and you'll save that money in long run - it's not too late for this year especially with all this wet weather we're having. Don't leave it much longer though.

I'm also trying to propagate my hops this year. I have this daft idea of trading them for other varieties grown by JHBF members.

[Belto]

CB...How will you propogate them
Will it be by the serpentine method

[tribs]

My Prima Donna (First Gold) Dwarf hop plant courtesy of Beer Essentials planted late last spring has a couple of bines that are currently 7ft long!!

[bitter_dave]

My Prima Donna (First Gold) Dwarf hop plant courtesy of Beer Essentials planted late last spring has a couple of bines that are currently 7ft long!!

A couple of the bines on mine are already at the top of the arch I'm growing them up as well.

The leaves are getting a bit muched by flies though I heard spraying diluted washing up liquid on the leaves kept them away - true? Any particualar dilution required?

[Chiltern Brewer]

Yeh, I think the term dwarf is a little bit misleading - the're dwarf in comparison to a plant that grows 18 ft high

Pic of First Gold from www.hops.co.uk



Belto, my propagation method? I use the "chopping bits off the root and sticking them in soil" technique!

[delboy]

My Prima Donna (First Gold) Dwarf hop plant courtesy of Beer Essentials planted late last spring has a couple of bines that are currently 7ft long!!

Mine are this years plants from beer essential they are still between 6-12 inches tall . I well by all accounts the come good the following year

[billvelek]

This is my first year to grow hops, and it has been difficult to find answers to some of my questions on the various brewing forums because it appears that only a small percentage of homebrewers grow their own hops. Instead of having to tediously search through lengthy archives or a large number of threads in forty or fifty different homebrew forums and mailing lists, I felt it would be better to try to gather as many growers as possible for a consolidated mail-list or group dedicated _exclusively_ to the topic of growing hops, including trellis and arbor design, diseases, and even exchanges of rhizomes. I've received nothing but positive feedback in all the places I've posted about this, and I hope that this will be received in the same spirit here because my group is certainly not intended to replace any other group. In just the first three days after my group was formed, I had already reached 60 members. Members can choose to hide their email addresses if they want; however, those members who do so must post messages on our webpage rather than by email. I am also moderating the group to prevent spam, flames, etc.

I'm looking for informative websites about all aspects of growing hops, including photos, so if anyone can recommend any good links, it will be appreciated. Members are also able to post their own links, photos, and files on our group's Yahoo pages.

If interested, please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grow-hops -- and thanks for your time.

Cheers.

Bill Velek
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrewingEquipmentDiscuss 'equipment only' with 590+ brewers, including many pros and many with Tiers/RIMS/HERMS.

[SiHoltye]

I bought Prima Donna (First Gold) as a small plant from Beer Essentials earlier this spring. It's about 8 inches tall and I rightly expect nothing of it this year. Until its rhizome has had chance to pack in all that is good in the surrounding soil, and build up a good reserve, it'll not properly burst forth until the next spring growing season. Maybe some cones next year but year 3 onwards seems a proper crop from what I've read. I will be AG brewing by then and will have to do a Badger First Gold clone. And probably using all different grains aswell 'cos I'll doubtless be chuffed with any of my own hops! Which I guess is why we do it afterall!

I found some info on Prima Donna (First Gold), people probably have this already but if not here it is.

Analytical data
Alpha acid (range) 5.6 ~ 8.7%
Beta acid (range) 2.3 ~ 3.6%
Ratio
Alpha : Beta 2.4 ~ 3.2 :1
Cohumulone (% of alpha) 29 ~ 34%
Total oils, ml/100g (dry) 0.7 ~ 1.3

Origin and Production
First Gold is a dwarf hop, bred at HRI-Wye, from a cross-pollination of WGV with a dwarf male. It has a very attractive aroma which some liken to Goldings but with a higher alpha content than traditional aroma hops. First Gold crops with a large number of medium sized cones and yields well on the trial sites. Reasonable tolerance to Verticillium wilt seems to have been inherited from its WGV parent.

Brewing Character
Early brewing trials indicate that First Gold is an extremely exciting prospect. The variety is very suitable as a general kettle hop and also for late and dry hopping in all types of beer. First Gold has excellent aroma qualities and much of the flavour of WGV seems to have been retained, producing a well-balanced bitterness and a fruity, slightly spicy note in ales. Considerable areas of First Gold are being planned and there is significant interest already from Britain’s traditional ale brewers.

[Chiltern Brewer]

First Gold has got a very distinctive orangy/marmalade taste

I'm seriously thinking about getting another variety next year - if anybody wants to do a swap (I have Challenger and Cobb Golding) please let me know.

[Sam Smith]

I bought my Fuggles & Callenger plants from

www.poyntzfieldherbs.co.uk

They are very easy to grow but I suggest you limit them to 2 or 3 stems as they are very prolific. I think that home-grown hops have a slightly higher Alpha acid content than those bought in the shop & so think it advisable to reduce quantities by up to 10%. Catching bare arms & hands on the stems & leaves can be a problem to some people, I come out in big red marks but my wife remains "un-touched". So for any pruning/harvesting etc. SEND OUT THE WIFE, you can supervise whilst drinking a ice cool homebrew made from last years crop!

[Chiltern Brewer]

Yes that's where I got my Challenger hop plants from - at the time the only variety they sold.

Every year I forget to put on an old long-sleeved shirt before I start the hop picking! Good tip.

[BlightyBrewer]

Also very importantly has any dog owners on here grown hops (they are supposed to be toxic to dogs) are the flowers out of reach of our canine friends (SWMBO would kill me if i inadvertantly was responsible for the posioning of one of the dogs)

To answer your earlier question delboy, hops are indeed toxic to dogs (whether "raw" or spent after boiling). Ingestion can cause malignant hyperthermia in dogs, which unless recognised and treated properly and swiftly by a vet will lead to death.

[Belto]

Follow this link if you are interested in how it used to be done (Hop Growing that is)


http://www.bygonebodiam.co.uk/Introduction.htm

[Vossy1]

That's a great link B with some gr8 photo's

[awalker]

Hallertauer from beertech

Look at the size of him


For scale (no thats not a comedy size match!)


To be fair he has only been in the ground 20 days so, its nice to see some movement. I also have a tettnanger which is just poking out of the ground.
Should be good next year!!