Hop Growing 2009

[Aleman]

Wind hit my fuggle again this year



Its blown the metal poles towards the fence and the lines I trained the bines along have sagged . . . . Still I knew the Budlia would come in useful for something.

I'm amazed at the crop this year, considering how aggressively neglected they have been. And this time last week I just had tiny strigs, now look at how they have changed.



Still some very nice cones



Just got to wait now for the lupulin to develop . . . I need sun!!

[Waffty]

Just picked my Northdown hop cones, ready for drying & was a little unimpressed with their aroma. There is a faint smell but nothing like the ones I bought.

There's plenty of yellow sticky stuff in them & when rubbed, there is a smell. So will they get better or have I picked them too early ?

Thanks
Darren.

[oblivious]

it might be a little to soon to harvest Waffty, the cones should have a papery feel to them

[Waffty]

Dam

I only harvested them, as they looked to be on the turn i.e they had the yellow stuff in them, were springy (returning to shape when squeezed) & were starting to change colour (turning a red'ish colour)? This is my first years crop, so anything is a bonus, whilst I'm still learning.

There's a good few cones left on my Northdown + my cob hasn't finished growing yet, so should get something off that plant, as it's doing nicely.

So can you give me an idots guide when to pick + what's the best method of drying ?

Thanks in advance
Darren.

[MissFlax]

Hi
My Fuggles has got little flowers on it now.
Not sure when to pick them - may not bother as still quite a young thing.
What do you guys think?

[Subsonic]

I checked my local hedgerow on the way to work this morning. Theres tons of hops, well ok maybe not but a good few bin liners full. I picked some long cones that are dry and crush with a papery noise and spring back to shape ok. I'm in the SE England and figure they are Goldings or Fuggles so I plan on picking them soon. Does this seem about right?

[Prozac]

My first year with a Northdown plant ..... it has a few hops on it but I'm thinking they're a bit young yet.....

I watched a youtube video on the papery/bounce back malarky. I don't think mine are there yet.

[Waffty]

I checked my first batch of picked hop cones tonight which are pretty much dried. I took two medium cones and popped them in some freshly boiled water & left them for a few minutes. Then I tried the cooled water & it's fair to say that it was bitter, so I guess that passes one test

I picked up a few of the other cones and gave them a smell & all I got was the 'news of the world' in which they'd been stored. Not put off, I rubbed one of the cones in my hand & to my surprise, it gave off a very strong hop aroma

So can anyone confirm if the dried cones need to be spilt (leaves taken off), as I suspect this will release more of the smell?

Thanks
Darren.

[Chiltern Brewer]

So can anyone confirm if the dried cones need to be spilt (leaves taken off), as I suspect this will release more of the smell?

I remove as many leaves as I can and separate the cones for drying - see my post on the 2007 harvest.

Once they are drying you want to be as gentle as you can with the cones, so as not to loose too much of the precious resins.

My first picking of Challenger have been on the drying frame since Monday and are nearly there. My experience in the past is once you think they are dry, let them dry a bit more! If there is any moisture left in the cones they will go moldy in storage, also if you pick them wet (i.e. after rain) they never seem to dry out properly. I think this is more important than worrying if they are fully ripe - I'm looking for the next few days to be dry so that I can pick at the Weekend. My tips for determining ripeness are - look/feel for the cone bracts turning more leathery (in some varieties there is a colour change too), the cones should be springy and I can feel their core becoming harder, the resins will darken slightly, and some cones start to brown at the tips.

[Subsonic]

Here is a link to my harvest! I managed to pick 2 kilos but theres still masses and I think a lot are going to go to waste. But hey they were free so I'm not too bothered. http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/subsonic4 ... irectlink# Subsonic

[WishboneBrewery]

they are looking good subsonic

[SiHoltye]

Five days drying in the airing cupboard

Close-up


I've felt I've needed to turn these hops peiodically in the cardboard box to ensure a thorough drying and noticed an amount of lupulin dropping out (yellow specks I think). Next year I'll commandeer the whole airing cupboard for a week and lay the hops out flat on cardboard so the air circulates without the need for turning and losing precious potency.

[Subsonic]

Well I thought I would post my drying results. I picked 1.9 kilos of hops Saturday. I put them on a big rack in my polytunnel and turned each day. Pics are on earlier post. Today they were bone dry so I bagged them up before they burn and have 660grams dry weight. Its quite a loss and pretty much bang on a 2/3rd loss in weight. However, its a good harvest and theres tons more to pick so I will go back out and see if I can manage to get another kilo or two. Be interested to hear what others have experienced as the weight loss to drying. Subsonic.

[fivetide]

I've been harvesting too!

Pictures later.

[fivetide]

Fantastic - all hops harvested and drying away nicely. Wooohoooo!

If you'd like to read all about it and see some photos, I've now written it all up.