Hop Growing 2010

[DarloDave]

Looking good bosium!

You gonna try dry these? or go for a big fresh hop pils?

[bosium]

Nah I'm definitely going to try dry them, just have to work out how! I don't have a dehydrator or a screen, but I'll have to try find something I guess. I thought I might take a wander round Focus at the w/e to see if I can't pick something up to do the job. Was thinking some sort of screen that I can leave in my boiler cupboard.

Not sure how many I'll get, but I have two Saaz plants and both are covered in hops, so hopefully I'll get enough for a batch of Bo Pils

[oopsthathurts]

Hi
Info on Prima Donner hops is http://www.irishcraftbrewer.com/Communi ... .php?t=997 Alpha acid contents, etc. Thought it may be interesting.

I have plants of Prima Donner that I will be propagating next year if anyone is interested ( i run a plant nursery) They will be from cuttings from a known plant that develops good quality cones.

Email me if interested .

[Buzz]

I planted a couple of varieties this year and have lost the labels, so I'm not sure which is which

The good news is that the cones are very different, so hopefully an experienced grower may be able to ascertain which is which. I planted Target and Bramling X.

As you can see from the pictures, one has smaller cones with a reddish tinge, while the other is the more common lime green colour with much larger cones (I personally think these are the Target). If someone could confirm I'd be grateful, if not I'll have to make a hop tea once they are dried to try and work it out.

[Buzz]

Blimey I'm surprised no one could help me with the identifcation. No one else growing these two varieties?

I have now established which are which. If it's any help to anyone else in the future, the red stemmed and reddish coned hops are Target, whereas the big lime green jobbies are Bramling X.

[awalker]

not sure if this helps anyone, but thought it might be useful.

When to harvest article
http://www.gorstvalleyhops.com/pdfs/August_09.pdf

[bosium]

Thanks! I think my Saaz is about ready to harvest - the cones have gone quite papery and there is some lupulin in them, although not a lot. I guess first year and all that.

Strangely my Cascade is the slowest, tons and tons of cones on it but they are still very small.

[boingy]

My cascade is only going to give a modest harvest this year (its first). Probably only enough to be used as aroma hops but still a decent result based on the less than ideal location I gave it.

[Tony01]

I'm the same boingy, first year with prima donna and I may get one big or two small brews with it. Still a couple weeks from maturity though.

[Chard]

i think i picked mine too early. there was visible lupulin when u looked but they dont smell particularly strong :S

that said a walk around the local wetlands area and i fount SO MANY HOPS! enough to keep me brewing for a year! No idea of the variety but i picked one and it smelt a bit fugly (as in like fuggle not that it smelt f**k ugly)

when is evryone else picking theirs?

[Subsonic]

Picked my first lot of fuggles today. I am on an old hop farm so there are masses in the hedgerows. I spent about 20 minutes and came back with 2 kilos. There are masses more, I reckon I will get 10 kilos easy, after drying should give me about 5 kilos I guess. Last year I dried them in my polytunnel and they got a bit hot and scorched, that said they were fab and I still have a pack left. Today they are in my barn. I actually have half an oast house in the garden but it has no roof otherwise I would use that. I also found a vacum packer on Sausagemaking.org (don't ask why I was there - I had a pig to get rid off!) so for £35 it was worth a punt as most of their gear is pretty good. Will report back on how good it is. Subsonic.

[bosium]

I am on an old hop farm... ...I reckon I will get 10 kilos easy... ...I actually have half an oast house in the garden

Nice!!

[bosium]

I just picked four cones from my Saaz, and made a little hop tea with them. Quite herbal and aromatic, and the tea was bitter as hell so I guess there must be some alpha acid content. I might get a harvest beer or two out of this yet!

[Chiltern Brewer]

I picked my two year old Fuggle and Prima Donna bines over the bank holiday weekend. This is the first year I've had a crop from the Fuggle and I think it suffered a bit from the hot weather back in June/July. I probably should have watered and feed it more early in the season as I had a lot of leaf loss. Still a reasonable crop - a carrier bag full - enough for a brew or two. The Prima Donna fared better, but could have done with extra watering too. I'll be more wary next year as these are still young plants and they don't have an established root run.

In contrast my Challenger and Cobb Golding bines seem to have done very well this year. The largest cones I think I've ever seen on the Golding, some are 4-5cm long! I started picking the Challenger on Thursday and Friday evening and then moved onto the Golding yesterday (Saturday). I've tried to just pick the best cones, even so I've completely covered my drying frames and there are plenty left on the bines. It's raining this morning and forecast for next week doesn't look too good so that could be it for this year.

[MissFlax]

Hi
First crop this year of Fuggles - think almost ready to harvest - has been dry weekend.
What is best way for me to dry and then store - I have a small airing cupboard - any particular materials I should/shouldnt use? Thanks (newbie)!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/missflax/s ... 885447614/