Hop Harvest 2010

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bosium
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Hop Harvest 2010

Post by bosium » Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:13 pm

I decided to cut down my 2x Saaz and my 1x Willamette plants today. Got a surprising amount considering it's my first year of growing, and in pots no less. Once dried, I think I will have enough Saaz for a 20L batch of pilsner (I may combine this with the Mt Hood), and enough Willamette for a small batch of ale (may combine this with the Cascade).

From left to right: Willamette, Cascade, Saaz, Saaz, Mt Hood. I will harvest the Mt Hood next weekend, and the Cascade in a few weeks with any luck (the cones are still quite small).

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Saaz
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Cascade
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Mt Hood
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My harvesting sack - a cardboard box in a shopping bag. I looped one handle around my neck so I could just drop hops into it while picking.
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Box 'o Saaz
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Saaz harvest from two plants - this worked out to be 420g after removing some stems and leaves.
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Willamette harvest
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Last edited by bosium on Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.

leedsbrew

Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by leedsbrew » Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:19 pm

Wicked that matey! :D

adm

Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by adm » Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:27 pm

Nice!

Must grow some hops myself......do you know what the best time of year to get them started is?

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bosium
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Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by bosium » Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:46 pm

adm wrote:Must grow some hops myself......do you know what the best time of year to get them started is?
I planted mine in May from already-sprouted cuttings, but ideally you should plant from rhizome just after the last frost. I probably would have had a much bigger harvest if I'd started a month or two earlier.

Not like it saves any money, but it's really cool to harvest, cure and use your own hops in your own beer!

adm

Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by adm » Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:06 pm

I might give it a go next year.....I've been thinking about it not just for the hops, but to provide some cover over the patio by having them grow along strings like you've done in your pic.

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bosium
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Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by bosium » Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:23 am

adm wrote:I might give it a go next year.....I've been thinking about it not just for the hops, but to provide some cover over the patio by having them grow along strings like you've done in your pic.
Yeah it's really rewarding - nothing like sitting on a deck chair under the shade of your hop bines, sipping a homebrewed pint :)

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bosium
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Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by bosium » Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:57 am

After five days of drying on newspaper in my spare upstairs room, the hops were bone dry and all of the wildlife had pushed off. I packed them into food-saver ziplock bags and pushed as much air out as possible, then sucked the rest out using a straw before sealing the packets. I put both packets into one of those clip-lock tupperware thingies with the gasket in them and popped in the freezer until I'm ready to brew with them.

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There was a ton of yellow lupulin on the newspaper afterwards, and my hands were really greasy from the hop oils. The Saaz smelled just like a chewy pineapple-flavoured sweet, with some definite hints of chronic cannabis (or so I'm told). The Willamette smelled more piney, and actually not as fragrant as the Saaz.

The bags themselves weighed 7g each, so I ended up with 92g of Saaz and 26g of Willamette. I can't wait to brew with them! I have some Magnum for clean bittering, so I'll definitely be able to make a 5-gallon batch of Bo Pils with my homegrown Saaz. Not quite sure what to do with my Willamette yet, maybe a bitter?

I still have Mt Hood and Cascade to harvest in a few weeks' time. The Mt Hood is the most beautiful hop plant I have - really dark green leaves with purple stems and big cones. I'm hoping to make some sort of German lager with it. I'll probably just make a Cascadey pale ale with my Cascade to really showcase the flavour. I have a Hallertau and a Sterling too, but these were serious underachievers and I'll probably get maybe one handful of each. Maybe they'll do better next year.

I'm simply amazed at how much I've been able to harvest from my first year plants, and in pots too.
Who says you don't get many cones in your first year??

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bosium
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Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by bosium » Thu Oct 14, 2010 9:41 pm

Added another 29g dried of Mount Hood to my stash last night. I'm going to make a German-style lager with them, hopefully it turns out OK. Now it's just the Cascade to go, will hopefully try get them in tomorrow evening :)

leedsbrew

Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by leedsbrew » Thu Oct 14, 2010 9:45 pm

looking very nice matey! :D

WishboneBrewery
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Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by WishboneBrewery » Sat Oct 16, 2010 8:57 am

The Strings leading to the house look good :) I half-planned that this year but the hops are pot-bound and struggled, so didn't climb as far as the hooks I bolted into the house.
Hopefully next year :)

Stomach
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Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by Stomach » Thu Nov 25, 2010 4:21 pm

Hi

That is fantastic!! where do you buy the plants from to get going?

Many thanks

Matt

Fermenting:-
FV 1 - Festival Spiced Winter Ale
FV 2 - Empty
FV 3 - Empty
FV 4 - Ditches Stout

Drinking:-
Keg 1 - Nothing

Conditioning:-

Bottles - Brewferm Winter Ale
Bottles - Brewferm Triple

Next
Work in progress
Old Tin of Coopers Cerveza
Couple of old tins of stuff to experiment with!

Ben Cutlet

Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by Ben Cutlet » Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:01 pm

I'm sick with jealousy. I live in North Essex (distinct from the Gorblimey youtube clip).and I'd love a hop garden even a bit like the one in the pics. Can anyone help with plants please??? By the way, Maldon is within hop scrumping distance of here-so keep your eyes peeled.

Beeru

Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by Beeru » Tue Nov 30, 2010 4:16 am

My 2 ( 1,5 year, old finnish drain ) yield about 100g / plant ( 40% moisture when measured ) in one of espoo´s island near Helsinki. I harvested late in october when there was first night frosts all ready. Winter came this year early. The cones where still small in early october. The plant should start to yield well after 3 years of growing. To grow in Finland problem is lot of light and not much night in the summer at all ( they stay in wegetative period not growing cones ). Change of night frost in autumn.

Some what i have learned this far. To start. Real large hole for plant in good spot and soil. In the beginning not too much fertilizer, so roots can grow first. Simple system plants to grow so easy to harvest, even little by little picking up.

I have some seller links from UK, US and DE who sell to EU.

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bosium
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Re: Hop Harvest 2010

Post by bosium » Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:11 pm

Thanks for the kind words guys. I got my hops from various places:

Johnnybeer (forum member) gave me the Saaz,
Fatcontro11er (forum member) sold me the Cascade,
Awalker (also essex forum member) sold me the Hallertau,
and I bought the other three american varieties from a lady on ebay.
I know aplus hops also sell rhizomes and whole plants online.

Generally you can expect to pay £10-£15 for a plant, which you could buy a lot of dried hops for but I guess most people grow them because it's fun, they're beautiful plants and it's really cool to make beer with your own hops :)

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