Growing from Seed?

[John Sand]

My wife's friend brought back some hop seeds from Guinness in Ireland. I already have a Cascade plant from rhizome that produces enough to add to a batch, but most of my brews use commercial hops. If I plant these next to my Cascade, what are the possible ups and downs? I know that some seeds may be male, and pollinate the Cascade. That would produce hybrid seeds of unknown quality. Will it affect the existing plant's hop cones? What would you do? Why?

[FrozenInTime]

I would go for it. If they do cross pollinate you can always dig them up and move them. You'd lose one years hops crop if they came out bad, but there is only one way to find out.

[bpgreen]

It might be tempting to let some pollinate your cascades and see what you get. That's how new varieties come about.