BeerBorg

Yeah, I got the plants in early May but didn't get them in the ground for a few weeks

How are yours looking Berryman?

Not as good as Louie's looks, but I think they're about right for the first year and planted late.
the Nuggets is over the 6 ft wire, Chinook a little behind and the Cascades a little less also. The mt.Hoods aren't growing very fast at all.


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I really didn't expect to get much of a harvest the first year as per everything I've read, and this has been a sucky growing year anyways around here. BUT they have gone nuts the past few weeks, now I wish I would have put them higher like my original plan, they are running horizontal (with my help) but they really want to go up. Now I got a little question......the Nugget and Chinook are loaded with cones, what am I looking for too know when they are ripe for the picking?
I'll get a pic of them this coming weekend.

mashani wrote:Too many dogs - not just my own - but random fosters - is why I do not grow hops. The only reason why.

This for me as well. I'd have to grow them outside of the back fence (where the garden area would be a natural location). I may try to plant a couple next year, as I have an open wall that I could string some up. I'm thinking Pearle or Mt. Hood, as I use both a fair bit.

Those new pics are great, berryman. I don't have near enough room to do something that nice. The only option I'd have it to lease some community garden space (which is what Yazoo does).

When you squeeze one between your fingers, it should feel papery. If you break it open, you'll see yellow.

If the cones start to turn brown, they're starting to oxidize (this is s bad thing).

You don't need to worry about growing hops with dogs. Dogs will ignore them. The main danger is when they're mixed with malt. That's when dogs find them attractive. I used to have a dog that was half lab and would eat ANYTHING and she ignored the hops.

I have 2 cascade bines that are in their second year. I just wanted to see how / if they would grow. I can only run a twine about 12' up. They grew, fell over and grew up themselves again.

I'm sure this is NOT the right way but my gosh, they are covered with cones. I actually harvested one a couple weeks ago and made a simple extract beer with fresh hops. It seemed to turn out OK.

I'm going to harvest again this weekend and make something ..... I'm just not sure what .....

Here's a couple pics

brewnewb wrote:I have 2 cascade bines that are in their second year. I just wanted to see how / if they would grow. I can only run a twine about 12' up. They grew, fell over and grew up themselves again.

I'm sure this is NOT the right way but my gosh, they are covered with cones. I actually harvested one a couple weeks ago and made a simple extract beer with fresh hops. It seemed to turn out OK.

I'm going to harvest again this weekend and make something ..... I'm just not sure what .....

Here's a couple pics

Nice Pictures, Gives me something to look forward to next year.....This Hop growing thing looks like fun.

Not great pics but these are my hops about a week ago. They are quite a bit bigger now.

bpgreen wrote:When you squeeze one between your fingers, it should feel papery. If you break it open, you'll see yellow.

If the cones start to turn brown, they're starting to oxidize (this is s bad thing).

Do you have any pics for examples of what are not ready and what are ready. I think this is the hardest part of growing hops. I have some that where the edges of the cones are turning brown and those are the ones that smell the best. Tbey have the cleanest and most hop like aroma compared to ones much greener and not as dry. Those seem to have much more of a vegetative plant aroma. Are the brown edges an indicator they are ready? When are they oxidized and no longer good?

MadBrewer wrote:

bpgreen wrote:When you squeeze one between your fingers, it should feel papery. If you break it open, you'll see yellow.

If the cones start to turn brown, they're starting to oxidize (this is s bad thing).

Do you have any pics for examples of what are not ready and what are ready. I think this is the hardest part of growing hops. I have some that where the edges of the cones are turning brown and those are the ones that smell the best. Tbey have the cleanest and most hop like aroma compared to ones much greener and not as dry. Those seem to have much more of a vegetative plant aroma. Are the brown edges an indicator they are ready? When are they oxidized and no longer good?

I don't have any pictures. I don't go by looks. I go by feel. If they're dry and papery, they're ready. I don't even break them open and look for the yellow. I just go by the papery feel. Sometimes, I figure I'll only get one harvest from a bine. In that case, I'll just pull all of the cones at the same time. If I think I'll get multiple harvests, I'll check each cone for "doneness" before picking it.

I think you're ok if they're starting to brown at the edges, but you don't want to wait until there's a lot of brown.

One additional hint I've learned is that if you use a dehydrator to dry your hops, don't go cheap. Go with something that has adjustable temperatures and dry at low heat. if you dry at a higher heat, you lose AA.

Yes, based on working the Yazoo hop farm, I can say that in their opinion, cones with some brown were fine.

swenocha wrote:

I hope Beerlord dosen't see this Pic. we will loose him forever, he will drown in that...............

Well I went for it today. I picked all I could before having to head into work for afternoons. I will try to get some more picked tomorrow and there is also some that need more time on the bines. What I did pick seemed like they were ready, I'm still getting a feel for that. But between look, feel and smell I think they were ready. This was about 1/2 a 5 gal bucket and weighed out to over 1.75 lbs. I'll need to make another screen. I have these sitting in my hot garage with a fan blowing on them. It's the best I can do. I guess we will see how they do.

How long will these need to dry out?

@MadBrewer, That. Is. Beautiful.

@brewnewb, love the vine growing up the veranda (sounds more fancy then porch).