BeerBorg

bpgreen wrote:He's kind of a seat of the pants brewer and never used software, so he'd just throw in a handful or two of hops and see how it worked. If it was too bitter he'd use less the next time. If not bitter enough, more next time. More power to him, but I can't brew that way.

It wasn't that long ago when everyone brewed that way. I know the Germans were blending batches of lagers brewed with different amounts of hops as far back as the late 1800s/early 1900s to achieve the bitterness balance they wanted because they had no better way until they used a batch of hops to get a feel for them. Just like how the Belgians blended sours (and still do) to achieve the tartness level desired.

I don't think hop AA/measurement was really understood until somewhere around the 1930s or so (just an educated guess as there doesn't seem to be a good source that for sure can pinpoint the "ah ha!" moment), and even then not to the level of understanding we have today.

In any case consider yourself spoiled!

I had an odd situation this year with my crop. I have grown Chinook and Sterling for the past few years. Chinook plants in their fifth year this year, Sterling in their fourth. My yields:

2014: Chinook - about an ounce
2015: Chinook - 8.5 oz Sterling - 3.5 oz
2016: Chinook - 4.5 oz Sterling - 7.0 oz
2017: Chinook - 7.0 oz Sterling - 13.8 oz
This year:
Chinook - 13.5 oz Sterling - a big, fat zero.
Sterling grew some weak bines, but not enough to produce any cones. I am guessing it was due to the dry summer conditions this year. I have never watered my hops - they've never needed it and have grown like weeds. But the Sterling grow right next to the house and thus don't get as much water from rain. And, there was so little rain this summer, that I think the Sterling was "starved."

It was quite a turnaround, though, because the Sterling had been outperforming the Chinook for years.

Crazy Climber wrote:I had an odd situation this year with my crop. I have grown Chinook and Sterling for the past few years. Chinook plants in their fifth year this year, Sterling in their fourth. My yields:

2014: Chinook - about an ounce
2015: Chinook - 8.5 oz Sterling - 3.5 oz
2016: Chinook - 4.5 oz Sterling - 7.0 oz
2017: Chinook - 7.0 oz Sterling - 13.8 oz
This year:
Chinook - 13.5 oz Sterling - a big, fat zero.
Sterling grew some weak bines, but not enough to produce any cones. I am guessing it was due to the dry summer conditions this year. I have never watered my hops - they've never needed it and have grown like weeds. But the Sterling grow right next to the house and thus don't get as much water from rain. And, there was so little rain this summer, that I think the Sterling was "starved."

It was quite a turnaround, though, because the Sterling had been outperforming the Chinook for years.

I didn't water this year either. I don't think I watered last year, either. But where I live, almost all of the precipitation we get is from snow. We average about 2 inches of rain for June-September.

Do you fertilize at all? Hops benefit from nitrogen early in the year.

No, I've never fertilized my hops. Frankly, they've done so well over the years that I've not felt the need to do anything but train them where to grow. Particularly the Sterling, which has gotten stronger each year, to the point that they've out-yielded the Chinook even though the Chinook had a one year head start.

I think the reason I suspected a lack of water as the cause is because our growing season started out very dry, but over the past 6 weeks or so, we've gotten more rain, and the Sterling showed some new growth once the rains picked up. But, not enough to yield flowers.

Good to know, though, about early-season nitrogen - thanks for the tip!