Hop Growing Thread 2012!

Man is that cute!
Passing on the technique of the hop huff; I love those smiles while digging!

Nice pictures to start this thread. :cheers:

Those are great pics man…I gotta get my wife to do this stuff…She’s a photographer, so she should be slaying some sweet pics.

Hello All,
I am new to hop growing and I have a very vague idea on how to grow hops rhizomes from what I read on websites. I do have a couple of questions regarding hops though, I was wondering if you guys could help me.

  1. I bought hops rhizomes from willamette valley hops 1 Willamete, Fuggle, and US Goldings. When do they ship the hops rhizomes?
  2. I read that the rhizomes should be planted towards a southern exposure. If i do not have a readily available space it won’t kill my hops if they were planted in a eastern, northern, or western exposure will it?
  3. How do you guys dry your hops? I wanted to use a food dehydrator, but it does not allow me to set a specific temperature only its fixed temperatures.

Regarding question #2 above (what happened to the quote feature?!?):

Southern exposure is to ensure the hops get plenty of sun. In Ohio, mine get well over 10hrs of sun during Summer with an unobstructed view of the southern sky. If you only have Eastern exposure, they might be blocked by a building for most of the afternoon and early evening. If only western, it might be mid-day until they see the sun. If northern, they might be blocked by a building all day. Northern facing plots are great for ski hills, but bad for hop hills. Once the hops get tall enough, you might not have a big problem…but try to get them as much sun as possible and plenty of water.

I’ve been growing my own hops for 15 years, all I do is take them up to my attic and spread them out on old window screens that are held up off the floor between two chairs. In 24 hours they are dry, then I put them in ziploc freezer bags, label them, and put in the freezer.

Have you noticed any “not so greatness” due to hop oxidization because they aren’t vacuum sealed?

I highly recommend purchasing a vacuum sealer. Once your hopyard is established, you’ll have so many hops you won’t know what to do with them all! I invariably have quite a bit of carry-over from one season to the next. I don’t see the point in going to all the work of growing and harvesting if you’re not going to package them well.

Also, I finally figured out that I could cram about 6-8 oz in one vacuum bag if I compress the hops first. I basically pack them into a Cool Whip container, then insert my plywood plunger (the rammer) and then pound away on it with a rubber hammer. I repack with hops and manage to ram about 4 oz of cones into the container. Then I bag them up and vacuum seal them.

It’s very easy to reseal the bags after you’ve removed the ounce or two that you need for a recipe. You can really save on bags this way!

For drying, I do something similar to bradbrews. I staple landscaping fabric between the garage rafters, and spread the hops out up there in a thin layer. They’re dry and ready to package in 3 days to a week. Fresh hops give off a very strange vegetal odor to me. If you really want to get crazy, do a google search for “build an oast.” BYO has had a couple features on that project.

I tried it in Denton, TX a few years ago. Had to water the hell out of them to keep them alive during the summer. Never really got much off of the plants and then we moved to Houston. Going to try to plant some this year and see what happens.

Anybody growing Nugget?
Id’ really like to know what folks think of them.

I’ve got 5 year old Cascade and Centennial crowns now, and I want to expand my selection. I have one Cascade and two Centennial and they are over taking the corner of my yard. I’ll need to do some digging and distributing of rhizomes to friends and family this year.

I’m thinking of planting Columbus, Nugget, and Chinook and seeing how they fare in Michigan.
I know the Chinook work fine in this climate because I’ve used some Michigan grown Chinook from up in Empire. No experience with the other two.

My biggest problem is going to be finding space to grow them.

I’ve ordered from Feshops in the past. Thinking of going with Hopsdirect this year.

Hey Heads! Iam trying to find a source for Saaz or Spalter Rhizomes, can’t find them from hopsdirect or freshhops, Ralph don’t have 'em neither. Anyone have sources from across the pond? Anywhere else?

http://www.facebook.com/GreatLakesHops? ... 5607783795

[quote=“PortageMIBrewer”]Anybody growing Nugget?
Id’ really like to know what folks think of them.[/quote]

Ask Denny Conn, I know he has one of those growing at his place and he just LOVES it :wink:

[quote=“Central WA Brewing”][quote=“PortageMIBrewer”]Anybody growing Nugget?
Id’ really like to know what folks think of them.[/quote]

Ask Denny Conn, I know he has one of those growing at his place and he just LOVES it :wink: [/quote]
If Denny’s growing them, that speaks for itself!
I guess I need to brew an IPA with them and check them out.
Thanks for the reply and info ; )

[quote=“PortageMIBrewer”]
If Denny’s growing them, that speaks for itself!
I guess I need to brew an IPA with them and check them out.
Thanks for the reply and info ; )[/quote]

:lol: Denny has been trying to kill that plant for years,
but don’t let that stop you. He is a little set in his ways. :wink:

I have a couple really nice Nuggets. They grow/produce really well.
Very floral and have nice big cones.

Have fun.

[quote=“pinnah”][quote=“PortageMIBrewer”]
If Denny’s growing them, that speaks for itself!
I guess I need to brew an IPA with them and check them out.
Thanks for the reply and info ; )[/quote]

:lol: Denny has been trying to kill that plant for years,
but don’t let that stop you. He is a little set in his ways. :wink:

I have a couple really nice Nuggets. They grow/produce really well.
Very floral and have nice big cones.

Have fun.[/quote]

My nugget plant (all my plants are 2nd year) is head and shoulders above the other 3 varieties (cascade, fuggles, goldings) as far as growth, and cone production. I am hoping year 3 provides a more even yield for all 4 of my plants.

Thanks for that!
Zeeland isn’t far away. I’ve never heard of these guys.
I have family and an active homebrewing brother in-law right next door to Zeeland in Hudsonville.

Sent it his way because he wants to grow a ton of Centennials.
He has a thing for Two Hearted and brews IPA with nothing but Centennials.

Personally I’m not that one-dimensional and love to mix it up but…

Thanks again.

You are quite welcome! I am considering ordering hop crowns from them as well…

Yeah, it was all sarcasm. That guy has been trying everything to get rid of it.

Awesome Thanks for the great source! That great lake s site is pretty comprehensive…all the varieties I wanted are in one spot. A little pricey compared to the rhizomes, but I’ll have a head start with those instead of waiting a season.