Thanks! I am interested to ry these now. after 10-12 years of brewing i never used these that i recall. maybe chinook many years ago once…
Thanks for the advice everyone. I’ve actually been reading up on the different hop varieties and am so excited that I’m going to grow (test) about 10 or 12 of them, beginning this Spring. I have about an eighth of an acre for installing a small hop-yard. I hope I’m not jumping in over my head! I’ll keep everyone posted. If any of you have any initial advice, please let me know.
beware. 10 or 12 hop plants is A LOT. they can be hard to kill too. so a ‘test’ might end up as an infestation. I’d start smaller, and build your way up
I started with 3 plants, and they didn’t do too well at my mom’s and two got nailed by hail. The Fuggle survived.
So I transplanted that dirty bugger to my new house and planted 5 hills, 2 ft apart.
The next year, I expanded that to 14 hills, filling up all of my landscape beds and turning the house into a hops fortress. I was splitting crowns and doubling up on some varieties, like Centennial. It was awesome. I’ll post some pics of the madness, just for old times’ sake. It was a good system.
When we sold our house, I built a hops trellis in my in-laws’ backyard, and they’ve been here for three years now.
This year, I added on a second section to the trellis, doubling my hop yard. This spring, I’m going to renovate the hop yard, spreading the varieties out to 3 ft apart. I finally ripped out that nasty Fuggles plant…
Either way, if you’re talking about growing 10 varieties on 1/8 acre, I’d say you’ve got all the room you need, and your only concern is building the structure. Go with some poles and wire, and throw loops of coir over that, and you’re golden.
Here’s my current system:
Looking down from the hops:
The point, is, don’t let anyone discourage you from growing hops. You have some time to build up your hopyard, so go for it! Growing hops is amazing. Get growing!
Excellent! Nice work! 
I brewed a few weeks back with this hop bill. Moved it to a secondary this weekend and gave it a taste when doing a gravity reading. I was blown away by the flavor. So happy with the result. It is a very orangey-grapefruity taste up front with mild fresh mowed grass flavor at the back end. I can’t wait to get this batch into bottles and start drinking it.
0.5oz Simcoe - 60 min
0.1oz Simcoe - 20 min
0.2oz US Golding - 20 min
0.4oz Amarillo - 20 min
0.1oz Simcoe - 15 min
0.2oz US Golding - 15 min
0.4oz Amarillo - 15 min
0.1oz Simcoe - 10 min
0.2oz US Golding - 10 min
0.4oz Amarillo - 10 min
0.1oz Simcoe - 5 min
0.2oz US Golding - 5 min
0.4oz Amarillo - 5 min
0.1oz Simcoe - flameout (20 min rest)
0.2oz US Golding - flameout (20 min rest)
0.4oz Amarillo - flameout (20 min rest)
FYI: the recipe is a “Hoppy Irish Red” but I guess it is more of a Red IPA that I used Irish Ale yeast to ferment. It may not fall in a true style but it was really tasty!
[quote=“GeerBoggles”]FYI: the recipe is a “Hoppy Irish Red” but I guess it is more of a Red IPA that I used Irish Ale yeast to ferment. It may not fall in a true style but it was really tasty![/quote]Looks good, but you’re missing something - the dryhops! 
You certainly are the Capitain, El Capitan! What an awesome display of hops! What part of the country are you? And, which way does that house face (South)? Thanks so much for the info and advice. Love the hop yard. Man, I really love the hop yard. And, those beautiful hops.
Also, Capitan, how high are those trellis’s? And, I have a front porch similar to that one, but it faces the east, with the sunrise. Will that work, you think for hops?
I was going to dry hop if I thought it needed a little more of a hop kick when I tasted it but I was really happy with what I tasted and don’t want to mess with it too much. Beersmith tells me I am at around 60-65 IBUs which is where I was aiming.
Capitan, that is VERY impressive. Great work!
[quote=“GeerBoggles”]I brewed a few weeks back with this hop bill. Moved it to a secondary this weekend and gave it a taste when doing a gravity reading. I was blown away by the flavor. So happy with the result. It is a very orangey-grapefruity taste up front with mild fresh mowed grass flavor at the back end. I can’t wait to get this batch into bottles and start drinking it.
0.5oz Simcoe - 60 min
0.1oz Simcoe - 20 min
0.2oz US Golding - 20 min
0.4oz Amarillo - 20 min
0.1oz Simcoe - 15 min
0.2oz US Golding - 15 min
0.4oz Amarillo - 15 min
0.1oz Simcoe - 10 min
0.2oz US Golding - 10 min
0.4oz Amarillo - 10 min
0.1oz Simcoe - 5 min
0.2oz US Golding - 5 min
0.4oz Amarillo - 5 min
0.1oz Simcoe - flameout (20 min rest)
0.2oz US Golding - flameout (20 min rest)
0.4oz Amarillo - flameout (20 min rest)
FYI: the recipe is a “Hoppy Irish Red” but I guess it is more of a Red IPA that I used Irish Ale yeast to ferment. It may not fall in a true style but it was really tasty![/quote]
Wow! Now that’s a hop bill! Interesting combo, there. But, hell, I gotta give that one a try. Thanks much.
Thanks for the compliments, guys. It’s fun to look back at how things have progressed!
I live in central MN, and have had really good results growing hops. The hops that I had growing in front of my house were on the south-facing side. I’m not sure how yours would do on the east side. They’d get good morning light, at least. I’ve always grown mine south-facing (or free-standing, now) so I can’t say too much there.
My current trellises are built from 20 foot 4x4’s, buried about 3 ft in the ground. So, 17 feet tall. The hops usually reach the top and then form a big knot up there.
If you’re looking to grow citrus and pine hops, go with Chinook and Cascade. They should both give you good yields and the flavors you’re looking for. I get a TON of cones from my Zeus plant - 17 oz dried in the first year! Crazy. They make a great dry hop. My all-Zeus IPA was kind of oniony.
Centennials are nice, but I haven’t gotten huge yields from them. I also grow Sterling, which is nice for lighter beer styles, but that’s another with poor yields. Willamette has always given me way more than I can use, but last year they were pretty miserable and I didn’t even harvest them.
I have Mt. Hood, Crystal, and EKG’s going into their 2nd year, so we’ll see how they do.
Now I’m just waiting for the Simcoe fairy to visit me and leave some rhizomes under my pillow!
[quote=“monk-e-business”]
Wow! Now that’s a hop bill! Interesting combo, there. But, hell, I gotta give that one a try. Thanks much.[/quote]
Don’t let it deceive you either. It is really just 1oz Simcoe, 1oz US Golding & 2oz Amarillo. 0.5oz Simcoe in for bittering at 60mins and the rest of the hops are divided evenly over 5 late additions. I believe it was the poster Dobe12 that gave me the idea. I need to thank him because I will be using this method often. Still a few weeks from drinking the finished product but again, really happy with the results.
[quote=“El Capitan”]Thanks for the compliments, guys. It’s fun to look back at how things have progressed!
I live in central MN, and have had really good results growing hops. The hops that I had growing in front of my house were on the south-facing side. I’m not sure how yours would do on the east side. They’d get good morning light, at least. I’ve always grown mine south-facing (or free-standing, now) so I can’t say too much there.
My current trellises are built from 20 foot 4x4’s, buried about 3 ft in the ground. So, 17 feet tall. The hops usually reach the top and then form a big knot up there.
If you’re looking to grow citrus and pine hops, go with Chinook and Cascade. They should both give you good yields and the flavors you’re looking for. I get a TON of cones from my Zeus plant - 17 oz dried in the first year! Crazy. They make a great dry hop. My all-Zeus IPA was kind of oniony.
Centennials are nice, but I haven’t gotten huge yields from them. I also grow Sterling, which is nice for lighter beer styles, but that’s another with poor yields. Willamette has always given me way more than I can use, but last year they were pretty miserable and I didn’t even harvest them.
I have Mt. Hood, Crystal, and EKG’s going into their 2nd year, so we’ll see how they do.
Now I’m just waiting for the Simcoe fairy to visit me and leave some rhizomes under my pillow![/quote]
Thanks for that info. Chinook and Cascade are the two varieties I doubled up when I ordered my hops this past week. They say those do well down here, so far. Also, the Zeus has proven to be the best producer during the 3 years testing at the Mills River Hops Experimental Yard in Mills River, NC. What’s up with Simcoe? Is this a difficult rhizome to find? I hope not.
[quote=“GeerBoggles”][quote=“monk-e-business”]
Wow! Now that’s a hop bill! Interesting combo, there. But, hell, I gotta give that one a try. Thanks much.[/quote]
Don’t let it deceive you either. It is really just 1oz Simcoe, 1oz US Golding & 2oz Amarillo. 0.5oz Simcoe in for bittering at 60mins and the rest of the hops are divided evenly over 5 late additions. I believe it was the poster Dobe12 that gave me the idea. I need to thank him because I will be using this method often. Still a few weeks from drinking the finished product but again, really happy with the results.[/quote]
That’s true, but it just looks so darn tasty! Thanks again.
Most of the new varieties are proprietary, so they’re unavailable to home growers. You won’t find any Simcoe, Citra, Amarillo, Mosaic, etc.
UNLESS you have a connection in the industry, in which case PM me!! :cheers:
[quote=“El Capitan”]Most of the new varieties are proprietary, so they’re unavailable to home growers. You won’t find any Simcoe, Citra, Amarillo, Mosaic, etc.
UNLESS you have a connection in the industry, in which case PM me!! :cheers: [/quote]
Will do. Thanks.
The more i think about it, how about a chinook/simcoe blend with an unkown to me " down under type hop", talking piney?
Saw off a two foot chunk of pine tree and throw that in.
Saw off a two foot chunk of pine tree and throw that in.
[/quote]
Now that’s funny!
