Hops Harvest Complete

Friday, September 21st, 2012

The 2012 hops harvest is complete! Everything is packaged and dried. The process is to first harvest the hops by hand picking. You can cut the vines down, but this year I decided to leave them up and use a small step ladder to reach the higher cones. My advice is ...

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Big Hops Climbing the Shed

Saturday, August 11th, 2012

The hops are really climbing up the shed! Chinook and Fuggle are growing the best in the middle. Only two year old vines, I'm pleased and can't wait to brew! Next year a trellis is going up to keep the hops off the siding. It will look nicer, and be better ...

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Hops Harvest Update

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

It is time again to pick home grown hops. What a fun experience. The smell is just heavenly. In fact, I'm sure they have a section in heaven devoted to hops... So far, the only vine ready to pick was Nugget.  We got 2.35 dried ounces out it.  That seems like ...

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Time to order Hops Rhizomes 2011

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

It is time to order hops rhizomes for spring planting. The sooner you plant hops rhizomes, the sooner you can start growing hops vines and enjoying home grown hops in your beer. This year I will plant a few new varieties around the site where my brew shed ...

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Hops Harvest 2010

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Anybody who grows their own hops should be watching the cones carefully and preparing for harvest. I pulled the trigger on the first part of my hops harvest today, September 13th 2010. I'll do the rest of the vines this week. If your cones are papery, spring back when squeezed, and ...

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Hops Growth Progress

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Judging by my amateur hop yard (out front of the house) different types of hops grow at different speeds. This makes sense based on how many varieties of apples or tomatoes there are, but the variation in my hops was more than I expected. Harvesting everything at once does not ...

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Second Year Hops Growth Amazes Me

Monday, May 31st, 2010

The second year hops have really taken off. It is only the end of May, and two of the plants have already grown 10 feet! I am amazed at how quickly they have grown this month given we only had a few days of nice weather. For the most ...

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Hops and Dogs

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

Here's a friendly notification to all brewers who own dogs: If a dog eats hops it can be fatal! A study conducted by the National Animal Poison Control Center, University of Illinois in Urbana in 1995 showed this to be true. Of the eight dogs, seven were Greyhounds, one was ...

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Second Year Hops are Sprouting

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Compared to this time last year, the hops are huge! They are now second generation and should yield a lot more cones this fall. These hops have been in the ground for 12 months. They sprouted early because of the warmer winter in Oregon. I noticed ...

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Hops Alpha Acid Table 2009

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Updated for the 2009 harvest.  New varieties added - thanks to everyone who wrote in! Alpha Acids from hops contribute to the bitterness in beer. During the boil alpha acids are isomerized and increase international bittering units (IBUs). This site has an IBU calculator. Hops also contain beta acids, which contribute to ...

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