So far, the only vine ready to pick was Nugget.  We got 2.35 dried ounces out it.  That seems like a small amount compared to some sources that say you can get pounds of hops per vine. I’m not dissapointed, but I do plan to make some adjustments next year and see if I can increase the yield.

I did not use fertilizer, besides a shovel of steer manure in the spring on top of each crown.  I know I could have done better on watering. The hops and the garden both suffered through a few dry spells, which I’m sure reduced the yield.  Next year I plan to run a soaker hose hooked up to a timer so they get watered every morning – thanks to my friend Brian for pointing that one out!

The Nugget vine grew heathily, and was about 11 feet tall. It actually tried to climb up the roof but couldn’t hang on to the flashing.

This metal window screen set on top of my brew wagon makes a great drying rack.

The two Hallertauer vines should yield 3-4 ounces combined.  This year I decided against pruning and let it go wild at the base.  Last year was a poor growing year and I wanted to give the hops a chance to really establish a strong healthy root system. These should be ready to pick in a couple days.

Sadly the Cascade vine was infected with Spider Mites. Spraying the leaves with a solution of water and isopropyl alcohol every 3 days for about two weeks seemed to get rid of them.  However, there are not many Cascade cones this year.  BrewersFriend will post more about Spider Mites next spring.

Make sure to check out other articles in the Hops Growing category!

Hops Rhizomes Ready to be Planted

Hops are propagated by a root cutting called a rhizome (as opposed to seeds or starters). The rhizome is planted in the ground and grows to become a complete hops plant. The new plant is essentially a clone of the mother plant. All rhizomes come from female plants which produce hops cones for brewing. Male hops plants have seeds in their cones, and are not the best for brewing with. It takes at least two years to get to full cone production. In the first year there will not be much of a harvest, maybe a half ounce of dried cones at best (in my experience). In the second year, get a bucket when picking the cones! The best time to plant a rhizome is right now, in late winter / early spring.

If you are going to buy rhizomes this year, make sure to check out:

The Thyme Garden

I ordered from The Thyme Garden before and have had good experiences. Here is a link directly to their hops page. They are an organic nursery and herb farm in the coastal range mountains of Oregon. They can’t ship to Washington because of a quarantine, but they do ship everywhere else in the US except Hawaii. Their prices are very reasonable, especially when you consider you are getting high quality organic hops.

I would plan the hops yard and dig the holes for the rhizomes the first nice day after you place your order. That way when the rhizomes arrive you can get them in the ground quickly, rain or shine. The surest way of killing the rhizome is to leave it in the fridge for weeks.

These Brewer’s Friend articles should be of interest if you have never grown hops before:

Planning Your Hops Yard for Home Brewing

How To Plant Hops for Home Brewing

I highly recommend growing hops. It is really fun and satisfying all around. Everybody loves to talk about hops even non-drinkers. The vines look great crawling up the house, shed, or custom designed trellis. Hops vines on the house, yeah, that is how life should be. Not to mention, beer made with your own hops is something to be proud of. Enjoy!

Brewer’s Friend received hops rhizomes from The Thyme Garden for review as part of this article and link exchange.

If your cones are papery, spring back when squeezed, and showing brown on the tips then pick ‘em!

What I use to dry my hops:

• Window screen
• Spare room to dry hops for a couple days, omg it smells great in there!
• Fan (optional)
• Vacuum sealer
• Space in freezer

For more details on hops harvest, please see:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/09/29/fall-hop-harvest-guidelines/

This year wasn’t a great growing season in Oregon, only half the tomatoes are ripe. Bah… On the upside, I’ve still got plenty of hops!

#1- Hallertau

I am  amazed at the sheer number and size of the cones on this plant. It is going to be a great harvest. I have told my brew neighbors to come by with a bucket and grab some when they are ready.

#2 Cascade

This vine has probably 30 small cones the size of acorns. Not much aroma to the cones yet, they are very moist.

#3 Nugget

Nuggest was early to sprout and grows vigorously but is nowhere near the cone production of Cascade or Hallertau.

#4 Magnum

Still not quite up to the top of the rope yet. Plant looks healthy.

#5 Kent Goldings

This plant was the last to sprout. Last year it was the last to be harvested. Kent Goldings is on the far left in first image. It has not yet reached the top of the rope either.  It seems Kent Goldings is just naturally a few weeks behind the other varieties.

Harvest:

When the cones just start to turn yellow I will begin harvesting.  This will probably happen about a month from now.  The first step is to pick the cones and dry them. I use an old window screen. That process takes 3-4 days in my brewing room. By the end of the process the room smells like hops – delicious. Then I vacuum seal and freeze the hops. I will probably prepackage some for trading with my friends, in 4 oz bags.  I’m pretty sure I won’t be spending very much on hops for brewing in the future.

Brewer’s Friend has another good article on harvesting hops here.

This should give hops growers who recently planted a better idea of what they can expect to see in subsequent years. My guess is the yield of cones will be much larger this year too.

The two that are doing the best are Nugget and Cascade.

Magnum and Kent Goldings are the shortest at less than a foot. The Hallertau is doing well at about 3 feet.

At this point, the plants are practically zero maintenance. I have gone past and trimmed off the straggler shoots, leaving the two strongest to grow up the rope. I’m using a thick twine for some, and just regular twine for others. Watering has not been an issue because it has been so wet.

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 a Labrador Retriever, all cases were fatal. The dogs had ingested spent hops. Dogs are attracted to the sweet wort covering the hops.   Cases of dogs eating raw hops and getting sick or dieing have been reported on brewing forums, but this appears to be rare and no studies have been done.

When a dog eats hops the onset of Malignant Hyperthermia occurs. Not to be confused with hypothermia, hyperthermia means the dog’s body overheats uncontrollably (2 degrees Fahrenheit every five minutes). The dog will begin panting heavily, display a rapid heart rate, and may have muscle spasms. This page has a report on how a dog was treated by a veterinarian in 2002 for such an incident: http://www.bme.ogi.edu/~ericwan/DOG/hops.html.

Types of dogs that have been impacted:

• Greyhound
• Labrador Retriever
• Golden Retriever

Other breeds are likely susceptible to hops toxicity.

The best way to prevent against a dog eating hops is not to compost the spent hops or trub. Put the spent hops and trub in the trash or down the garbage disposal. Another approach is to setup a composting box so the dog can’t get into it.

When it comes to growing hops, if you want to be extra careful, plant them in an area the dog is not allowed in. If your dog is a digger or chewer pay extra attention to where the vines are planted. Also be careful during harvest when the cones are being collected and potentially dropped on the ground. A relative of mine has a dog and grows two hop vines in the back yard. This particular dog has an addiction to playing fetch and has never shown an interest in the vines or the hops.

In a few weeks I will setup the lines the vines will grow on, hanging down from the eve of the house. I will also prune back the crowns to just the two strongest shoots. That way the plant puts all its growing energy into the remaining vines, instead of spread out across a dozen shoots. This practice results in a higher yield of hops cones.

Next year, I will need to thin out the root system around the plants so that they do not take over my entire property.

The nugget variety is a deep purple color and already has a shoot 1 foot long (not pictured).

For a size comparison, take a look at last year’s sprouts:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/04/19/baby-hops-sprout-pictures/

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 aroma only. The more alpha acids the more bittering potential per ounce. For example, one ounce of Northern Brewer (8.5) is roughly equivalent of two ounces of Domestic Hallertau (3.9) in terms of bittering potential.

This chart is a general guideline only. The actual AA varies from year to year depending on the weather, harvest conditions, and storage.

If you do not see your hops listed here please leave a comment or send us feedback and we will find out for you!

However, if the labels you planted next to the vines have faded & run since you planted them, or if your hop harvest didn’t come from a garden, but from a fortunate find of a hop plant at the state park or growing over the fence from a neighbor, identifying what you’ve got is a bit more important to you.

Visually, one species of hop cone looks much like another, so just looking won’t help. Aroma can be a huge indicator of the hop type, so you should start with that. If your hops are dried (which they should be, after harvest!), they won’t have a lot of aroma initially. Take the cone between your palms of your hands, rub your hands together, and then cup them near your nose and inhale. The hop aroma should be strong enough to identify any significant aromatic markers, such as the citrus aroma of Cascade or Centennial hop.

Some folks claim that the only way to really identify a hop is to brew with it. While that might work, there’s an easier way to identify the flavors & bitterness of a hop without risking a batch of beer. Once you’ve crushed the hop between your hands and smelled the aroma, throw your teakettle on the stove & heat some water to boiling. Making hop tea is the next-best thing to brewing with it, so toss your crushed cone in a cup and add boiling water. Let it steep for about five minutes to fifteen minutes, and then smell the aroma again. It should be fainter, but still the same notes as you smelled before. Strain the hops out of your tea, and then take a sip of the tea, checking for both flavor and bitterness. Because it’s a small amount of hop, steeped for a short amount of time, bitterness will be minimal (relative to your beer), but a highly bitter hop will be noticeable.

One word of caution: do not chew on the hop directly. It’s tempting and a fun prank to play on novice brewers, but the intensity of the bitterness will drown out other flavors in the hop, making identification harder, not easier. You get better flavors and a better balance from making the ‘tea’, and your palate isn’t smothered afterward.

Take note, the following guidelines are on a cone by cone basis, rarely, if ever, will all of your cones be ready for harvest simply because some of them are presenting the signs that they are ready to harvest. Harvests can many times take days, or weeks to complete in separate stages for the home brewer. Hops farmers will often harvest everything at once, but at home you can take more care.

1. Hop cones appear less “tight”, the leaves of the cone are visibly “opening” (Fig 1)

2. The bases of the hop leaves are showing ample amounts of bright yellow lupulin (Fig 2)

3. When squeezed, the cones emit the fragrant scent that you would come to expect from fresh hops (pungent, fragrant)

4. When the cone is squeezed between your fingers and released, it feels papery, resilient, not green and hard

5. The small bract leaves at the base of the hop stem are beginning to dry and the tips are browning (Fig 3)

(Fig 1)

(Fig 2)

(Fig 3)

Typically when you observe a hop cone presenting all of the above traits, there will be an ample number just like it, enough to justify harvesting all of those that have peaked. Those cones that do not exhibit the signs listed above are best to be left alone until they do. It can take days or even weeks for them to mature.

Once you have harvested the ripe cones, it is time to prepare them for preservation. Hops have several enemies when it comes to maintaining their characteristics.

1. Temperature

2. Oxygen

3. Time

Hops must be stored cool, or better yet frozen. The oils that exist in the lupulin glands are volatile and do not store well at room temperature. These oils are also easily oxidized, which means that long term storage planning must include some sort of vacuum packaging. Lastly, even if you have frozen and vacuum packaged your hops, time is one enemy that you cannot avoid, that is, unless you actively brew and use your hops!

To prepare your hops for storage as discussed above, they are typically dried. You can freeze them wet, or use them wet in a specialty beer if you like! There is a school of thought, however, that believes that freezing WET hops will actually serve to preserve the hops longer, though drying them is the norm. (Source Charlie Papazian, Homebrewers Companion)

To dry the hops you can use many methods, but stay away from cookie sheets and ovens if you can. Hops are fragile, their oils and thusly their characteristics are extremely susceptible to degradation from high temperatures, best to dry them slowly and naturally. Food dehydrators have been used with success, or another method that is used with great success is the box fan and window screen method.

(Fig 4)

If you have a home, you most certainly have windows, and you most certainly have some window screens to go along with them. You can use some chairs, 5 gallon buckets, really anything you can think of to support the window screen horizontally above the floor. Now, you must do the same with a cheap box fan from any retail store… supported above the floor (to allow it circulate air), but below your window screen, facing upward.

You can then spread your freshly harvested hops across the screen in a singular layer and turn the fan on low. You don’t want the hops flying all over your garage, but you do want to promote drying and air circulation. Agitate the hops periodically to ensure even drying of all of the hops. Allow this process to carry on until your leaf hops are papery and sufficiently dry to store. Once this is accomplished, vacuum seal and freeze any hops that you do not intend to use right away to preserve them.

When you are picking, make sure to keep the different varieties you grow in separate containers and drying screens as not to mix them up.