Hop plants/rhizomes - growing report

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Lol did something very similar with my Fuggles athumb..

My wife hates the smell of them so I spared her my first plan of putting the bags In the tumble dryer and making that smell but ended up with the smell all over the house from this plan B šŸ˜¬

I wish I had weighed them beforehand to see the difference but Iā€™ve ended up with just over 300g dried.

This is the second of 2 batches

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My wife hates the smell of them so I spared her my first plan of putting the bags In the tumble dryer and making that smell but ended up with the smell all over the house from this plan B šŸ˜¬

I wish I had weighed them beforehand to see the difference but Iā€™ve ended up with just over 300g dried.

This is the second of 2 batches

View attachment 55160
Hadn't thought of the tumbledryer
 
For the first time this year, I've used some of this year's dried crop almost immediately in two brews. The hop aroma is much more powerful, beers aren't ready yet but I'm hopeful of some great results.
I've made one brew so far from this years crop. An EKG bitter with a flameout addition of 20g dried homegrown cascade, 3.4% ABV, 18L brew. Even with so little cascade the citrus flavour is a bit overwhelming, much more so than from last years crop. Must have been the weather.
 
I like the idea of a new Cascade plant in December but are there any other less traditional English hops that would grow well in Kent and add an extra dimension to the brewing options that you would recommend?

Depends what kind of beer you like to brew. Being in Kent shouldn't make much difference, it's obviously a good place to grow hops, the only caveat is that the remaining 1000 acres or so of commercial hops represent a good reservoir of hop-specific diseases, which are more likely to be a problem for older, more traditional varieties than for more recent ones.

Without wanting to teach grandmother to suck eggs - the varieties available as rhizomes are limited, you can't get any patented ones (ie just about everything released in the last 20 years or so), and a different climate means that the flavours of UK-grown hops can be very different compared to the same variety grown eg in the semi-desert of the Yakima Valley in the US. And as Cwrw666 notes, you get far more vintage variation in a British climate, you really need blue skies to bring out the fruit flavours, whereas cloud tends to make things go more earthy.

So your other US alternatives to Cascade are Chinook and Centennial, both solid choices as long as you don't expect the intensity of the commercial US-grown ones.

As far as "less traditional" English varieties, there's two obvious groups - the "blackcurrant twins" of Bullion and Bramling Cross, and the "revivals" - Ernest and the Keyworths, particularly Keyworth Early. The only problem is finding them, Aplus have had them in the past and it may be worth asking them if they have any even though they're not on the website.
 
Depends what kind of beer you like to brew. Being in Kent shouldn't make much difference, it's obviously a good place to grow hops, the only caveat is that the remaining 1000 acres or so of commercial hops represent a good reservoir of hop-specific diseases, which are more likely to be a problem for older, more traditional varieties than for more recent ones.

Without wanting to teach grandmother to suck eggs - the varieties available as rhizomes are limited, you can't get any patented ones (ie just about everything released in the last 20 years or so), and a different climate means that the flavours of UK-grown hops can be very different compared to the same variety grown eg in the semi-desert of the Yakima Valley in the US. And as Cwrw666 notes, you get far more vintage variation in a British climate, you really need blue skies to bring out the fruit flavours, whereas cloud tends to make things go more earthy.

So your other US alternatives to Cascade are Chinook and Centennial, both solid choices as long as you don't expect the intensity of the commercial US-grown ones.

As far as "less traditional" English varieties, there's two obvious groups - the "blackcurrant twins" of Bullion and Bramling Cross, and the "revivals" - Ernest and the Keyworths, particularly Keyworth Early. The only problem is finding them, Aplus have had them in the past and it may be worth asking them if they have any even though they're not on the website.
Thanks, excellent insight for newbie, much appreciated. I'll have to look into the two revivals as I've not come across them and hadn't considered the disease angle. I haven't tried either of the three "C"s so still need to do a few SMASH beers to get a handle on the flavours/aromas.
 
Thanks, excellent insight for newbie, much appreciated. I'll have to look into the two revivals as I've not come across them and hadn't considered the disease angle. I haven't tried either of the three "C"s so still need to do a few SMASH beers to get a handle on the flavours/aromas.
I'm not sure where to find them, but I can only sing the praises of Ernest hops.
I've just had a pint and a half of my English Hoppy Pale Ale bittered with Challenger and flavour/aroma'd with Ernest.
Full and fruity.
If you think they will grow well for you, go for them.
šŸ‘
 
An exciting parcel arrived this morning! Super pleased with this, it's a Pioneer hop plant which has been bred for the Scottish climate. I've put it in the fridge as recommended to keep it dormant, but the online guidance recommends not planting till there's no risk of frost - that is months away here! Is it ok to keep in the fridge that long? (I've put it in my kegerator fridge)

Thanks
IMG_1234.jpeg
 
An exciting parcel arrived this morning! Super pleased with this, it's a Pioneer hop plant which has been bred for the Scottish climate. I've put it in the fridge as recommended to keep it dormant, but the online guidance recommends not planting till there's no risk of frost - that is months away here! Is it ok to keep in the fridge that long? (I've put it in my kegerator fridge)

Thanks
View attachment 59076

I would say itā€™ll be fine for that long. I used to stratify Eucalyptus seeds over winter in the fridge. I would just get further confirmation as to whether or not to remove from the plastic bag though. Moisture is usually a bigger threat to hardy plants than the cold.
That said, if it really has been bred for the Scottish climate, youā€™ll probably have to go some to kill it šŸ˜‰
 
An exciting parcel arrived this morning! Super pleased with this, it's a Pioneer hop plant which has been bred for the Scottish climate. I've put it in the fridge as recommended to keep it dormant, but the online guidance recommends not planting till there's no risk of frost - that is months away here! Is it ok to keep in the fridge that long? (I've put it in my kegerator fridge)

Thanks
View attachment 59076
Is there a month of the year when there is no frost risk in Scotland? šŸ¤Ŗ
 
I cut the bines from my plant down a week or so ago. I noticed that there were rhizomes reaching out several feet from where it was first planted. So I dug them up and planted in a few more sites around the garden. Will be interesting to see what happens
 
Some experience with growing Centennial in Amsterdam. The Dutch climate is quite comparable to the UK climate so my experiences should translate relatively well.

We did a homebrew group collective hop purchase three years ago. I ordered and planted 2 centennial plants in front of my door.

To create a trell I got 2 self-adhesive Tesa discs (see picture). I only had a ladder that went up about 5 meters so I decided to stick them up there, ran down some coconut rope, connected them to a bamboo stick I drove into the ground next to the hops. If I could do it again I'd stick them up a bit higher (7 meter is ideal apparently).

1639057048933.png


The plant started giving hops the first year, but yields were low and the lupulin content was not great. Second year was a bit better, but this year was great for hops even though it was not a great summer.

20210917_124847_SparkVideo.gif


As you can see the height is not ideal, but the plan had loads of hops. I got 1.6 kilo from the left plant and used it in two brews. The plant on the right I did not harvest since I already has do much. I used the full 1.6 kilo in a marathon session brewing (brewing 2 beers + picking hops).

1639058178725.png


The hops added a lot of fruit to the beers, a bit perfumy and floral as well. They were almost like a hybrid between modern and noble hops (must be the climate).

I try to get my neighbours enthusiastic about my hop project so I always throw a harvest celebration and share my beer with our direct neighbours in the block.

After harvesting both coconut ropes broke. I think 3 years is the maximum you can get out of them. For next year I'll buy a new set of Tesa adhesive discs and hang them higher + new coconut rope. I'm happy with my choice for Centennial - but I think I would choose to have another earlier growing variant next to it rather than 2 of the same kind.
 
This is such an encouraging thread. The one I have is a dwarf variety 'only' 8 ft which I hope to grow on a south facing wall of the garden, that way it should be sheltered from the worst of the weather. @Oneflewover I've had to agree to a nonpropagation clause to be able to try this hop, and because I really am rather honest, I am going to be careful not to expand beyond the one plant.
Further to the question about the fridge - would it be better to pot it up and keep it in the garage, which is akin to a fridge anyway at this time of year?
 
Be careful growing near a south facing wall. I did this the First year my Fuggles and Centennial but the warm, still and dry atmosphere led to a severe red spider mite infestation. Despite buying the strongest RSM control I could find as soon as I spotted them I lost all the leaves and hops of of them.
 
DocAnna you can plant it now if you want. It'll stay dormant until spring. I planted a much smaller rhizome last month, just make sure it's not going to get waterlogged. In my case I took a 50L pot, knocked out the base and filled it up with compost/soil in place. I'm trying Prima Donna (first gold) this time, another dwarf one.

You can keep it in the fridge or a pot with some damp compost outside/cold garage/shed etc if you want too as well. Just plant it before spring when it is still dormant.

I have been trying to remove as much of the hallertau mittelfruh I planted as a cutting three years ago. roots/rhizomes two inches thick and metres long mean I didn't get much out, but that's ok I'll just harvest it for food next year and either it'll eventually die off or each spring I'll be eating lots of hop shoots.
 
View attachment 53963 Have ordered a couple of Fuggle plants so hope to have this area cleaned up when they arrive...
Update.
They're growing like mad, several vertical inches a day. 2 fuggles on the outside and a cascade in the middle. I clipped the first few bull bines hoping to improve flower numbers but the following ones seem very similar. The cuttings grew roots just in water so might throw a few around the property. Interesting to grow...
hopdog.jpg
 
@sifty
Yours are doing a lot better than mine. 5 foot for my tangerine dream and 4 foot for the Kent goldings ( this was a 3 litre plant so I thought should go a lot better) but I reckon the wind on the Goldings is really making it suffer. Not sure if the 172 mm of rain we had in 40 hours helped either!
Had the same thing with a bull cane I cut out and stuck in water rooted in less than a week, incredible. I'll get it in some gel and then into some potting compost next week I think.
 
My cascade and chinook grew pretty well this year (first year of growing) and got a nice batch of hops which I'm hoping to use this year. Cut them down in November to transport to my new place. Going to keep them under cover until February time and hoping they do well at the new house!
 
4 weeks later and mine have really started to grow. About 4 inches a day and putting out the side shoots that the hops grow on. So I might get a few cones. Feeding and watering plenty keeping my fingers crossed.
 

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