Whut is my hop?

My thinking: Never seen a Warrior rhizome (might be proprietary- too lazy to check), my Sterling (not a Saaz, but close) looks not as lobed and my Willamette looks very similar .

btw, my Willamette and Sterling don't look as good as yours

 

I am in Manitowoc County, and..... There's no way your hops will be ready for harvest by August 1. Try Sept 1 unless you like the taste of grass.

 

Once you've determined that the variety is indeterminate, the answer to your next question is saison.

 

Your best bet is to add them (whatever they may be) at flameout. You may be able to gauge what they are based off flavor/aroma? You also wouldn't risk bittering with what could be a high alpha hop.

I have cascade, centennial and Columbus but they all get intertwined in my back yard. I just pick them all and add them as a 'blend' for late additions.

 

Looks a lot like the Willamette what a co-worker brought in for me last year.

 

Looks like Willamette to me too, I grew both saaz and W. and IIRC, saaz was longer cones while W. had little nug-like cones. Good flavor on that Willammette. One way to find out is pluck a few cones off the bine 3-4) and make a hop tea, add some honey to pop the flavors, and see what flavor characteristics it leans toward.

 

It's one of the w hops. Not sure which it would be. But I am sure that you ain't going to get much you'd find useful out of them by picking them so early. Give them at least another month, and let them develop to the end of the growing life more. The leaf should be much drier than what these look like and showing some age on its edges before you even think of picking them.

 

You want them to lose %20-25 of their moisture before harvesting. Those cones haven't lost any.

 

I came across these guys last year and bought a couple pounds of assorted hops from them.They start harvesting in August for wet hops according to one of their recent posts: https://www.facebook.com/AgDynamicsLLC/

They're further west, probably further north than the OP. I think he just needs to monitor the situation and pick when they're ready, not when his calendar says. Aug 1, maybe too soon. Aug 8? Aug 15? Maybe not. It's been a pretty cool, wet summer in the north and I suppose it would be a slow year, for low yield, up here. I'm not growing hops these days. I know I can spend 50 bucks, get more better hops than I can grow, at less investment when considering time and effort plus incidentals.

 

@pweis909 True, and harvest depends on the specific variety as well. My homegrown Hallertau finish in early September while Cascade always finish at least 2 weeks later in late September. Could any others be ready by late August? Maybe. However, when in doubt, leave them on the bine longer than you think. They don't get any worse, only better. The longer you wait, the better. But what do I know, I've only grown hops for about 11 years.

 

Probably a fair amount of variation within varieties, too, especially if obtained from different sources. When do some varieties become oniony? I thought that happened if you wait too long.

 

I associate onion with skunk. I believe both contain mercaptans or some such thing? As such, you're probably right about this actually. In the same way that light skunks a beer, it could have an effect on the lupulin if the sun is shining on the hops for too long? That would be my theory anyway (I haven't Googled it but feel free). So maybe there really is a limit to how long before we should harvest. How long is too long? I don't know. Maybe a week, maybe a whole month? Anyway, I believe it is typical for any onion character to fade away after the first couple weeks in the bottle or keg too in most cases? I can't say I've experienced this but have heard it from others. Many say "don't fear the onion" as it will be gone soon enough. So this may all be moot.

 

Google got me to a homebrew talk thread where people talk about oniony developing in summit the longer it stays on the vine. No personal experience

 

No, you need fermentation, as the yeast produce riboflavin that is a catalyst for the skulking reaction.

The onion/garlic aroma is a sulfur compound.

 

I think it's warrior based on how light green it is and how many "flaps" on the bud there is. warrior has less "flaps" than willamette.