Identifying Hops by Appearance

There is a portion in the Siebel institute's concise course on brewing technology on hop cone appearance. It's a rather inexact method though, but they could be some standout varietal. I have a pdf from Hop growers of America that has several good cone pictures that may help, if you'd like me to send it to you.

 

Brew with them & see. Sounds like some fun detective work.

 

I could smell Columbus hops a mile away. This could help on aroma, by sight I'm not so sure.

http://www.homebrewstuff.com/hop-profiles

 

Your best bet is to check the leaves on the plants. I have noticed, growing my own hops, that each hop variety has subtle variations in leaves. Currently growing cascade and chinook and they have two very distinct leaf structures (Lobed vs simple, toothed vs. smooth, etc.)

 

The previous owner was growing "hops" in their backyard eh?

 

I recently went to a food book/magazine fair and got a print of an array of different kinds of hops that looks like a page out of an old-school botany text. I really have no idea how accurate it is but I'll try to get a good picture of it tomorrow and post it here.

 

I think this is code for the hop plant's cousin.

 

I once tried to grow some "hops" in my closet...

 

There are 10 varieties in my backyard. Cones on the same plant can have a wide variation, some have a more distinct shape, but not always. Leaves on the plant can have 0 to 5 lobes. Some bines have redish stripes on them, but if it is on Hallertau and its derivatives, how do you tell them apart?

An expert grower might be able to tell with some accuracy. The universities rely on DNA testing to really tell what the hop is.

 

It was suggested above to brew with them to try to determine their variety. It might be easier to make a tea with them to see if you can recognize taste or aroma.

 

There are definitive charts with descriptions about the various hops, but it still would not be an easy thing to do for most of us. I suspect there are BA'ers who have a good degree of skill to narrow it down.

 

I'm interested to see what you find out. I planted my first bines this year so I would have no clue what things look like. I should know the difference between chinook and cascade hops soon though. I hope people post good charts/photos, super interested.

 

Isn't hop harvest season in the fall, not spring? Seems a strange time of year for this thread if it really is hops and not "hops" we're talking about

 

Hops are ready to pick from mid August to the end of Sept. Varieties, location, weather and other variables can swing that timing either way by weeks.

 

That was kinda my point... it's June.