I did some google searches and didn't find answers too well for my specific questions. So in just a few readings on the web, what I've found is that a typical hop rhizome/plant can produce on the low end just a few ounces of hops at harvest but on the high end of 2.5 lbs of hops for a mature plant with good growing conditions. So how does this output translate into quantities of beer production? How many beers can be produced with say and average of 1 lbs of hops just as an average to work with? I've been contemplating about tinkering with backyard hop growing, but was wondering how many plants I should start with to make it worth while. I have a few home brewing friends/family that I could provide harvest too if I can grow proper amounts to make batches. Also what about investing in larger scale hop farming production? How large of a hop farm/harvest would a typical small/medium sized craft brewer be interested in contracting for? Just wondering what anyone may know in this subject matter.
oz or two per six gallon batch. It is dried first so it does store well in air tight containers. Growing a lot is key because you can store what you do not use. A large scale hop farm like any other requires a serious investment in tools, land, equipment, fertilizer, trellis supplies etc... I hope you know a good banker willing to go out on a limb with you. good luck
BM me if you'd like. We've gotten into it quite heavily. Lots to learn yet be we have a handle on the basics.
Well our county fair is next month, so I'm sure I can network there to find a contact person locally whom knows a thing or 2 about it. Is a 6 gallon batch a standard home brew kits batch size? So a couple oz. of hops per 6 gallons seems pretty decent. 1 plant on low end of production produces at least enough for 1 batch a year. Get a few plants going better production and I'd guess you could at least supply your annual home brewing needs with just a small handful of backyard plants.
It is difficult to answer your question regarding the quantity of hops in a batch due to huge variability across beer styles. As an example, I have brewed lower gravity ales with 2 ounces of hops but also just bottled an IPA that contained 8 ounces of hops.
Thanks. As you can tell I'm a complete novice to the brewing process. The one guy I know that homebrews (just started in last year) but makes a killer honey wheat ale that he's really dialed in nicely after a few batches. Has his own bee hive system going to produce the honey as well. Its more balanced and malty with slight hop crispness so I'd guess that style gets a lower end of the hop spectrum compared to a 2xIPA. Of course we need to figure out the correct hops that will work for that style or else he'll have to try a different style that work better with the hops I may grow (or I could sell/trade my hops with other local home brewers).
