Growing Hops 2021

Finally have burrs on the hallertau mittelfruh, none yet on centennial. Plants in good health, no aphids after I sprayed them when I noticed a few. Might actually water them too, we've had about half the usual rainfall for the last two months

 

So here's an update. My Cascades are doing great, lots of small cones which is very encouraging for year 1 bines. Magnum has a few cones, Sterling is trying hard to catch up to Cascades, and Willamette is still only 4' tall, but very bushy(no cones or burrs yet). We have also had some drought relief-so far since March we've had almost 4 inches of rain and temps have been much lower than last year.

 

Finally getting some burrs on my Cashmere and Alpharoma. Hallertau MF kinda sputtered out after the iron deficiency. It’s funny that the Hallertau started off as my strongest and now I’m thinking it won’t produce anything this year.

 

This being my first (potential) yield of any substance, I've been looking for info on indicators of when to harvest. Most say something along the lines of papery, spring back to shape when squeezed, bright yellow lupulin, browning edges of cone leaves and hoppy aroma

The Fall Hop Harvest Guidelines by Brewer's Friend (linked below) has what looks to be a decent description and a few pics. In the opinion of you folks with a homegrown hops jones, are those pics consistent with what they look like when you pick?
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/09/29/fall-hop-harvest-guidelines/

 

In past correspondence with Stan Hieronymus (he wrote the book on Hops) he advised me to harvest when the hop cone is about 30% browned. I have been doing this ever since and FWIW I am satisfied in doing so.

Hopefully you will hear from other hop 'farmers'.

Cheers!

 

If you want to get fancy, take a good amount, 100 grams or so, and dry them until they can't get dryer. Weigh them after and see what the percent dry matter is. When you are around 20-25% that is when you harvest. And then dry them to about 33% of their starting weight, or 10% moisture left.

I find that the browner, like what Jack states, my hops are the more garlic I get from them, so I shoot for the last weekend in August or the first in September to harvest mine when there isn't a lot of brown. I am going to dry to be more specific with it this year as I plan to get some tested.

 

Yeah, also I don’t wait till they are brow,. When they are crinkly when squeezed then I dry them till they are very dry. Works for me, not scientific method tho

 

Good to know. With my small yield I probably won’t get that fancy, but one never knows.

 

Never perceived "garlic" in any of my beers brewed with my hops but it is likely each variety is different in this regard.

Cheers!

 

Papery is the way I think of them, usually still light green. Some will be browned a bit from wind damage though. Also rubbing them, they should be pretty sticky and very aromatic from the lupulin

 

My chinooks are maturing way behind the rest. Like they still have small fine burrs. The rest have mid mature cones.

anybody haveing that now or at any other time?

 

Earlier my Goldings were lagging a bit behind the Cascades. The Goldings bines are still shorter but producing similarly to the Cascades. Both varieties have growth ranging from burrs to full size cones (not ready to pick) on the same bine, but I'm thinking that’s normal and probably not what you’re referring to.

 

Yep, these. Chinooks are at the very early burr stage while verything else is several weeks ahead

 

Several weeks huh? Maybe you can use them to clone some Miller Ponies......

 

I always seem to have one that is very early, usually Fuggles, and then one typically Tahoma, that is very late. Fuggles will probably be picked sometime this week as lupulin is just becoming visible. Tahoma was in full burr state just last weekend or a little before. Columbus is barely starting to form cones which is late for me, but the rest are probably half way formed.

 

Both my plants still have burrs, centennial young ones just forming, hallertau mature ones, no cones yet on either. I think I usually start to pick first or second week of september

 

The enemy to my enemy is my friend?

The other day I saw a couple of wasps that were really interested in my hops. I couldn’t tell what these ladies were doing until I got up close. It looked like there were little white spheres (eggs) on the end of these newly forming leaves. These wasps appeared to be feeding on them. It also looks like a tiny worm or caterpillar to the right of the wasp on the bine.

I know they get a bad rep but they do keep a lot of pests in check.

I have a video of it but I don’t know if it is possible to post a video here.

 

Pulled the first of my Fuggle today. Perhaps a tad early, but better now than in the rain coming. In about one to two weeks will about double what came today for its best showing of 1.5oz dry

 

So I think I might have male hop plants. I'm on my 5th year having Cascade and Centennial. Centennial didn't come up this year however my cascade's grew like wild fire! Saw a few posts of other people's plants showing cones and harvesting....and mine are all bines, without a single cone whatsoever, again for the 5th year in a row. Anyone have this happen? I think I'll dig up what I can this fall and get new rhizomes in the spring.

 

Wind and extremely heavy rain brought down my hallertau managed to raise some of it off the ground, at least part of it grows along a fence so that bit should be good