I grow hops in my backyard, Centennial and Nugget varieties. Every September, I pick them fresh off the vine, and make a batch. I use them during the boil for bittering, and in secondary for dry hopping. Every year, the flavor is the same, dominated by earthiness. Not citrus or pine like I'd expect. I work for a radio station that produces a craft beer podcast. Last year, I shared a bottle of my wet hop ale with the creator of the podcast. He noted the strong earthiness as well. The creator (Tim) was having a conversation with the brewmaster of Half Acre, and they started talking about my beer. The first thing asked by the brewmaster was "did it have an earthy flavor" to which Tim replied yes. It turns out, light pollution from the city and causes the earthy flavor to overshadow the other, more desirable characteristics of hops. Hops need complete darkness to grow correctly and bring out the strong citrus and pine flavors in the higher Alpha acid varieties. Have any other city dwelling hop growers experienced this? I'm curious to hear how your wet hop ale turned out.
Nuggets are fairly "earthy" anyway...and homegrown hops, especially when used for "wethopping" can be a little on the grassy side. I'd be interested to see any science behind the "light pollution" theory.
I haven't experienced this. The homegrown hops I've used are from a club member who lives on the back of a HS football field so the big lights shine on his hops a lot a the end of the season. But I also don't use them for wet hop beers either. My plants are working on the second season and I live out toward the country and have no street lights on my street except one a few houses down.
I am far from a plant expert... wouldn't the light pollution from street lights and such be almost immeasurable compared to sun light? are the wave lengths meaningful? this sounds like bs.
Yes and more importantly, probably not much brighter than moonlight, if at all. My BS alarm is going off too.
I wish there was some more info available on this phenomenon. And, I reiterate my original question. Have any city-dwelling hop growers experienced a similar issue?
I didn't brew with my first year cascades, but the aroma wasn't dissimilar to the packaged variety, and I have a streetlight shining right on them. I'll know more after this seasons harvest. Case in point: You can't see the hops in the picture, but they are growing toward the camera from the fence.
When you grow a different plant that's nice to smoke and is supposed to be related to hops, it's absolutely crucial that during the flowering period it gets 100% darkness for a certain amount of time or the flowers don't develop as well and are a lot less potent. So I wonder if it's similar for hops, perhaps certain flavour compounds might not be produced if the plant thinks it's still in a semi-vegetative stage rather than the flowering stage, due to excessive light pollution. We need a horticulturalist
I have used hops grown on a deck in Edison Park. There was an alley out back, but i don't know how much night light these hops were exposed to. Cascade and Chinook. I dried the hops, vacuum sealed and froze them before use. Didn't seem that much different than commercial hops. Is it possible you are harvesting too soon before full lupulin development? When i picked the hops, there was a ridiculous about of lupulin spewing out of the hops. If you want to know the best way to grown hops, read a book on how to grow MJ. My friends told me it is best to get complete darkness for optimal plant quality. The light adds stress which can cause hermaphroditic transformation, lowering the potency of the plant.
So there is absolute darkness in Germany and England? The places where benchmark hops have been grown for centuries straight up until last week? Still smells like bullshit.
Photoperiod IS very important, but let's not confuse indoor growing operations with how hops are grown.
Thought I would update since brewing with my Cascades. I can say, without a doubt, that light pollution didn't cause any of the earthy flavors or aromas to overpower the others. The wet hop APA I brewed with mine are quite floral and citrus-y...I also get a peach note, but that could be influenced a bit by the yeast. Anyway, I don't think light pollution is much of an issue, at least not in my experience.
I think there is a lot to learn before we develop a predictive understanding of why specific flavor profiles get expressed by hops. There is some evidence, so I have heard, that delayed harvest can amplify onion flavors in hops. I would love to see studies about impacts of water levels, different nutrients, and light levels.
