This is the 3rd year for my Cascades. They are going gangbusters as you can see. They have a lot of Lupulin and smell incredible. I did get sick of trimming back all the shoots that kept coming up. I had to do it basically every other day. So, I just let it go about 2 weeks or so ago. And, the new shoots are producing more hops, so I guess that's a good thing? How in the world does a hop farm keep the shoots at bay in such a large operation?
The hop plant in my backyard, technically my wife's plant since it was gifted to her as a birthday present from my sister, is doing well this year. It is mostly an ornamental plant growing over an arched trellis: It is just in the flowering stage now: I do not let the hop cones go 'to waste' and I use them every year to brew a wet hopped beer I brands as Gary's Harvest Ale. We typically brew in the middle of September. You can read all about it here: https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Brewing_Fresh_Hops Cheers!
Some of my varieties have died. Only cascade and centennial producing. Not sure if age (over 20 years old} or spotted lantern flies hurt them.
My hops (all Goldings) are doing fair+. I didn't tend to them as much as in prior seasons. Even so, they'll probably produce enough to enhance a brew, but maybe not enough to be the full hops bill.
Harvested yesterday, currently brewing my wet hop IPA currently. Heating up the mash/sparge water. Along with the wet Cascade/Chinook blend for whirlpool, also using a mix of CTZ, Strata and HBC 586 "Krush".
