Growing dwarf hops

Post by **Andy** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 6:02 pm

I've been thinking of growing hops in my back garden as it gets a fair bit of sun and it would be nice to brew with home grown hops B)

Was looking at the dwarf hop varieties and a suitable frame for them to grow on when I stumbled upon some garden stuff Lidl are selling next week :-

http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/home.nsf/pages ... se_Obelisk

Looks just the job and only costs Ã‚Â£6!

Whaddya reckon hop growers ?

Post by **Andy** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:50 am

The marther farkers had run out of obelisks by the time I got to the store, all is not lost though! Wilkos have the same thing for a couple of quid more....

Post by **Jim** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:48 am

QUOTE (Daft as a Brush @ Mar 12 2006, 11:47 PM) I'm supprised JY didnt have anything to say...I wonder what he's up to ?
He's busy building a house, I think. Obviously a big job! B)

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:27 am

Andy, where did you get your hop plants from out of interest? I'm quite up for having a go at growing some

, although I would have to do it in a very large pot as my patio is paved.

Post by **Andy** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:54 pm

QUOTE (bitter_dave @ Mar 13 2006, 08:27 AM) Andy, where did you get your hop plants from out of interest? I'm quite up for having a go at growing some

, although I would have to do it in a very large pot as my patio is paved.
Dave, haven't bought the plants yet. Found a few suppliers via google though....

Was thinking of these http://www.hayloft-plants.co.uk/content ... 08:&Cat=83

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:05 pm

QUOTE (andy @ Mar 13 2006, 05:54 PM)Was thinking of these http://www.hayloft-plants.co.uk/content ... &Cat=83Ã‚Â

golden tassels????
are deliberately trying set off a boob-generating-frenzy?

Nice one for finding those (the hops I mean), I was just curious with what you had come up with.. this was the best I couldhttp://www.essentiallyhops.co.uk/acatalog/
but you seem to have found a better deal

Reaper · Post by **Reaper** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:40 am

Hi
how would you find out the alpha acid % of the golden tassles hops wouldnt you need this to find out to determine if you are using them for bittering or aroma, is it just trial and error.

regards Paul

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:28 am

good point!

This http://www.aplus-hops.co.uk/primadonna.htm gives broad alpha acid of their plants, although they are more expensive at a tenner (incl p&P) for one plant.

Also had a look at the UK homebrew site, and apparently a shop called http://www.thebeeressentials.co.uk/ in horsham used to sell them for Ã‚Â£1.99 a plant; unfortunately they didn't used to mail them out. I might give them a call and see if they have them this year, and see if they are willing to post them out... will let you know...

UK Homebrew seems to be a great place for info on growing hops btw

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:28 pm

Andy, not sure if you are interested but someone on the UK homebrew website is selling some goldings / fuggles hop plants. They live in Bromley, which I think is reasonably close to you - although I could be wrong. They are probably not what you want but I thought I'd mention it just in case

Post by **Andy** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:46 pm

Dave - good work! Have you called the Beer Essentials place ? Ã‚Â£1.99/plant is a bargain and it's driveable from my place.

I'm really after a dwarf hop variety (like Beer Essentials sell) as Fuggles/Goldings etc grow to silly heights and I can't be @rsed to rig up a suitable growing structure.

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:26 pm

I've not had the chance to call today as I've been at my desk all day sans phone. I sent the shop an e-mail but no response but I'll try and sort it out tomorrow and I'll let you know what he says.

The guy who mentioned it bought the plants quite a while ago (2002), but it's worth a try. To whet your appetite here are some http://www.members.aol.com/johnrkdavis/hops2005.htm of the hops he grew from the plants!

Reaper · Post by **Reaper** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:44 pm

Hi Andy
seems your going to the shop i dont suppose you fancy taking an order and posting them to me do you.

cheers Paul

Post by **Andy** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:48 pm

Hi Paul,

Don't see why not, lets see how things develop....

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:44 pm

Got a message from beer essentials:

Good Morning

Thanks for your message.

Yes I do sell hop plants and I can send them by post.

The plants are Ã‚Â£1.99 each and I just charge postage and packing at cost.

I've usually got 2 varieties:

.Primadonna/First Gold
.Golden Tassels

I sell them from around April time.

I actually buy them from one of my customers who is a nurseryman.
He should be in in the next few days so I'll ask him when they'll be ready.

Please let me know if you need any more info.

Best regards,

Gareth Jones
The Beer Essentials

:pink :pink :pink

I just spoke to him as well as i didn't see the e-mail - very nice guy. He said postage would be a 'couple of quid' plus about 50p for packaging, which seems most reasonable. I'll give him a call at the beginning of next week if I don't hear from him to get more details.

Post by **Andy** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:51 pm

Excellent work Dave!

I wonder if "prima donna/first gold" is a choice between the two or is he saying they're the same thing!

Ã‚Â£1.99 is a bargain though, I think I'll be dropping by there come April time.

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Growing dwarf hops

Growing dwarf hops