Hop Growing 2012

[fego]

My EKG are looking good but have zero oils or aroma yet...

[Manx Guy]

Nice!

I have flowers (on my First Gold) but no cones as yet, but the number of flowers is a promising sign!



Cheers!


Guy

[far9410]

lots of flowers on my northdown, when ready i'm gonna chuck em all in to a brew straight from the bine!

[Swoonara]

You don't stop picking hops if it's raining (unless they're Bramling X).

Interesting stuff! - is that true for any other varieties?

[scuppeteer]

You don't stop picking hops if it's raining (unless they're Bramling X).

Interesting stuff! - is that true for any other varieties?

It depends on the cone type. Bramling X are quite fragile and if its raining really hard they get beaten up by the picking machine and turn to hop mush.
Other varieties such as Target and Pilgrim have a more dense cone so can be picked in any weather, they just take a bit longer to kiln dry.
I only have experience of picking a few varieties so can't say for all other aroma style but i would imagine a similar scenario for the lighter (lose cone) hops.

[Totem]

My EKG are really loose and are starting to become papery but don't smell of anything and no hint of lupin.

[JabbA]

Funnily enough mine look just the same Totem

As Scuppeteer said after I pulled down my Fuggles down too early: EKG are a later cropper- mine haven't shown any sign of going brown, my Challenger that are said to be a early cropper have *just* started to turn and I think I might harvest them this weekend.

Cheers,
Jamie

[Totem]

Funny that JabbA my Saaz don't have any flowers but its a first year pot job. Thinking i might get them in the ground next year, same for the EKG. How many bines did your EKG produce, i got about 7 but 3 have died and a few more have sprung up as new shoots in the pot.

[Cazamodo]

I have a Fuggles, EKG, and Challenger. the Challenger and fuggles have only two bines and very few cones forming, however I picked 500g worth of EKG a couple of days ago! they had started to brown and had alot of lupilin inside so I hope they were ready. I only had one main bine on that plant two. mine are all in pots, but got a very poor start. i have big plans for them next year now the first year poor harvest in almost done haha.

[JabbA]

Funny that JabbA my Saaz don't have any flowers but its a first year pot job. Thinking i might get them in the ground next year, same for the EKG. How many bines did your EKG produce, i got about 7 but 3 have died and a few more have sprung up as new shoots in the pot.

I got 3 strong bines, planting them in the ground. I noticed that they only grew to half the height of my Fuggles and Challenger I planted last year. I had a good look this morning had both the EKG and Challenger have a good amount of lupine and both smell really good! Maybe they'll do better in the ground?

Here's a pick of my EKG:


The cone is much more 'open' than Fuggles and Challenger.

Cheers,
Jamie

[JabbA]

I have a Fuggles, EKG, and Challenger.

SNAP!

How are you drying them Caz? I find a piece of voile strung up in the loft lined with newspaper does the trick for me.

Cheers,
Jamie

[WishboneBrewery]

here's my Challenger & Fuggles plants which I picked the other day, I decided to vac-pack and freeze.

IMG_0797 by pdtnc, on Flickr

IMG_0798 by pdtnc, on Flickr

IMG_0799 by pdtnc, on Flickr

IMG_0802 by pdtnc, on Flickr

IMG_0804 by pdtnc, on Flickr
I got 1.1kg of a mixture of Fuggles & Challenger, all the bines were entangles so I just picked the lot.

[Thorbz]

I`m about to harvest my first crop of WGV and Progress hops. They don`t appear to be as ripe as PDTNC`s, as they`re still mostly green, but are fragrant if I open them a little. Another few days should see them ready.

On a related note, wild hops seem to have had a dismal year locally ( I`m in Cambridgeshire ). The local hedgerows are normally heaving, but I could only find one bine which had produced cones.

[crafty john]

here's my Challenger & Fuggles plants which I picked the other day, I decided to vac-pack and freeze.

IMG_0797 by pdtnc, on Flickr

IMG_0798 by pdtnc, on Flickr

IMG_0799 by pdtnc, on Flickr

IMG_0802 by pdtnc, on Flickr

IMG_0804 by pdtnc, on Flickr
I got 1.1kg of a mixture of Fuggles & Challenger, all the bines were entangles so I just picked the lot.

Did you freeze them fresh or dry?

[WishboneBrewery]

Fresh, I'm sure I've read somewhere that you can freeze them fresh, so I did.