Growing hops

[Bizier]

I have just organised Chinook and (dreaded) POR to plant at a family farm (I am in the city) - I can't wait to get my hands on cascade, goldings and williamette rhizomes if I can. The prospect of wet hopping really has me excited. There is definitely something primal about that smell.

I *ahem* have never drawn any comparison between fresh hops and any other plant. I and I might just try Brew Monkey's experiments though.

[Lucky Phils]

Not hijack your thread but TL and Bizier, can ask you guys where you are getting your Rhyzomes from? I was watching Grumpie's site but now their web page directes you to Stuart Ferguson - stooferg@bigpond.com. I've sent a couple of emails but have not received any replies. Are there any other suppliers around that I can purchase from?

Thanks for your help in advance,

Phil

[Clean Brewer]

Hello,

Ive noticed there is someone on ebay selling them and they have quite a few different varieties for sale/auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CHINOOK-Hop-Rhiz ... dZViewItem

[gregb]

This has been split out from 'Im so excited thread

Cheers,
Greg

[gibbocore]

i dug up my chinook rootstock this weekend as i moved house, the thing and increased in size by about 5-6X, it was unbelieveable, had to leave half of it there and still have about a kilo of rootstock. The new owners will have a killer chinook plant in their front yard.

Oh and on smelling hops, my missus thinks i'm a weirdo how i get her to smell the freshly opened pack of flowers everytime. And the smell of boiling malt makes her ill, she gag's for all the wrong reasons

[Trough Lolly]

Not hijack your thread but TL and Bizier, can ask you guys where you are getting your Rhyzomes from? I was watching Grumpie's site but now their web page directes you to Stuart Ferguson - stooferg@bigpond.com. I've sent a couple of emails but have not received any replies. Are there any other suppliers around that I can purchase from?

Thanks for your help in advance,

Phil

G'day Phil,
I bought the Chinook and Goldings from my local HBS and then swapped cuttings to build up other varieties.
If you're nearby to a local brewclub, I'd see if anyone in the club has some cuttings or rhizomes that they'd swap for a few beers - now is a good time - plenty of us growers are moving dormant hop plants around the place and there's normally plenty of rhizomes available. I just tossed out about 2kg's of Chinook rhizomes the other weekend and a plastic back of unclaimed Goldings root stock went into the rubbish bin on last Sunday.

If you do get some root stock, wrap it up in some moist but not wet cotton wool and zip lock it in a bag and leave in the crisper until you're ready to plant the rhizome (horizontally with the white buds on the rhizome pointing upwards in about 4-6 inches of soil with some moo poo added)...

Cheers,
TL

[Lucky Phils]

Thanks TL, I'll ask around and see if I can find some, before trying to buy off Ebay and thanks CB for the suggestion.

Phil

[tazman67]

just tossed out about 2kg's of Chinook rhizomes the other weekend and a plastic back of unclaimed Goldings root stock went into the rubbish bin on last Sunday.

Awww.....you could have tossed them done my way TL

[Trough Lolly]

Awww.....you could have tossed them done my way TL

Get thee to the Derwent Valley on a spring evening and a new moon and you will find miles of hops - er, if you can get through the security fencing!!

Cheers,
TL

[tazman67]

errrr.....Are we talking Covert Ops with a army shovel ???

[buzzkill]

freshops.com

[Bizier]

all the wrong reasons

Care to elaborate?

some moo poo added)

I am planting mine up at a family farm in the blue mountains, because I live in the city. There are cows and chooks and I have a spot that gets full-sun nearly all day.

One Q.
I have read that they strike root from parts touching the ground.
I was thinking of trying to runner them by pegging bits to the ground incrementally to try to aid quick reproduction then cutting the joining stem once they are established enough. They are expensive to buy, so I want in on the swap scene - sharing the love

Any opinions on this practice?

Also, does anyone have any method of guessing/measuring the alpha content without sending it to a lab? I figure environmental variables such as nutrients and sun/water/soil largely determine the alpha level produced within the expected range.
Or do you just brew a standard recipe and just adjust the subsequent brews accordingly?

[Bizier]

Not hijack your thread but..

PM Sent

[gregb]

Also, does anyone have any method of guessing/measuring the alpha content without sending it to a lab? I figure environmental variables such as nutrients and sun/water/soil largely determine the alpha level produced within the expected range.
Or do you just brew a standard recipe and just adjust the subsequent brews accordingly?

On his pod cast a while ago, Sanders explained a process of brewing hop teas with a set quantity of a known AA%, and a set quantity of your homegrown hop and then tasting each to compare the bitterness. Repeat with more or less of your HG hop until the two teas are equally bitter. Then just some math; basically if you need twice as much then your hop has half the bitterness.

Cheers,
Greg

[rwh]

I thought you made a hop tea with each of the two hops (one known AA, the other unknown), then essentially do a titration with sugar solutions. The more sugar required to balance out the hop bittering, the more bitter the hop.

[drsmurto]

Is this an urban myth thread?

The one i read was put a hop cone in your mouth and bite into it and count back from 10. When you spit the hop out thats the approx AA%.

I would be using them for flavour and aroma where the AA% has minimal effect.

[Trough Lolly]

One Q.
I have read that they strike root from parts touching the ground.
I was thinking of trying to runner them by pegging bits to the ground incrementally to try to aid quick reproduction then cutting the joining stem once they are established enough. They are expensive to buy, so I want in on the swap scene - sharing the love

Any opinions on this practice?

Also, does anyone have any method of guessing/measuring the alpha content without sending it to a lab? I figure environmental variables such as nutrients and sun/water/soil largely determine the alpha level produced within the expected range.
Or do you just brew a standard recipe and just adjust the subsequent brews accordingly?

The root/rhizome is planted horizontally and the white shoots/buds are usually positioned to point up. So bury the rhizome no more than a few inches below the surface and cover with soil that's well fed with organic matter, including moo poo and add a thin layer of mulch to keep the frost out. After a year, you'll have plenty of lateral rootstock that you can cut up into 4 inch lengths and plant out to make a shedload of hop plants. Plant about a metre apart. You can also grow plants from cuttings of the bines and leaves that grow above ground during spring/summer. Just remember that you are unlikely to get flowers from the hop plants in their first year - that said, I have had flowers in the first year from my PoR. They grow vociferously - several inches a day is not unusual...You need to keep the water up in summer.

The latest issue of BYO mag has an article on working out the alpha acid content. I always thought that titration as rwh mentioned was a good method...If in doubt, just use your flowers for flavouring and aroma additions and buy your bittering hops so you can be more certain of your IBU levels.

Cheers,
TL

[Bizier]

put a hop cone in your mouth and bite into it

I was worried that this was a proven method... the few times I have been curious enough to try straight hop cones, I have regretted it. I don't think that I want to condition my palette to a point where I can estimate straight hops. Bleagh!
Also DR. I think that with the super alphas available, you would have to count from 15 or 20, and perhaps on a logarithmic scale, because if it was a 17, I think it would be out within milliseconds.

make a shedload of hop plants

that is what I want to hear!

[Biernut]

Went looking for Saaz yesterday and Czech Saaz seems to be unavailable in Hobart because of poor crop returns in Czechoslavakia due to drought so I am told. However I came up with some, called Summer Saaz which I suspect were grown in NZ. Smelt ok, like the real thing so I guess I can only wait and see the end result. Price of hops I am told is going through the roof and they are talking 100 bucks a kilo by the end of the year. Many hop growers are opting out in favour of other crops in Tassie as the Breweries are going for higher IBU bittering hops so they use less, making the demand untenable for some growers.


cheers all

[drsmurto]

Summer Saaz is an Aussie grown hop - Link

Gave my hop plants a shovel each of compost before the rains came so am hoping they are loving it. With any luck they will start to shoot in the next month or 2. Am just hoping the 2 goldings plants which didnt shoot last year go crazy this year.

Still debating whether to increase the height of the wire fence they are going to grow up. Its about 2m but was tempted to add another 1-2m to it. Pain in the proverbial to pick the hops but thats how they grow them commercially......