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What hops would you grow if you could ???

SkyFlyer

SkyFlyer

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Dec 22, 2008
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Location
Astoria, Or. USA
Hello all!  Hope your week starts off good!  :)

I'm looking to plant some hops next month or so.
I have access to some excellent worm mulch and will have some good dirt soon!
Just curious ...
If you could plant 4 to 6 plants, what would you plant?
Right now I am doing mostly ales, but plan on getting to the more darker and bitter beers soon.
I'm not going to be able to do lagers for a while.
I am a little less than a year into brewing and started AG about 2 months ago.
What fun! (except for the carboy that slipped while washing it and broke, arghhhh!).
Have a good one ...
 
SkyFlyer said:
Hello all!  Hope your week starts off good!  :)

I'm looking to plant some hops next month or so.
I have access to some excellent worm mulch and will have some good dirt soon!
Just curious ...
If you could plant 4 to 6 plants, what would you plant?
Right now I am doing mostly ales, but plan on getting to the more darker and bitter beers soon.
I'm not going to be able to do lagers for a while.
I am a little less than a year into brewing and started AG about 2 months ago.
What fun! (except for the carboy that slipped while washing it and broke, arghhhh!).
Have a good one ...
Click to expand...

I would grow the hops my house beer uses.  I know I will always be stocking it.

Then, I would grow the hops of my second house beer.  Then, I would look to the future and decide what specialty beers I enjoy and grow the hops needed to brew them.
 
A friend has some aged vines of Cascade.  Here is NC it grows like Kudzu.  Some varieties don't grow well in our hot summers, very different from WA and OR.  So your climate may matter.

Home-grown hops are extremely light weight, it takes a lot to make any substance, and growers are usually guessing at the IBUs, so he typically uses them fresh as late additions and dry-hops.  IF that would describe your typical use, then I would select varieties best suited for late/dry additions that should grow well at your house. 
 
I planted Cascades, Magnum, Sterling and Willamette last year. Got just under a pound of Cascades and about an ounce of Magnums. (both dry weight) Looking to add another plant this year. Not sure what it'll be.
I used them this winter for brewing, and have found them to be useful even for bittering. Brewed a SNPA clone using home grown hops and it came out really close to the commercial beer.
Brew on :)
jeff
 
I will be growing cascade, mt hood, and centennial this year.  It will be my first year growing them but since the local commercial growers have good luck with them, i figured i might have some similar luck.
 
Thanks.
I guess I should have asked the locations of where each of you are growing them.
I live in Astoria, Or.
We tend to get a lot of rain, but certainly some sun.
I'll have to do research to find out which hops would do well without too much sun.
Is Amarillo hop available anywhere?
I made an ale with Amarillo hops and it turned out so good.
I'll be checking around and ordering soon.
 
I have 4 variety's in northern Arizona. This will be the third year and from all reports the best so far. Last year I harvested .4 oz of Cascade only. The current variety's are Cascade, Fuggle, Hallertau, and Willamette.

 
Cascade is uber-popular because it is a very high yield variety, same with Chinook, but I'm not big on the whole citrus and spice notes associated with those hops. 
Personally I'd be looking for Kent Golding or Fuggle, as those are my favorites for ale, but they don't have nearly the yield as the others.
Today I started my third lager (batch # 52), and I've been using noble hops pretty exclusively, but would never consider growing them.
It all depends on what you like.
 
I'd kill to grow Summit hops, but it is a patented hybrid. :(

I have Cascade, Magnum, EK Golding, 2x Centennial, Chinook
 
Czech Saaz - In Czechoslovakia!

Go with your favorite kind of aromatic hops - Hallertau, Mt. Hood, Cascade!
 
I would grow Amarillo if I could get my hands on them.  They are proprietary however, and not available to joe brewer.  Ya never know though, sometimes a rhizome slips out the back!

Cheers
 
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