# Growing Hops



## clyderoad

I'm not in the midwest but they grow well here. Some farms set 30' tall posts with wire trellis for them. All of them I've seen face south.

You'll need to make a "Bee Hoppy" sign for them to grow correctly.








From Farm To Pint


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## beerbee

I grow hops in SE Iowa. Most varieties grow very well. They do need full sun though. Their bines follow the sun and wrap in a clockwise manner because of it.


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## Barry

How high are your polls? How much hops does one plant produce? More than enough to use in a 5 gal. batch of beer? Did you start yours from rhizomes?


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## Hops Brewster

Hops ought to do fine in IL, some varieties better than others. Tall fences work, but trellises will give you better results, because hops like to climb up. Fences force them to grow more horizontally. Your trellis should be at least 15 feet high, 20 is better. 

They are started from rhizomes in the spring, as soon as the soil can be worked. Those are readily available starting in about Feb, from brew shops, local home brewers, or on the internet. Good drainage is very important, so plant them in hills. Seperate plants of same variety 4 or 5 ft apart. Seperate different varieties by about 8'. 

How much you get per plant varies by variety, soil and other conditions, but a batch or 2 is not out of the question second year. Don't expect to harvest 1st year. their growth is amazing. My Nugget will climb 2 feet or more in a day during peak growth.


Y'know, I call my hops "My girls', because the flowers you want only come on the female plants. You will desroy any male hops you find in your neighborhood. Fertilized hops are no good for beer. I started hops 6 years ago and bees just this year. I grow Cascade, Nugget, Perle, and an unknown feral or wild variety from Idaho (real nice hop for bittering and aroma). I had an East Kent Golding that never produced due to dry summer heat, so I dug out the root ball.


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## cryptobrian

Hops Brewster said:


> You will desroy any male hops you find in your neighborhood. Fertilized hops are no good for beer.


How can you tell? I moved to the Pacific Northwest a year ago and have discovered some wild hops growing among my roses and climbing a swing set. If I were a better brewer I may do something with them. As it is, I suppose they may make a nice garnish. ;-)


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## danno

The only variety that I have had trouble growing up here is willimette. What I did was screw eye bolts about 20 ft off the ground on a couple of power poles on my farm. Through this I ran a 40ft pc of rope that I attached 4 pc of heavy string. These fan out and are staked next to the plants. Now at harvest time I simply untie the rope and lower all 4 vines to the ground. One problem I have is Japanese beetles.


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## WBVC

danno said:


> The only variety that I have had trouble growing up here is willimette. What I did was screw eye bolts about 20 ft off the ground on a couple of power poles on my farm. Through this I ran a 40ft pc of rope that I attached 4 pc of heavy string. These fan out and are staked next to the plants. Now at harvest time I simply untie the rope and lower all 4 vines to the ground. One problem I have is Japanese beetles.


Don't the folks that are responsible for the power poles cut them down?


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## Hops Brewster

cryptobrian said:


> How can you tell? I moved to the Pacific Northwest a year ago and have discovered some wild hops growing among my roses and climbing a swing set. If I were a better brewer I may do something with them. As it is, I suppose they may make a nice garnish. ;-)
> 
> View attachment 13100


The male's flowers look like tiny green grape clusters, where the females look similar to bunches of miniature pine cones. Fertilized hops make a nasty, astringent tasting beer. Your pic looks like it has female flowers.


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## danno

WBVC said:


> Don't the folks that are responsible for the power poles cut them down?


No The poles are not along the road. My home is a couple hundred yards off the road so these are on my property. I also tried the same thing on my silo but the ground there was to heavy with bad drainage.


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## beerbee

My poles are 16 ft 4x4's put 2.5 in the ground with concrete in a post sleeve. They will grow up and over, but that doesn't seem to affect them. I have 4 plants per pole and a system to raise and lower them. You can get 2lbs of dried hops if you fertilize and irrigate well.


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## danno

Hops is the new up and coming ag crop here in western Michigan. We have 5 farmers in this county that have planted 5 to 20 acres and the number is growing. Most are going organic and used locust and cedar for poles. I have two yards about 1/2 miles from me. I'm waiting to see how the organic yard does with the Jap beetles and if it works I will be putting in 5 acres next year. For those that don't know anything about hops, every 3rd year you dig up your root stock and split it into 2 -3 pc so you never have to buy new rhizomes.


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## Barry

They're getting so expensive it's causing me to look into growing my own.


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## Barry

beerbee said:


> You can get 2lbs of dried hops if you fertilize and irrigate well.


Does anyone know how long the fresh hops will last once picked? I mean, can they be dried and kept for a long time and still be used in brewing?


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## beedeetee

I've grown them for a few years for my son to use (I make wine and he makes beer). My support posts are 14' 4x4's bolted to an 8' 4x4 put 3 feet in the ground. So they are 14' high. When the hops get to the top of the support they just go horizontal or hang down, but it doesn't seem to phase them. When they are ripe (right now) I pick them and either give them to him fresh, if that's what he wants, or I dry them in a food dehydrator and then freeze them.

I grow Cascade and Chinook.


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## beerbee

Hops can be used fresh (within 24hrs of picking) or they need to be dried otherwise they will mold/rot. A fresh hopped beer is much different than a beer brewed with dried hops. All the beers use dried hops except in the fall you'll find a couple fresh hopped craft beers available. To vegetal for my taste though. I just lay mine on a window screen and put a fan underneath and dry outside. After I vacuum seal and freeze. Will last several months in this way.


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## Oldtimer

My son in law is an avid home brewer & has hops growing he was not too scientific just planted them anywhere there is something tall enough for them, like the side of his shed & they climb trees. He's in Australia the hops seem to grow like weeds but do need watering he's set up a dripper system. I helped him plant he started from rhizomes late winter and they just started growing at amazing speed. 

Yes they can be dried you put some in a cloth bag & put in your pillow it helps you sleep.


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## virginiawolf

I Planted in the spring about 7 years ago and they have done well since. They will get established the first year. After you cut them down and dry them you can put them in the freezer. They last a while.


Once that they are established they grow rapidly. The only problem that I have had is little inchworms eat the leaves some years. Cascade grow well here and are a nice middle of the road hop that is good for flavor, bittering, and aroma. 


I like using the homegrown hops. Fresh hops that haven't dried can impart a grassy flavor into the beer. You can also make hop tea with the hops. The smell of the hops is delicious. I run my ropes up and then across. It works.

http://www.herbal-treatment-remedies.com/hops-tea.html


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## beedeetee

I think that my son said that he just uses dried hops for all of his beers and will use fresh hops right at the end of some of his beers. So he obviously only makes those right about now.


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## danno

The problem with brewing with home grown hops is the alfa acids can change year to year so with out a expensive lab test you have to experiment on how much to use. I use pellets for bittering and flavor and my hops for aroma and for dry hopping


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## virginiawolf

I would agree Danno. I have made a few that were over bitter. A key thing to remember Barry is that once they get growing it is difficult to know what they are so what I did was I engraved into wood what the varieties are because I have several. The sharpies that I originally had used was wearing off quickly so I engraved it into the wood. I would plant more of the flavor and aroma hops because the recipes usually need more of those than the bittering hops. It is very enjoyable to grow it.


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## johno

Planted one plant 10 years ago, it now covers about 30 ft on my bee yards north fence and up to about 15 ft on some rope lines I put up for it. Dried some with a dehydrator and have kept it for about five years in a sealed plastic bag and it still smells good but have not got around to brewing yet. About those Japanese beetles you want to get some guineas they search and destroy any that they find, come to think of it I do not have any problems with small hive beetles either. 
Johno


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## clyderoad

Hops harvest in full swing today on Long Island.


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## virginiawolf

I started with my hop harvest today. Some of them are turning brown already. I am a little late.


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## Bines

I've had hops a few years now in north Texas; DFW. This is not the ideal place to grow them.

Keep them watered, but not soggy. The flooding rains we had this year flooded my backyard several times. I will not get hops this year, but the bines (  ) have survived. Seems they will grow back all growing season, so long as the root is good. 

Let them grow up as much as possible; 8+ feet, maybe 12 feet. They can be made to grow horizontal from there if need be, but yield is not improved that way. It may even be reduced. They won't bush out from being tied down. They will keep turning upward. 

Since it gets so hot here, I do not cut back the first growth. I need all the grow time I can get. So far, this has worked. 

Cut down the bines once they turn brown. Cover with mulch before the winter. They will come back. I use leaf litter, so I've not had to uncover mine. 

We have both Eastern Comma and Question Mark butterflies here. The caterpillars of both will eat hops to the ground. I pull them off and smash them. Once you get the first wave, the second is light work. There has not been a third wave in a growing season.


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## Johnnycake

Thought I'd revive this thread for 2016. My hops are in their 3rd year and are doing really well so far. I've had some Japanese beetle issues in years past but this year they seem to be nowhere to be found throughout the garden (I ain't complaining!). It's a mix of Chinook, Centennial and Cascade. The cones are already pretty sizeable- my guess is 3 weeks til harvest. Last year I got 2 rounds of cones in one season, one in early August and one in late October... go figure? Both times I wet hopped a pale ale. This year I might try and build me one of those Randal the Enamel Animal thingies out of PVC instead and try that direct "in glass" infusion from my tap for all that hoppy goodness.


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