[cliebaert]

It's my first year growing hops, my plant is doing great. I went with cascade and there are buds starting to develop on the vines. Way excited. My question I have is when to harvest, and the best method to dry the hops out? Or should I wet hop a batch on beer? I live in Denver Metro area and would appreciate any advice on the topic.

[corkybstewart]

The cones are ready to pick when they start to open up a little and they feel like paper.
The best way to dry them depends on how much you have to dry at one time.  I've been picking about a gallon of cones every other week so I can dry them on an old window screen.  If they produce more than that I'll have to get creative.

[cliebaert]

Where do you dry them? How long do they sit?  Have you use a food dehydrater? If so what are the differences. Is there a link on the net to get more info?

[erockrph]

Where do you dry them? How long do they sit?  Have you use a food dehydrater? If so what are the differences. Is there a link on the net to get more info?

If you are an AHA member, the talk from this year's conference seminars on growing hops is excellent and will give you lots of useful info. There have also been some good interviews on several of the homebrew podcasts:

http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/06/29/growing-hops-with-jason-perrault-beersmith-podcast-41/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog+%28BeerSmith.com+Home+Brewing+Blog%29&utm_content=Bloglines

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=basic-brewing-radio-2012 (See 9/27/2012 episode)

[thirsty]

I have used a food dehydrator. It works great and is fast. Last year I made a large screen, put the hops on and left it in the van for a week. A hot car is bad of dogs and kids, but works great for hops. Smelled real good in there for a few days.