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Author Topic: 2017 Season  (Read 5016 times)

Offline Ale Farmer

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2017 Season
« on: April 16, 2017, 07:35:31 pm »
Who needs jelly beans.... Saw today the first growth of my three hops plants--Northern Brewer, Perle, and East Kent Golding. (I live in Western Massachusetts: snow 2 weeks ago, 80s today....) Last year, they all came up at different times over two weeks, but this year they've developed more team spirit, it seems. Maybe it's because I did a better job of covering them last fall with mulch? This will be the third year for my plants--should be a good year. Now, if I can only do a better job of harvesting them at the right time....
George

Brew and grow...

Bottled: Belgian May Ale, APA, Wit, Pilsner, Rye Pale Ale, Pale Irish Ale, Dark Mild, Brown Porter, English Pale Ale, Amber Ale

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Next Brews: English Pale Ale, Spruce Porter, Brown Ale

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2017, 09:11:29 am »
At this point the plants are established in the ground and you should get a lot of good growth.

I'm jealous you're in a place where EKG grows successfully.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

Offline erockrph

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2017, 03:39:03 am »
This is year two for my Sterling, Pacific Gem and Sorachi Ace plants. The recent hot weather set them all into action. I noticed several bines poking through the soil on each of them today, and had to move them from their winter location out to where I grow them in season (they're in containers).

Year 1 went pretty well, so I'm looking forward to a good season. I need to move them to larger planters soon before they start taking off.
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline jjpeanasky

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2017, 03:45:21 am »
Super excited! I received my hop plants/crowns from Great Lakes Hops last Thursday and got them planted right away. The Comet already has bines close to a foot long! The Chinook started out a bit slower, but was smaller to begin with. It's just now starting to send up a small bine, and I'm hoping the sun and occasional rain this weekend will help it out.

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2017, 09:28:41 am »
At the start of the season my Mt. Hood and Cascade exploded out of the ground as usual. This year I decided to try trimming the first round of shoots, which I have never done before. Now those two plants are growing pretty lazily while the Nugget and Sterling, which are normally slow growers, are outpacing them with longer and thicker bines with full mature leaves.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

Offline EnkAMania

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2017, 09:58:32 am »
Taking a shot at growing hops.  Planted centennials on Saturday and we've got quite a bit of rain since then. 
Some day we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny

Offline PharmBrewer

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #6 on: April 20, 2017, 04:01:35 pm »
Just arrived by mail from Territorial Seed Gardens: Cascade, Willamette, Mt. Hood and Kent Goldings.  Super excited to see how these do in my backyard in Beaverton, Oregon.

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« Last Edit: April 20, 2017, 06:26:16 pm by PharmBrewer »
Jim
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Member: Beaverton Homebrew Club, Oregon Mainbrew Guild, AHA
"Chance favors the prepared mind" - Blaise Pascal

Offline el_capitan

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2017, 11:00:37 pm »
Just arrived by mail from Territorial Seed Gardens: Cascade, Willamette, Mt. Hood and Kent Goldings.  Super excited to see how these do in my backyard in Beaverton, Oregon.

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Beaverton, eh?  Well have you heard Todd Snider's story about his days on the Beaverton HS Football Team?  If not, here you go.  Todd Snider is one of my faves.

As for hops, here in Minnesota, I'm having one of my best years ever.  With all of this rain, my hops were at full height on my 17-ft trellis by the end of June!  Now I'm looking at really nice cones on all 10 of my plants.  The Sterling is still in the burr stage, but they're all just loaded.  I better go snap some pics for you guys.  Seems like hops growing is kind of dying out in the homebrewer community, but I still enjoy it.  Cheers.   

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2017, 09:43:18 pm »
We had kind of a weird growing season. Usually the hops are 5-6 feet in the air by mid-April when the rain starts after which the spider mites show up and absolutely destroy the plants. Then I start spraying with neem oil and the bines rebound. This year we didn't get a lot of rain but the hops grew pretty well into the summer. Burrs everywhere. Then we got a solid amount of rain late June and the spider mites showed up and destroyed the bines. There's still some growth but most of the bines are stunted and too underdeveloped for burrs. So expecting basically nothing this year. The growing season extends to October, sometimes November so maybe there's still time.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

Offline Wilbur

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2017, 07:48:00 am »
That's a bummer. Mine usually get eaten up by Japanese beetles, but only at the top where it's sunny. I've had pretty good growth from 2 of 3 of my plants (Columbus). I'm thinking about adding in another variety, maybe Pacific Gem or something from Great Lakes Hops.

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2017, 11:32:07 am »
I've always had a rough go at it--often I wonder why I keep trying. I have to keep the bines below the fence line due to the HOA. I can't hide taller bines with the location of my house. Between the spider mites, lower latitude and keeping them on a low trellis I normally get small harvests of small, underdeveloped cones. I'd give it up but next year I'm moving to Denver and will have better circumstances to grow them out. I'm told they also have spider mites but one of three problems is a lot easier to deal with.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

Offline erockrph

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2017, 03:47:38 pm »
The alternating wet & cool weather we've had all summer has put the brakes on pretty much everything growing up here, including my hops. Unfortunately, we had a dry snap while I was away for a few days and that killed off most of the growth high up on my bines (I grow mine in large planters). The plants aren't dead (the low growth is doing fine), but I don't think I'll get a harvest this year,

Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline Ale Farmer

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Re: 2017 Season
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2017, 08:34:45 pm »
"The alternating wet & cool weather we've had all summer has put the brakes on pretty much everything growing up here, including my hops."

This is my experience this year, too--I live in Western Massachusetts. I had great hopes for my three hop plants (Northern Brewer, Perle, and EKG) because it is their third year, and I heard year three typically produces a bumper crop. But it ended up being more or less like year two.

The most difficult aspect of hop growing, for me, is knowing when to harvest. Last year, I harvested too late--and so, surprise surprise, I think I harvested too early this year. I did the "split test" that I read about: pulling apart a cone to see if it splits right down the middle, and it did, but even after the cones were dried, they didn't seem too fragrant. Nevertheless, they're vacuumed sealed and in the freezer and will be added to recipes using pellet hops.

I haven't lost the faith: looking forward to better results next year.

George

Brew and grow...

Bottled: Belgian May Ale, APA, Wit, Pilsner, Rye Pale Ale, Pale Irish Ale, Dark Mild, Brown Porter, English Pale Ale, Amber Ale

Fermenting:

Next Brews: English Pale Ale, Spruce Porter, Brown Ale