Hop vines, late June, 2010.
June 2011 Update: All of the vines are growing exuberantly, with Newport, Nugget, Cascade, and Centennial furthest along and on track to yield harvestable hops in July. I've updated the varieties list below to reflect some new additions.
September 15, 2010 Update: We have lab results for AAU content for four varieties.
Chinook - 13.3 AAU per ounce
Cascade - 9.6 AAU per ounce
Sterling - 6.1 AAU per ounce
Pride of Ringwood - 9.1 AAU per ounce
The folks at the lab say that these values are normal for these varieties, with the exception of Cascade, which is higher than average.
July 23, 2010 Update: For anyone out there interest in wet, un-dried hops, the following are ready to pick: Sterling, Brewer's Gold, Willammette, Cascade, Centennial, Newport, Mount Hood, and Chinook. Deliveries will be to, and coordinated with, Tim Clark at Brew Ferment Distill (www.brewfermentdistill.com) - the best thing to happen in Sacramento lately! Deliveries of freshly dried hops to BFD will commence in early August, 2010.
Fresh beer deserves fresh hops!
--Mike
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We have approximately 400 feet of hop trellis, accomodating 120-130 plants. All were planted in March 2009. They produced significantly in 2009, gave us a moderate crop in summer 2010, and will provide a large crop in 2011.
Varieties:
Brewer's Gold
Sterling
Tettnanger
Willammette
Vojvodina
Cz Saaz
Cascade
Centennial
Challenger
Newport
Mt Hood
Nuggett
Kent Goldings
Viking
Pride of Ringwood
Chinook
Ultra
Perle
Magnum
The hops are fertilized naturally and I don't use herbicides, but I (and you) cannot legally call them "organic" because I'm not going to go through the very expensive certification process.
Perle
Magnum
The hops are fertilized naturally and I don't use herbicides, but I (and you) cannot legally call them "organic" because I'm not going to go through the very expensive certification process.
Based on number of plants and observed productivity, I'll have very high volumes of Pride of Ringwood and Cascade and high volumes of Willammette, Centennial, Newport, Mount Hood, and Chinook.
Availability will vary by variety, with fresh (wet) hops beginning in early August for Cascade.
Hops are air-dried, vacuum-packed and frozen. I have a good-sized (and solar-powered!) freezer, but it won't hold the crop; thus my goal will be to move the crop (i.e. from my freezer to yours) soon after harvest.
I'll also have rhizomes to share from most of the above. Dividing/planting window is December - March.
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