This page contains information about my home hop growing project, as well as other hop grower's experiences.  More to come.   Please contact me via e-mail here if you are interested in contributing.

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My hops yard. Early May, 1997.  From far to near: Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook.

Later that same year, early August.

The obvious engineering flaw in the structure is evident.  The poles bowed inward from the weight of the hops.  This in turn caused the hops to bunch up at the bottom of each plant, making harvest difficult.

I hope to have photographs of the 1998 growing season online shortly, showing the improvement to the hop structure that I made.  In essence, a 16 foot 2x4" board was used across the top of the poles, creating a completely ridged box structure.  No more sag.  Or at least very little.  This year (1999), the only change that I have made is to find a thicker, completely no-stretch rope for the hops to grow up.  The last 2 years I have used cheap, 'clothes-line' cord, but I do believe that it does stretch some, maybe 6-8" under the load of a fully grown hop plant, which probably weighs in excess of 100 pounds.  This year I found what is called California Truckers Rope.  I have no idea what that means, that's just how its labeled.  It is much wider that clothesline, about 1/2".  It is a synthetic (plastic), woven rope, and is a gaudy black and orange weave.  The weave is rather large, so the plants should have lots of texture to grab onto.  Best of all, it was only 8 cents/foot.  I got it at Home Depot, a large home supply store in the US.  Check out an image of the growing structure below.

I have also made a change to the 'roster' since the photo above.   The center plant was a variety called Centennial.  From the very first year, I could tell it wasn't going to be a vigorous plant.  I gave it three years, and then dug it up and moved it.  It is now growing in a horizontal space along a chain-link fence, doing pretty much just as it always did.  In its place early last year I put a variety called Liberty.  In its very first year of growth, the Liberty outgrew the Centennial.  I didn't get much cone production from it that first year, but I have high hope for it this year.

NEWS

April 13, 1999
I had a strange feeling about the Liberty plant I mentioned above, and the way it died back last year.  I don't call myself a hop expert, but I have seen many different hops ailments and how the plants react.  The Liberty plant died back late last year all at once, not like hops usually do in the autumn.  I didn't think much of it, blaming it on the fact it was the plant's first growing season.  Well, obviously the plant had bigger problems, because it failed to return this year...a complete no-show.  I dug up the spot today, hoping to see some telling sign of its demise.  Strangely, I found no sign of ANY root system.  Nothing, nada.  I find it hard to fathom that the entire root system decayed that fast.  Oh well, no use crying over dead hops.  Now comes the task of replacing it.  I looked into what I could get locally, and found an interesting variety called Santiam.  Not a lot of information out there about this cultivar.  I am planning a separate page with data about as many hop varieties as I can come up with...check back soon.

May 10, 1999
I have added the Hop Varieties Page.  It is in a rather rough form right now... but additions, corrections and improvements will continue.

August 16, 1999
The long, hot and very dry summer continues here in the Midwest United States.  My hops are surviving like real troopers.  Today I harvested for the second time this year, from the Cascade and Chinook plants.  The new Santiam plant in my yard is doing better than expected, and may even yield a few ounces of usable cones this season.  Check out the cross-sectional scan of a Santiam cone.

Mmmm, smell that yummy lubulin!

Expect several more photos to be added here in the near future, as I have now joined the rest of computer society and finally purchased a scanner.  I am also going to try to post a small FAQ soon, to address some of the most common questions asked from beginning hops growers.

September 15, 1999
I brought in the Santiam harvest today.  Total take was 8.6 oz. wet weight.  Not bad at all for the first year's growth.  I am hoping to get enough to brew 2 five gallon batches of homebrew beer with only Santiam as the hop.  Aroma from the freshly picked cones is wonderful.  Much different from my other two plants, Cascade and Chinook.  I am looking forward to a beer made with this one, and to next year's growth and harvest, which should be a bumper crop.

Here is a scan of a representative Santiam cone.  Shorter and rounder than a Chinook cone, but larger and more heart-shaped than the almost round Cascade cone.  Inward turned bracts, and lighter green than most.

Santiam hop cone, 1999 harvest

February 16, 2000
Just waiting out the long, cold winter here in the Midwest US.  I found a roll of film that needed developing, and lo and behold, hops pics from last year.  Some have links to high-res versions.  Enjoy!

                  
Chinooks are looking fine                                                                                   Cascades are as well

                   
The growing structure, and new Santiam in middle.                                        A look at the Cascade plant,  from the ground up.

Ever wonder what is growing underground?
Well, here is a 3 year old Centennial root structure, dug up and awaiting relocation.

August 27, 2000
I am asked frequently about how I dry my hops.  Here is a photo of my usual technique: spread the hops in a single layer on a large window screen.  Suspend it several inches above the floor and place in front of a dehumidifier.  The air that is discharged from the unit passes over and under the hops.  The air is only slightly warm to the touch, probably not over 90�F.  If a dehumidifier is unavailable, an oscillating fan set on low would suffice.  A few days in this manner is enough to dry the hops to an appropriate level of moisture.  Until I get around to building a small drying oast (a vertical chest of screen bottomed drawers, warm air forced down through from the top), this technique does quite well.

Please note the tangle of wires, the Gott� cooler and the disassembled vacuum cleaner.  All completely unnecessary to successfully dry hops at home.

I have been asked a few times lately what hops look like when they first emerge in the spring.  Well, this is an extreme case, but here is a shot of my Chinook plant (a.k.a. The Monster) coming up early this spring 2001.  Click on the image for the high res version.

A BMW doing double duty as a hop dryer.  The aroma must be far superior to those cheap pine tree air fresheners. ;-)
Photo by Norm H., used with permission.

I moved all the hops, seeds and gardening links to a central location on The Nexus Links Page.

Some groovy guys tending their hops.  Gee...how may guys in hats does it take to grow hops, anyway?