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Date: 13 Jul 2006 08:04:35
From: speckking
Subject: harvesting hops
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I decided to try growing hops. I got a cascade and a fuggles rhyzome
from Freshops.com and planted in may. THe cascade variety is struggling
but the fuggles is doing very well and already has a decent set of
flowers -- not really enough to do anything with but I didn't expect
much the first year. Still, I thought I'd learn a little bit about
harvesting this first year. The older blooms seem mature, they are
about an inch long and have been that way for a couple of weeks. I
picked one and smelled it -- no hop aroma. BUt if I crush it and peel
it open I can see the yellow lupulin glands inside and they have a nice
hop aroma. THe Freshops.com site says harvest when they begin to feel
light and papery, but having never felt them before I really can't be
sure. I know I don't want to harvest before they are mature but can I
wait until they begin to dry or brown on the plant to harvest. Just
looking for any kind of help on this.
THanks in advance,
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Date: 13 Jul 2006 09:27:37
From: Jerry Z
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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speckking wrote:
>snipped for brevity<
> ...I know I don't want to harvest before they are mature but can I
> wait until they begin to dry or brown on the plant to harvest. Just
> looking for any kind of help on this.
If you do a google image search on hops
(http://images.google.com/images?q=hops&hl=en)
you'll see some mature cones in several of the resulting pictures.
I always pick my hops when they're still green, but the cones are just
beginning to lose some of their moisture. They're not deep, dark green,
but are just perceptibly beginning to pale. This link will show you
some hops that I judge to be about ready to
harvest:(http://www.indianspringherbs.com/Images/hops.jpg)
The texture will change as they mature, as well -- think less spongy,
more papery. Don't wait until they get brittle to harvest, though, or
they'll shatter as you pick them.
If you let them get to the point that they look like the cones in this
image
(http://www.museums.org.za/bio/images/enb6/enb06291x.jpg)
you've let them go too long. You don't want a lot of brown spots. A few
are tolerable, especially if your crop is sparse and you need all the
cones you can harvest, but brown spots should not be present on the
bulk of the cones you plan to use for brewing.
Good luck.
Jerry
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Date: 14 Jul 2006 00:07:09
From: John Heubel
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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Good post, but I'll add this.
If you're familiar with the Crayola 64 pack of crayons this may help. The
yellow of the lupulin sacks shouldn't be a very pale yellow (canary) but
should be a full yellow to slightly orangish for full ripeness
(orange-yellow IIRC, the lighter of the orange-yellow / yellow-orange
crayons). Crushing the sacks will definitely yield a sticky resin and full
aroma of ripe cones, not so much for underripe. If you let them go too far,
they'll start smelling like cheese curls. As it's you're first year and
you're not expecting much anyway, let some go to varying ages and sample
along the way so that you know the perfect ripeness for your conditions.
John
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Date: 13 Jul 2006 19:06:18
From:
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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Wow, Jerry, that is a great post! I'm looking to pick my first 'real'
harvest of my Cascades and this really helps. Last year was their
first year and I actually had about an ounce of hops when dried! But I
really believe that last year I waited too long to harvest, especially
now that I see your last picture there.
Thanks! :)
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Date: 13 Jul 2006 11:32:35
From: speckking
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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Jerry Z wrote:
> speckking wrote:
> >snipped for brevity<
> > ...I know I don't want to harvest before they are mature but can I
> > wait until they begin to dry or brown on the plant to harvest. Just
> > looking for any kind of help on this.
>
>
> If you do a google image search on hops
> (http://images.google.com/images?q=hops&hl=en)
> you'll see some mature cones in several of the resulting pictures.
>
> I always pick my hops when they're still green, but the cones are just
> beginning to lose some of their moisture. They're not deep, dark green,
> but are just perceptibly beginning to pale. This link will show you
> some hops that I judge to be about ready to
> harvest:(http://www.indianspringherbs.com/Images/hops.jpg)
>
> The texture will change as they mature, as well -- think less spongy,
> more papery. Don't wait until they get brittle to harvest, though, or
> they'll shatter as you pick them.
>
> If you let them get to the point that they look like the cones in this
> image
> (http://www.museums.org.za/bio/images/enb6/enb06291x.jpg)
> you've let them go too long. You don't want a lot of brown spots. A few
> are tolerable, especially if your crop is sparse and you need all the
> cones you can harvest, but brown spots should not be present on the
> bulk of the cones you plan to use for brewing.
>
> Good luck.
>
> Jerry
These links were very informative. Thanks! Based on this I think the
ripest cones are not quite ready yet, but close.
Lewis
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Date: 14 Jul 2006 07:10:27
From: speckking
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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John Heubel wrote:
> Good post, but I'll add this.
>
> If you're familiar with the Crayola 64 pack of crayons this may help. The
> yellow of the lupulin sacks shouldn't be a very pale yellow (canary) but
> should be a full yellow to slightly orangish for full ripeness
> (orange-yellow IIRC, the lighter of the orange-yellow / yellow-orange
> crayons). Crushing the sacks will definitely yield a sticky resin and full
> aroma of ripe cones, not so much for underripe. If you let them go too far,
> they'll start smelling like cheese curls. As it's you're first year and
> you're not expecting much anyway, let some go to varying ages and sample
> along the way so that you know the perfect ripeness for your conditions.
>
> John
When I crushed and opened the cones the lupulin sacks looked, to the
naked eye, like a fine pale yellow powder. When I rubbed the powder I
did get the hop aroma but it was not very pronounced. I'll try sampling
at different stages of ripeness to be prepared for next years harvest.
By the way, I live in Baton Rouge, La, where it is hot and very humid
so I didn't have high expectations. So far the Fuggles variety seems to
be thriving.
Lewis
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Date: 14 Jul 2006 05:15:10
From: Scotty B
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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John Heubel wrote:
> Good post, but I'll add this.
>
> If you're familiar with the Crayola 64 pack of crayons this may help. The
> yellow of the lupulin sacks shouldn't be a very pale yellow (canary) but
> should be a full yellow to slightly orangish for full ripeness
> (orange-yellow IIRC, the lighter of the orange-yellow / yellow-orange
> crayons). Crushing the sacks will definitely yield a sticky resin and full
> aroma of ripe cones, not so much for underripe. If you let them go too far,
> they'll start smelling like cheese curls. As it's you're first year and
> you're not expecting much anyway, let some go to varying ages and sample
> along the way so that you know the perfect ripeness for your conditions.
>
> John
I don't grow my own hops, but the thought has crossed my mind from time
to time. I haven't researched the topic yet, but I was wondering, what
steps would a person follow after they have picked the hops to prepare
them for use in brewing? (if it is very complicated, perhaps you could
lead me to a good source of information?)
Scotty B
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Date: 14 Jul 2006 20:41:11
From: John Heubel
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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"Scotty B" <michaellasalle@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1152879310.523112.231800@35g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
> John Heubel wrote:
> I don't grow my own hops, but the thought has crossed my mind from time
> to time. I haven't researched the topic yet, but I was wondering, what
> steps would a person follow after they have picked the hops to prepare
> them for use in brewing? (if it is very complicated, perhaps you could
> lead me to a good source of information?)
>
> Scotty B
>
_Homebrewer's Garden_ by Fisher and Fisher and _Homegrown Hops_ by David
Beach are good resources.
Basically, you need a way to dry them and then to store them.
I built an oast like pictured in Fishers' book, but it's also similar to the
other. A used hairdryer powers it. This makes for a fairly speedy drying
and I can dry a large quantity of hops at one time. Others use dehydraters
(very small scale) or just plain screens to lay the hops on and dry
naturally. This would work fine in a dry climate, but I doubt it would do
well in a humid one.
Once dry, you want to keep them away from oxygen. A friend I taught to
brew, when moving, ended up giving me a Vacuum sealer which works great.
Before I used that method, I would pack the hops into Ziplock FREEZER bags
(thicker, better protection), seal it most of the way, then place a heavy
book on top of the bag and kneel on it while zipping the rest of the way.
This got as much O2 out as was feasible for the time I wanted to expend.
If you have a kegging setup, another option would be to do a CO2 flush, but
I personally don't think it necessary. I've also stored small quantities in
mason jars.
I place mine in the freezer. If they're not dry enough, you'll get ice
crystals in the bags/jars. A quick way to tell if they're dry is to "snap"
a dried stem. If it bends much before snapping, dry them longer.
--
John Heubel
remove the obvious for replies
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Date: 17 Jul 2006 05:14:01
From: Jerry Z
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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John Heubel wrote:
> _Homebrewer's Garden_ by Fisher and Fisher and _Homegrown Hops_ by David
> Beach are good resources.
>
> Basically, you need a way to dry them and then to store them.
>>SNIPPED<<
Excellent advice. I've not seen a copy of _Homebrewer's Garden_ yet,
but I can attest to the value of reading _Homegrown Hops_. I nearly
wore out my copy in the first couple years of planting and harvesting
hops.
FWIW, I built a large screen panel, (4'x4'), upon which I dry my hops.
I simply mount it across some vertical supports, and place a fan
underneath, blowing up though the cones. I always keep the cones in a
single layer to expedite drying. They're generally dry in a day's time,
though in extra humid conditions it might take a second day on the
screen to dry them satisfactorily.
I envy hopsters with vacuum sealers. Until I can convince the wife that
I *need* one, I'm still using the kneel-on-a-book technique. I do,
however, wrap a tight layer of freezer paper around my full freezer
bags, if I expect to store them for a long time. Reduces the chance of
air seeping back into the bags and minimizes exposure to light.
Jerry
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Date: 21 Jul 2006 11:36:46
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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"Jerry Z" <jerryzeidler@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1153138441.298137.201060@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> I envy hopsters with vacuum sealers. Until I can convince the wife that
> I *need* one, I'm still using the kneel-on-a-book technique.
Tell her you can save money on buying meats and foods that can be frozen in
bulk. I bought mine for that purpose way before I started brewing.
Gerard
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Date: 17 Jul 2006 12:38:00
From: Scotty B
Subject: Re: harvesting hops
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Thanks for the info guys. I happen to have a food dehydrator, so I will
probably end up trying that if I ever do grow my own hops. But I'll be
sure to check out one or both of the books.
Thanks again,
Scotty B
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