How are your hops doing?

[Brewer Gerard]

Mine seem to be way behind last year. Only just flowering. Saw a thread on the web. Fella in engerland harvesting already. Thoughts?

[Shane Phelan]

Is he in the south of England?

[Tom]

Some early cropping varieties in the south of England may well be ready now. Over here we're more like September. For everything.

[delzep]

Flying 
Fuggles by the way

[brenmurph]

absolutely bombin it this year, theres going to b a busy hop picking fest in oct

[Covey]

guys where would i get a Cascade Rhizome, i know its too late for this year.

[Brewer Gerard]

I'll give ya one if ya want. I'm kilkenny mind.

My fuggles are nowhere near what you have there. Do yis feed em much guys?

[brenmurph]

Rotten grass till summer den chicken manure when throwin out flowers. We hav bumper crop dis year dunno weder if feed or climate....all we know id dere wil b lots of hop pickin on oct 4th

[delzep]

I'll give ya one if ya want. I'm kilkenny mind.

My fuggles are nowhere near what you have there. Do yis feed em much guys?

Plenty of water (which isn't difficult  ) and thats it for me

[LordEoin]

Rotten grass till summer den chicken manure when throwin out flowers. We hav bumper crop dis year dunno weder if feed or climate....all we know id dere wil b lots of hop pickin on oct 4th

Probably the feed. All i did to mine this year was thin them out and an occasional watering, and it looks like i've about half the flowers of last year when I had chickens.

[bigvalen]

When do you plant them? I'd ... Love to give that a go.

[auralabuse]

After you pick them is there a process to get them ready before you add them to beer?,  I have a polytunnel waiting for some crops,  thinking this would be one of them

[Shanna]

Mine are flying it as you can see. Excuse the poor quality but it was sunny when I took the photo and there is a perspexs plastic sheet above the hops that is reflecting the light back down. Some of the hops are approach 5-6cm in length. I put it down to a liberal application of half of a bucket of chicken shite that I got from Fishjam earlier in the year. Brendan Murph assured me last year that this is the key to a bumper crop would work and I can't fault him thus far.

Shanna

[ronanp]

it's a windy day here today and i am realizing the spot i had planned for some hoped for future hop plants is quite windy. How hardy are they to wind?

thanks
ronan

[beerfly]

After you pick them is there a process to get them ready before you add them to beer?,  I have a polytunnel waiting for some crops,  thinking this would be one of them

you can dry and/or freeze them to keep them.  you can fire them right into the boil fresh but you need to use about 4-6x as much depending on how fresh or dry they are


mine is running 5-10m horizontally and have been jumping about in the wind but seem fine. they are hardy enough