31 replies to this topic

[Bklmt2000]

Snapped a few pics of my 6th-year Cascade plant. 

 

Some tiger lilies we brought from our last house are keeping the baby cones company:

 

Opposite view:

 

A closeup:

 

Under the hood, or, more than meets the eye:

[HVB]

Looking good, nice cones you got there!

I pulled all mine out last year.

[Genesee Ted]

Pretty ladies

[positiveContact]

isn't this super early???

[Bklmt2000]

isn't this super early???

 

It is.

 

I've noticed that in the last 1-2 years, I've gotten 2 harvests, one early (ready to pick by ~July 4th) and another ready to pick by Labor Day.

 

At the rate things are going, this initial batch of hops should be ready to pick on 4th of July weekend.

[positiveContact]

How are you drying them out?

[Bklmt2000]

How are you drying them out?

 

Got this for Christmas a couple of years back; works great:

 

https://smile.amazon...=gateway&sr=8-2

[positiveContact]

After drying how many ounces do you get from that thing?

[Bklmt2000]

Last year's harvest was a little over 1.5 lbs, dried.  Enough to keep me in Cascade for a good part of the brew year.

 

I only kept the strongest 6-8 bines, but I'd like to let more grow and get a higher yield.  That would require a better trellis/support structure than the trellis (barely visible) in the first pic.

 

Might end up relocating it to the back of our property and build a larger trellis there, but on the side of my house where it currently lives, room is limited.

[positiveContact]

Last year's harvest was a little over 1.5 lbs, dried.  Enough to keep me in Cascade for a good part of the brew year.

 

I only kept the strongest 6-8 bines, but I'd like to let more grow and get a higher yield.  That would require a better trellis/support structure than the trellis (barely visible) in the first pic.

 

Might end up relocating it to the back of our property and build a larger trellis there, but on the side of my house where it currently lives, room is limited.

 

sorry maybe not clear but I meant per load in the machine.

[Bklmt2000]

sorry maybe not clear but I meant per load in the machine.

 

Understood.  If I use all of the provided trays, I can load a solid pounds-worth (post-drying) at one time.

 

I also rotate the trays, so that the top-most get some time at the bottom near the heat source, since the heat is forced from the bottom upwards, to promote even drying.

 

I dry the hops for 4 hours total, so after an hour, the top tray goes to the bottom, and so on, until the hops are properly dried out.

 

Makes the basement smell fantastic.

[positiveContact]

Understood.  If I use all of the provided trays, I can load a solid pounds-worth (post-drying) at one time.

 

I also rotate the trays, so that the top-most get some time at the bottom near the heat source, since the heat is forced from the bottom upwards, to promote even drying.

 

I dry the hops for 4 hours total, so after an hour, the top tray goes to the bottom, and so on, until the hops are properly dried out.

 

Makes the basement smell fantastic.

 

that's a lot better than I expected.  I was thinking it might take you 7-8 loads to get that 1.5 pounds.  sounds like 2 rounds at most.

 

I always have an insane amount of hops I don't pick b/c I've never been able to effectively dry them.  I'll add a price watch on that thing and if it gets cheap enough perhaps I'll pull the trigger at some point.  I do kind of wish I could get some hops well dried and try them out before buying a device like this b/c I always wonder if something about my growing conditions creates hops that just aren't super great anyway.

Edited by Zsasz, 13 June 2019 - 03:36 AM.

[gnef]

Last year's harvest was a little over 1.5 lbs, dried.  Enough to keep me in Cascade for a good part of the brew year.

 

I only kept the strongest 6-8 bines, but I'd like to let more grow and get a higher yield.  That would require a better trellis/support structure than the trellis (barely visible) in the first pic.

 

Might end up relocating it to the back of our property and build a larger trellis there, but on the side of my house where it currently lives, room is limited.

From what I remember, if you allow the one plant to have more bines, you'll get more cones, but they will tend to be smaller, so you end up having to pick more cones for the same final weight.

 

If you really want to increase your yield, then I'd recommend doing some rhizome cuttings, and planting them separately to increase the number of plants that are growing.

[Bklmt2000]

Minor update bumpage; I'm starting a 2nd Cascade plant.

 

Was out pulling weeds this morning, and I saw a "weed" that I quickly determined was an offshoot of the  main plant, about a foot long.  I pulled it up out of the soil to inspect it, and it had lots of little root endings, with some new leaves forming where it had broken through the soil. 

 

AKA, a rhizome waiting for a new home.  So, I separated it from the main plant, and replanted it a foot away.  Gave it a good drink, and the weather people say we're due for rain this evening. Cool.

 

So in a couple of  years, I'll have more Cascade cones than I'll know what to do with.

 

First world problems, yo.

[jimdkc]

Snapped a few pics of my 6th-year Cascade plant. 

 

Some tiger lilies we brought from our last house are keeping the baby cones company:

 

 

 

 

When I was growing hops a few years back, I had the same day lilies growing next to them! (The hops are gone, still have the day lilies.)

[Bklmt2000]

First harvest came in today; filled a Meijer grocery bag (one of the white disposable ones) with cones; most of the cones were the size of a 50-cent piece.

 

Collected enough that it maxed out my food dehydrator, which is running out in the garage.  Checked on it a little while ago; the garage smells real nice.

 

Should get another harvest late next month, probably about half of what I got today.

[positiveContact]

Have you had a beer made with these yet?

[Bklmt2000]

Have you had a beer made with these yet?

 

Yes, I made a red ale last week that used ~8 oz of the above-posted hops; the recipe is here: https://brews-bros.c...2019/?p=2961965

 

Also made an APA (a clone of GLBC's Burning River Ale) that used ~4 oz of said hops for the late additions.  It's on tap now and quite tasty.

 

I also have another wave to harvest, probbaly next week.  Looks very similar to the pics in the OP.

[positiveContact]

This thread almost had me thinking of harvesting a small amount of my Cascades but when I researched online about drying techniques I see mixed reviews of the various methods.

[denny]

This thread almost had me thinking of harvesting a small amount of my Cascades but when I researched online about drying techniques I see mixed reviews of the various methods.

 

There is a lot of incorrect homebrew myth about drying hops.  For years I did it the slow way everyone talks about.  Then I went to Hop & Brew School and found the growers use 125-135F for about 3 hours.  I tried that and got much better results.