27 replies to this topic

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

So I took some pictures of my hops this morning and I was hoping you guys could help me figure out if/when they'll be ready. I busted one open and I couldn't smell anything that smelled like hops to me but then again I had just been handling basil so I could mostly just smell that. Other things to note - Japanese beetles beat the shit out of my plants. They seemed to mostly attack the leaves but I think they may have munched on the cones a little bit.[mod edit - image removed][mod edit - image removed][mod edit - image removed][mod edit - image removed][mod edit - image removed][mod edit - image removed][mod edit - image removed]

[DR0NE]

I do it by feel, they should be more towards papery feeling and not soft/moist like when they are new.The ones in your pics that show a little brown on them are probably there, the color changes when they ripen and if you let them go too long they will become more brown and fall apart on the plant. Check to see how those feel.BTW mine are along a fence where I can go through and get a little at a time, if you have to cut things down and harvest them all at once just wait until most of them seem ready but not past their prime.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I do it by feel, they should be more towards papery feeling and not soft/moist like when they are new.The ones in your pics that show a little brown on them are probably there, the color changes when they ripen and if you let them go too long they will become more brown and fall apart on the plant. Check to see how those feel.BTW mine are along a fence where I can go through and get a little at a time, if you have to cut things down and harvest them all at once just wait until most of them seem ready but not past their prime.

see - I wasn't sure if the browning was due to the japanese beetles or not b/c the parts that are brown tend to have small holes near them which looks like beetle damage to me...

[HVB]

I am a little south of you in mass and I am picking mine tomorrow for brewing on Friday. This last week of hot weather has really dried them out.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I am a little south of you in mass and I am picking mine tomorrow for brewing on Friday. This last week of hot weather has really dried them out.

hmmm - I could probably get a yeast starter going tonight and brew sunday but it's probably going to rain this weekend so they hops will get all wet again. looks like I'm waiting until next weekend...

[BrewerGeorge]

IMO, if they don't smell like hops yet, they're not ready. Looks to me like those brown spots are beetle damage.Rub a couple in your hands. They should be papery enough to come apart with some rubbing. If they stay whole, they're not ready. When they come apart, you should be left with a bit of lupulin on your hands - just enough to make them feel tacky - that should smell like hops. They should also probably lighten in color a bit, becoming less vibrant green and moving toward a greenish-yellow.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

IMO, if they don't smell like hops yet, they're not ready. Looks to me like those brown spots are beetle damage.Rub a couple in your hands. They should be papery enough to come apart with some rubbing. If they stay whole, they're not ready. When they come apart, you should be left with a bit of lupulin on your hands - just enough to make them feel tacky - that should smell like hops. They should also probably lighten in color a bit, becoming less vibrant green and moving toward a greenish-yellow.

roger that george

[chuck_d]

The traditional way to judge when to harvest hops is to feel the hop cones: if they have the correct texture and "rattle," they are ripe. Smelling a handful of crushed hops to check the aroma is another method of determining whether they are ready for harvest. In recent years, the dry-matter content of hops has been monitored to determine the proper harvest time. Generally, when they dry-matter content approaches 21-23%, it is time to harvest.

MBAA Practical Handbook for the Specialty Brewer Vol. 1You can also cut them down the spine and look at the lupulin glands to check their development. Though I don't know what would be a marker for harvest time I'm sure it would be fun to do

Edited by chuck_d, 20 August 2009 - 10:10 AM.

[dmtaylor]

I agree with George. I wait until the bigger ones start to turn a yellowish color. Not brown, not green, but yellow.Maybe the best advice is, if you're not sure if you should harvest yet, then don't. It won't hurt a thing to put it off longer, in fact it will help. If you harvest too early, then your hops might make your beer smell and taste like grass, and won't have as much alpha acids either (if you care about that).

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I agree with George. I wait until the bigger ones start to turn a yellowish color. Not brown, not green, but yellow.Maybe the best advice is, if you're not sure if you should harvest yet, then don't. It won't hurt a thing to put it off longer, in fact it will help. If you harvest too early, then your hops might make your beer smell and taste like grass, and won't have as much alpha acids either (if you care about that).

yeah - I think they are just starting to actually produce lupulin. this is actually better for me b/c I want to use these wet and the longer I wait the cooler my basement gets

[shmgeggie]

I agree with George. I wait until the bigger ones start to turn a yellowish color. Not brown, not green, but yellow.Maybe the best advice is, if you're not sure if you should harvest yet, then don't. It won't hurt a thing to put it off longer, in fact it will help. If you harvest too early, then your hops might make your beer smell and taste like grass, and won't have as much alpha acids either (if you care about that).

I definitely care about alpha acids. I do not subscribe to the "don't use homegrown hops for bittering" school of thought. After a batch or two, I have a pretty good handle on %AA.

[BrewerGeorge]

I definitely care about alpha acids. I do not subscribe to the "don't use homegrown hops for bittering" school of thought. After a batch or two, I have a pretty good handle on %AA.

Me too. I use 'em just like bought hops. I just estimate the AA's. Might be a little harder if I was growing Zeus or something with a wider range of variation, but I'm growing glacier. Who really cares if it's exactly 5.0 or 5.6?

[dmtaylor]

Ditto, I always use mine for bittering. Part of the fun is nailing down the alpha acid. After a couple of batches, you can get it nailed within 0.1%, then use your hops to bitter subsequent batches with ease.

[brewskee]

I just got a bunch of Nugget off of two different "farms". Usually they should feel really light, and it shouldn't take much effort to pull the flower off the vine. in fact, they should almost fall off when you gently pull on them. In any case, I always pull sooner than later since once they're brown you're just screwed.

[chuck_d]

So I'm plowing through Kunze right now and read a a bit that was apropos. In the chapter about raw materials he writes about the color of hops:

The colour should be yellowish-green and the cones should have a silky sheen. Grey-green cones indicate unripeness; yellowish-red to rust brown cones show over-ripeness (oxidation); dark brown cones indicate heating as a result of too high moisture content; redding to brown flecks indicate blight due to red spider or damage by hail; white marks on stunted or withered cones indicate an attack of mildew; blackened cones indicate an attack of black mould; bright yellow cones with a green stem indicate intesive sulphering.

Not all entirely about picking timing, but I thought the first part might be useful for judging ripeness and the rest just interesting.

Edited by chuck_d, 02 September 2009 - 03:54 PM.

[ncbeerbrewer]

So I'm plowing through Kunze right now and read a a bit that was apropos. In the chapter about raw materials he writes about the color of hops:Not all entirely about picking timing, but I thought the first part might be useful for judging ripeness and the rest just interesting.

Interesting information. I only got around 2oz of hop cones this year but mine are first year hops. I was wondering though do first year hops grow smaller than what you can expect from a second or third year plant? A lot of mine were brown I thought the intense heat made them that way. I tried to water only but twice a week so I didn't think there was too much water. Anyways it has been a good first year. I will have to keep this post as reference for future plants.

[DR0NE]

Interesting information. I only got around 2oz of hop cones this year but mine are first year hops. I was wondering though do first year hops grow smaller than what you can expect from a second or third year plant? A lot of mine were brown I thought the intense heat made them that way. I tried to water only but twice a week so I didn't think there was too much water. Anyways it has been a good first year. I will have to keep this post as reference for future plants.

If you want to compare notes I started last year with 3 Cascade rhizomes. Looking at my notes that yielded about 3-4 ounces dried. I grow mine along a fence and deck and they only had about 8-10 feet to grow vertically. I live in VA outside of DC.This season I propogated to 3 new spots and had the 3 second year plants (6 total). I don't expect any real amount on the new plants, but they took off well and did produce a little. On the second year plants I harvested about a half pound a few weeks ago. It looks like a lot more are ready and I bet I will wind up with at least a pound total when dried, maybe two. I did water a lot during the dry spell we had for July/August. Second year plants definitely produce more cones and the cones are probably a little bigger on average.

[ncbeerbrewer]

If you want to compare notes I started last year with 3 Cascade rhizomes. Looking at my notes that yielded about 3-4 ounces dried. I grow mine along a fence and deck and they only had about 8-10 feet to grow vertically. I live in VA outside of DC.This season I propogated to 3 new spots and had the 3 second year plants (6 total). I don't expect any real amount on the new plants, but they took off well and did produce a little. On the second year plants I harvested about a half pound a few weeks ago. It looks like a lot more are ready and I bet I will wind up with at least a pound total when dried, maybe two. I did water a lot during the dry spell we had for July/August. Second year plants definitely produce more cones and the cones are probably a little bigger on average.

Drone. That sounds good. Yes I would love to compare notes and we are rougly in the same geographical area as well. The cones that I have gotten while good quality have been smaller than I expected. I have a lot that browned out as well. I planted 5 zomes and 4 took off. I figure next year to plant more varieties and more zomes. This year was just to see if I could do it and it has been really fun too. I have one zome of Nugget that grew about 8-10 feet,vine is green as can be but there are no hops to speak of. I figure next year that will change as well. I didn't expect to get any hops from any of the plants this year either.

[BrewerGeorge]

I harvested mine Tuesday night. I don't know how you folks with 6+ plants do it. Picking hops is SO MUCH work. Sure, you can sit down while doing it, but it took me over two hours to harvest just one plant. I probably got 2-3 oz after they dry. So two hours work for $9 worth of hops purchased singly or $4 in bulk. Hard to justify from a purely financial standpoint, but I do still like the idea of growing some of my own, so I'll keep it up. I just can't imagine spending 12+ hours picking hops like some of you with all those different plants must do.

[HVB]

Mine are being harvested as we speak. I had hoped to do it a couple weeks back but rain changes that plan. Wet hop beer goign to be brewed this weekend. First time I am able to use my homegrown hops. Last year they were covered in hop aphids.