Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

I mistakenly put this post in the general discussion forum. It really goes here. Any suggestions most welcome. I will begin hop growing this spring. The skeleton of the trellis is up.

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I'm the one who asked about hop growing at the end of Tuesday's meeting, and I'm still interested in learning more before I start growing this spring.

I have a trellis under construction. It's in full sun and on an incline. I plan to amend the soil with peat and compost. The area is 6 X 6, and the vines will have about 14 feet of vertical space.

With that space I hope to grow two plants on each side of this arbor. The other sides must stay open and free for passage. One piece of advice at the meeting was that if I grow cascade I should stick to only that. It seems to be quite aggressive and invades surrounding land. And that would be fine. I also remember from this forum somewhere that someone here has grown nugget and was pleased with it.

According to the Homebrewer's Garden by Joe Fisher and Dennis Fisher it seems that cascade, eroica, nugget, or willamette would all be good. According to Papazian's Joy, and based only on how stable the hops will be after harvesting, then these would be good: amarillo, galena, horizon, simcoe, glacier, goldings, vanguard, sterling, northern brewer, perle, magnum, and athanum. I don't know, however, if there has been any success with those here in central Virginia. [Added 1/15: I understand that Papazian himself in Colorado grows cascade.]

Also, I'd prefer to grow hops that would be happy with only 14 feet of vertical space rather than 25 or more.

Ideas? Suggestions? I'll share rhizomes in the future with whoever wants them.

Bob Hueckstedt
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I grow mine in pots so they are a bit different to care for.  I've read that if you cut the bottom out of a 5 gallon or so bucket and bury the bucket and put the rhizome within that they won't spread too far outside of that area and will only root downwards. 

Cascade do real well here.  I've seen 'em grow 12-18 inches in a day.  Goldings have done nothing for me here except grow a massive root ball.  I might try a Chinook or Nugget in place of my Golding this year or next as I've also heard they are pretty productive. 

As far as trellises go you can train them to climb back down the trellis after they reach the top.  They might resist a little at first but they will do it.

Hope that was informative.

Peter

I too am brand new to hop growing and home brewing. In fact, I haven't yet brewed or bought any of the stuff for brewing. I am a lover of unique and flavorful beers, and am planning on brewing in the near future. In anticipation of that, I want to start some hops plants now as I have read that it can take a few years before they provide a bountiful harvest.

I have read a LOT of posts on different websites. Ultimately, I have decided to post here because I live in Fishersville, VA and am hoping to learn from some local growers/brewers. All of that said, let me get to my specific questions:

1)  I was planning on planting Cascade but might go with Nugget instead. Which do you find has the most flexibility?

2)  I read that when planting the rhizomes, you can plant two in a single hole to ensure one of them takes off. Any of you really do that? I am only planning a small garden (4 plants to start with), and the cost of 4 additional rhizomes wouldn't break me, but I want to know if it is really necessary.

3)  I would like to eventually give my plants 20' of growing vertical. I would like to build that structure after the weather gets warmer. How big should I expect my first-year plants to get? I am trying to decide if I should build a big setup right away, or set up something smaller for this first year and take my time this summer building a more durable structure.

4)  I see people offering rhizomes to others. I would like to be able to do that after I get my plants going. How do you harvest a rhizome? I just want to have an understanding of that now so I don't do something to prevent harvesting them later.

5)  I see that there are gatherings on a monthly basis. I assume those are gatherings to celebrate the consumption of the "nectar of the Gods." Are there also gatherings for brewing? I would really benefit from seeing some others processes before I go out and buy a "middle-age-crisis" amount of equipment.

Although I didn't start this thread, I hereby reserve the right to come back here and post additional questions that I am sure your comments/answers will raise.    Seriously, thanks for reading this and I look forward to learning about and sharing the experience of growing/brewing with you all.

Thanks,
Matt

It is getting to be that time of year when homebrewers start thinking about growing hops. We might have to dedicate a bit of time in March or April to talk about hops during the monthly CAMRA meeting.

Quick thoughts:

1)   Both do well. I have had Nugget hops for many years and they are VERY hardy.  Cascade is good, too, but most varieties pale in comparison to Nugget. Of course, Cascade might be a better choice for a variety of styles.  When Spring rolls around, Eric (econ_guy) often splits off some of his Cascade rhizomes, so you might be able to get some from him.
2)   I’ve only done 1 rhizome in each hole. You can go either way, but you’ll not have a shortage of shoots coming up if the planting works.
3)   You might not see more than 8’ of height in the first year of your hop’s life.  And if the hops grow beyond the height of your structure, you will be fine. They will have over the other side slightly. And, if hops can’t grow as high as they want, they get bushier. No worries.
4)   I have no idea.  That’s a good one for Eric.
5)   We will be doing the National Big Brew Day that the AHA organizes and some club members get together for brew days, but we need to make a stronger effort to make them more common.  At the next meeting, mention that you’d like to see a brew day and we’ll work on hooking you up with someone.

If you have questions, ask away.

I hope you've had a chance to spend time on the freshops website. They have a great deal of information about each hop variety they offer. They do not have rhizomes available until mid-March, but (newbie speaking here) I assume that will be plenty of time to get them here and into the ground. After reading as much about hops as I could, I have decided to try these four varieties this spring: Nugget, Willamette, Perle, and Sterling.

We have replanted the hopyard at Blue Mountain brewery and have Cenntennial and Cascade rhizomes for sale.
Contact me at 434 760 0550 if intrested.   Stan Driver  Riversidehorticultural@live.com

Here's how I harvest rhizomes.  The idea is that the plant is trying to takeover your garden by sending out lateral roots that grow into rhizomes.  Every year during summer, I see shoots coming up between 1 and 3 feet from the main plant (the crown, or rootball).  These shoots will be the next years rhizomes.  You want the plant to put its energy into the vines that are producing hops, not into growing new rhizomes.

In early spring (i.e. now), take a shovel with the concave side facing the main plant, and make a big circle around the plant.  Drive the shovel in quickly and deep, to sever any roots that are growing laterally (the ones that have rhizomes on the other end).  Then pull up everything you see outside the circle.  Undoubtedly, you will see thick woody roots with shoots coming out of them.  Those are the rhizomes that can be replanted.

Cheers,
-Eric