dry hopping my home grown

[old bill]

just harvested and dried my first yield of cascade .had to this as as a new and avid vege. gardener . whether or not its needed or better than purchased hops is irrelevant,just had to do it .anyway will throw a hand full in next pale ale or equivalent i do probably in a hops bag .My thinking is as I,m a bottler and wait up to 6 weeks prior to a drink and so on experimenting with other dry hops throw ins has not caused any great wow factors yet but love a hoppy beer. maybe the 6 week layover lets itself to the loss of hoppyness (is there such a word). and dry hopping suits keggers rather than bottlers. Your thoughts please.

[ChristinaS1]

Hi Old Bill. I am also an avid gardener but have not yet tried growing hops.

 

Dry hop effects do fade quickly and I'm not sure it matters whether you are a bottler or a kegger. This is one reason that craft brewers are using a lot of First Wort Hopping (FWH):

 

http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/03/17/the-first-wort-hop-beer-brewing-techniques/

 

Kit users can't really use this technique, but I speculated about how they might try here:

 

https://www.coopers.com.au/coopers-forum/topic/15272/

 

While I generally recommend waiting six weeks before starting to drink a batch, if you have used a lot of dry hops you might want to start drinking it pretty much as soon as it is carbonated. The dry hops will hide the youth of the brew. If you are going to start drinking that young, it is important to have had a clean ferment, at temps of 18-19C, so that there are no off flavours from a hot ferment, since you are not giving the yeast a chance to clean them up.

 

Cheers Old Bill. -Christina.

[Otto Von Blotto]

If you're not getting enough influence from the dry hops, just add more.

 

And I'd agree with drinking them sooner if you want the maximum hit of hop influence as it does fade in time.

 

I've been growing hops as well for the first time this summer, Hallertau and Fuggle varieties. The Hallertau is still producing burrs, and since I started using Maxibloom fertiliser on it, the amount and size of the cones produced has increased compared to the first lot it produced late last year. The Fuggle plant didn't quite go as mental as the Hallertau with growth, and it has only produced a handful of cones at all which when dried would probably amount to about 1 gram, so I'm not bothering to harvest any from it this year, I'll simply keep it alive ready for its transfer from its pot to a bigger home over the winter.

[old bill]

Thanks Christina and Otto for your input , will try a few bottles earlier than usual I ferment mostly at 18 degrees thanks to stc 1000 and a chest freezer recently purchased so cold ferment is acheived.You should try a hop trellis great fun just a couple of poles with cross bearers top and bottom to stabilize and support vertical ropes great backdrop and with right conditions will go nuts my 2 plants yielded a 5 gallon buckets worth in first season .look out next season! fertilized weekly with home grown worm tea too Otto.Anyway how much of this stuff can you safely " chuck in".Cheers.

[Waylon]

The glass bottles will be longer lasting for dry hopping than kegs...

expecially as you need to regas kegs over time...

glass bottles will take the ride further for sure

 

But agreed if you want to have the dry hop aroma kick then drink before 4 months,

 

 

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

That's the plan yeah, to build a bigger trellis. I got some of that steel wire/rope stuff from Bunnings last time I was in there, which I plan to use for the wires for the plants to climb up. The plants themselves will be housed in 2x1m raised garden beds made from corrugated iron, so I could probably attach the vertical 'beams' for the trellis to the ends of the garden beds, then run the horizontal one across the top with a few lines of steel rope running from it down into the soil. I'll probably build it about 3.5/4 metres high.

 

As for how much to 'chuck in' I dunno.. anywhere from 30-50 grams, more if you want more of a hop aroma hit.

[botanical]

If you're not getting enough influence from the dry hops' date=' just add more. [img']biggrin[/img]

 

And I'd agree with drinking them sooner if you want the maximum hit of hop influence as it does fade in time.

 

I've been growing hops as well for the first time this summer, Hallertau and Fuggle varieties. The Hallertau is still producing burrs, and since I started using Maxibloom fertiliser on it, the amount and size of the cones produced has increased compared to the first lot it produced late last year. The Fuggle plant didn't quite go as mental as the Hallertau with growth, and it has only produced a handful of cones at all which when dried would probably amount to about 1 gram, so I'm not bothering to harvest any from it this year, I'll simply keep it alive ready for its transfer from its pot to a bigger home over the winter.

 

 

 

Hi all,

 

otto, next time your hops start to bud/flower stop using the maxibloom and switch to some sulphate of potash and you will get a better crop.

 

cheers Greenie

[Otto Von Blotto]

That is contained in Maxibloom.

 

These are only first year plants anyway so I'm not expecting the world from them. They should produce more next year with a higher trellis and larger area for the roots, combined with being older plants.

[botanical]

Hi Otto,

 

Yes that is correct but you will get a better result just using the sulphate and then doing a regular

fertiliser schedule for the rest of the year, just follow the instructions on the label and if things go

to plan you should be able to double the amount of hops that you harvest.

 

Cheers Greenie