Finally, Hop harvest time!  My Cascade hops and Magnum hops were ready to harvest at the same time.  My Nugget hops are still on the bine.  Here is 1.8 pounds of wet harvested  Cascade hops drying on a screen in my living room under a ceiling fan (air conditioned – low humidity).  My wife was so happy to have the hops in our living room – ok, I made that part up, but I have priorities (won that battle!).  They are out of the living room now, donated to friend who has far surpassed my homebrewing abilities (I get some excellent ales in return!)

Cascade Hops Drying

The Magnum hops I dried in a couple of paper bags (single layer under the ceiling fan also).  The Magnum hops were exactly 1 pound wet.  When I say wet, they have actually dried quite a bit on the bine.

Magnum Hops oozing Lupulin!

Not sure if you can see the yellow lupulin in this picture but it is plentiful.  For a bittering hop, they are more aromatic than the Cascade – at least freshly picked off the bine.  I am sure the aromatic quality of the Cascade will come out in a late boil and dry hopping.  Here is a cross section of a Magnum hop cone (left) and a Cascade hop cone (right).  The yellow lupulin does not show in this web compressed picture as well as I wished.  I may set up a separate picture site to do it justice.  The yellow lupulin follows the strig (stem) down the center of the hop cone.

Hop Cones Showing Off Lupulin!

The harvesting went well.  I had to use a ladder to cut the lateral shoots that wrapped around the rope used to let down the bines (pulley setup) but my ladder time was minimal.  I let the bines down on to a tarp and picked the hop cones off the bines while standing up – much easier on my back.  When I was done harvesting, I raised the bines up again and will let them go till they freeze, allowing them to store energy for the root stock for next years growth (these are first year hops).

Easy Magnum Hop Cone Picking

The tarp worked great, I did not lose a single hop cone.  I will definitely use a similar hop trellis system next year with a few improvements.  Next years hop harvest will be much greater with established hop plants.  I anticipate double the beer hop cone harvest with an earlier start and more robust hop root stocks rather than just planted hop rhizomes.  The re-hoisted bines are loading up the hop crowns with energy for next years beer hops.

Pretty simple huh?  Why aren’t you growing your own hops?  Try it you’ll like it.

Start planning now for next years hops.  Select your spot, sunny southern exposure is best but an eastern or western unobstructed (no trees blocking sunshine) will work.  Make sure you have vertical space, more the better.  Start thinking about how you will rig the bines – trellis, ropes secured to a pole or tall structure…  You have until spring to figure it out.  If nothing else Google it – a great source of ideas.

Prepare the soil now.  Dig down at least a foot and at least 2 foot diameter.  Make the soil well drained and mix organic materials with the soil – leaves, grass, compost, composted manure, green sand…  HOP ON!

Cascade Bines Before Harvest

Cascade Bines Post Harvest

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