Archive for hop rhizomes

Apr
10

Hop Rhizome Trimming

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Hop rhizomes will spread and take over if you do not contain them.  It is the main way hops self propagate as growing from seed is less desirable and most growers only grow female hop plants – no males to pollinate the females.  Only female hop plants produce hop cones, the males are useless unless you are crossbreeding varieties of hops.  The hop rhizomes are root like structures that grow away from the root stock or crown just under the surface of the soil (sometimes on top of the soil).  Buds form on the rhizomes and new hop bines will sprout from these buds.

nuggetrhyzome2011 1024x247 Hop Rhizome Trimming

Nugget Hop Rhizome With Buds

Hop rhizomes are how you grow hops, plant a section of a viable (live) hop rhizome, buds pointing up and in 1 to 4 weeks – you have hop sprouts!  The hop plants I am trimming the hop rhizomes from are third year hops.  The first year you don’t have to worry about rhizomes as the planted rhizome has all it can do to establish it’s root stock (aka crown) and pushing up hop bines.  Second year hops will start sending out rhizomes but they are small and not yet invasive (I had a couple of hop bines pop up within a foot or so from the plant – you simply cut them off at the ground level if you don’t need them).

cascaderhyzomes2011 1024x506 Hop Rhizome Trimming

Cascade Hop Rhizome Sections With Buds

These are third year hop rhizomes.  They are generally smaller than when you buy hop rhizomes online from a hop yard or  home brew store.  I planted these hops in a landscaped area, between my wife’s Peonies (flowers) along the south side of our garage.  I had to dig up rock mulch and plastic – I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT – Pain in the ass.  Not only was planting them a chore, digging up the hop rhizomes sucked.  Trying to dig with rocks in the soil is tough – the area needs to be re-landscaped.  That will be another day (or year).

rootsorrhyzomes Hop Rhizome Trimming

Hop Roots or Hop Rhizomes?

I dug down 4 inches in a circle with a radius of 1 foot (I wanted to go 18 inches, but THE DAMN ROCKS made it too big a chore).  Anyway there were obvious hop rhizomes with buds coming out of them.  Then there were roots or budless rhizomes – I could not tell the difference.  I pulled out everything on the outside of the circle on out.  Much of it went under the DAMN LANDSCAPING PLASTIC.  I pulled out as much as I could leaving fragments of rhizomes I am sure.  I think as long as the rhizomes don’t find a hole in the plastic, they will stay underground.  I guess I will find out how far they can go underground before popping up.

If you are growing hops or considering growing hops, trimming hop rhizomes will be part of the deal eventually.  Not a big deal (without rocks), just use a shovel and cut a circle around the center of the hop crown.  At least a foot away from the crown so you don’t damage the plant.  Don’t forget, you can plant these hop rhizome sections (cut 4 to 6 inch sections) in other areas to grow more hop plants!  You can also give away or trade hop rhizomes for different varieties of hops.  Anyway, the south side of my garage is the only non-shaded southern exposure I have available (Hops like lots of direct sunlight) – that is why I am putting up with the rocks and plastic…

The moral of the story is: plant in an area without landscape rocks or between other plants if possible.  If it weren’t for my wife’s “favorite Peonies”, I would have dug up all the rock and plastic.  As my hops are planted between her flowers, it would likely damage or kill them if I dug the rocks up (don’t tell her I accidentally pulled out a Peonies root stock when I pulled up what I thought was a hop rhizome – I replanted it).  When I planted my hops, I ensured my wife I would not harm her flowers.  A peace treaty I do not wish to break at this point in time.  If you are on year 3 or later of growing hops and don’t want the spread – time to trim hop rhizomes.

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Categories : Third Year Hops
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May
30

Hop Bines Top Out

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hopbines Hop Bines Top Out

Hop Bines Top Out

May 29th the Magnum hops reached the top of their rope (15 feet tall).  The cascade and Nugget hop bines reached the top of their ropes May 21st (13 feet tall).  I predicted by June 1st this would happen and apparently nailed that guess.

This is the second year for these hops.  The first year is fun to watch how fast the hop bines grow, but that’s nothing compared to the second year.  The first year a lot of the hop plants energy goes into establishing the root stock also known as the crown.   By the second year, the crown is established and the sprouts come up earlier than if you planted hop rhizomes.

My hop sprouts survived a few frosts where tomatoes would have surely died.  Hops are hardy once established.  I lost a Mt. Hood hop plant I had planted in a container this spring.  We had some 50 mph winds and it snapped them right off – the rhizome apparently couldn’t handle it – no more hop shoots / sprouts replaced them.  They probably would have survived if I had them trained on a rope.  They were about a foot long and I had not yet decided where to trellis them.

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Apr
08

2nd Year Hops Sprouts

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Here in Minnesota the general date for frost safe planting is May 15th.  I kept my hop plants buried under leaves to try and keep the ground cold and the hop crowns dormant as long as possible.  I checked on them today (April 8th) and the hop sprouts were pushing up the leaves so I had to un-bury them.  Hopefully they won’t freeze (down to 32 degrees last night).

Cascadesprouts 2nd Year Hops Sprouts

Cascade Sprouts

These are second year hops so I am expecting a much better yield than last year (about 3 pounds between the 3 hop plants – a good first year harvest).  I guess we’ll see if they freeze or not.  Even if they do, there will be new shoots to replace them.  Second year hops with an established crown / root stock and stored energy from last year.

nuggetsprouts 2nd Year Hops Sprouts

Early Sprouts

I am still contemplating a new hop trellis rigging.  If nothing else, I will go with 2 ropes per plant instead of the one rope per hop hill used last year.  That in itself should at least double my harvest.  The established hop plants will have plenty of energy to support 6 bines per plant (3 per rope).

magnumsprouts 2nd Year Hops Sprouts

Magnum Hops

The sprouts look albino and growing sideways from being weighed down and have not been exposed to sunlight yet.  I will also have to trim the rhizomes to keep the plants from spreading in all directions.  I will cut a circle with a shovel about 8 inch radius from the center of the plant and pull out the hop rhizomes on the outside of the circle.

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What varieties of beer hops are there?

beerhops 225x300 Beer Hops   What Variety Hop Rhizomes to Plant?

Beer Hop Cones

hop rhizomes 224x300 Beer Hops   What Variety Hop Rhizomes to Plant?

Hop Rhizomes

Before you can decide what variety of hops to plant, you need to know the characteristics of different varieties of hops.  The variety you choose depends mainly on the styles of beers and ales you like to drink.

Two main characteristics of hop cones:

  1. Bittering – measured in IBUs (International Bitterness Units – according to the IBU scale).  The bittering attribute of hops is used to counteract the sweetness of the malt in the beer or ale.  Alpha acids and beta acids of the hop contribute to the bittering effect.
  2. Aroma – there is no scale to measure aroma, it is used to impart a pleasurable aroma or “nose” to beers and ales, also referred to as a finishing hop.  Essential oils of the hop cone are the source of aroma.

There are other characteristics that hops contribute to brews:

  • Natural preservative
  • Flavoring – various attributes such as – spicy, piney, citrus, woody, floral…
  • Calming effect

All hops have both qualities of bitterness and aroma, it is the proportion of each that determines if it is called a bittering hop, an aroma hop or some hops are in the middle and considered both bittering and aroma hop.  The main component of the hop cone is lupulin, a yellow powdery component of the female hop cone.  It contains the resins of the hop cone.

Here is a comprehensive list of the varieties of hops

From  http://www.beersmith.com/hops_table.htm

Name Origin Alpha (%) Type
Admiral UK 14.80% Bittering
Ahtanum US 6.00% Aroma
Amarillo Gold US 8.50% Aroma
Aquila US 6.50% Aroma
Banner US 10.00% Bittering
Bramling Cross UK 6.00% Aroma
Brewers Gold UK 8.00% Bittering
Bullion UK 8.00% Bittering
Cascade US 5.50% Both
Centennial US 10.00% Bittering
Challenger UK 7.50% Aroma
Chinook US 13.00% Bittering
Cluster US 7.00% Bittering
Columbia UK 5.50% Bittering
Columbus (Tomahawk) US 14.00% Bittering
Comet US 9.50% Bittering
Crystal US 3.50% Aroma
Eroica US 13.00% Bittering
First Gold UK 7.50% Both
Fuggles UK 4.50% Aroma
Galena US 13.00% Bittering
Glacier US 5.60% Aroma
Goldings, B. C. Canada 5.00% Aroma
Goldings, East Kent (EK) UK 5.00% Aroma
Green Bullet New Zealand 13.50% Bittering
Hallertauer Germany 4.80% Aroma
Hallertauer, Hersbrucker Germany 4.00% Aroma
Hallertauer, Mittelfrueh Germany 4.00% Aroma
Hallertauer, New Zealand New Zealand 8.50% Both
Herald UK 12.00% Bittering
Horizon US 12.00% Bittering
Liberty US 4.30% Aroma
Lublin Poland 5.00% Bittering
Magnum Germany 14.00% Bittering
Mt. Hood US 6.00% Aroma
Northdown UK 8.50% Both
Northern Brewer Germany 8.50% Both
Nugget US 13.00% Bittering
Orion Germany 7.30% Both
Pacific Gem New Zealand 15.00% Bittering
Pearle Germany 8.00% Bittering
Phoenix UK 8.00% Bittering
Pilgrim UK 11.50% Bittering
Pioneer UK 9.00% Both
Pride of Ringwood Australia 9.00% Bittering
Progress UK 6.30% Aroma
Saaz Czech Rep 4.00% Aroma
Santiam US 6.00% Aroma
Select Spalt Germany 4.80% Aroma
Southern Cross New Zealand 13.00% Both
Spalter Germany 4.50% Aroma
Sterling US 7.50% Both
Sticklebract New Zealand 13.50% Both
Strisselspalt France 4.00% Aroma
Styrian Goldings Slovenia 5.40% Aroma
Sun US 14.00% Bittering
Super Alpha New Zealand 13.00% Bittering
Target UK 11.00% Bittering
Tettnang Germany 4.50% Aroma
Tradition Germany 6.00% Bittering
Ultra US 3.00% Aroma
Vanguard US 5.50% Aroma
Warrior US 15% Both
Whitbread Golding Var (WGV) UK 6.00% Aroma
Willamette US 5.50% Aroma
Zeus US 14.00% Bittering

So depending upon the beer styles you like to drink and or brew, determines which hop varieties to grow (assuming they will grow in your climate and soil).  The above list provides the name of the hop, country of origin and alpha acid percentage (bitterness).  There are many hop description pages out there, this one is the most comprehensive list of hop varieties I have found.  You will only be able to buy a few varieties of hop rhizomes depending upon your country and some on this list are proprietary (not commercially available).

Beers and Ales – the difference between beers and ales is the type of yeast used and temperature of the wort (mash/sugars) during the fermentation process.

  • Beers/Lagers/Pilsners – bottom fermenting yeasts – lower temp fermentation – 40 -50 degrees fahrenheit
  • Ales – top fermenting yeasts – higher temp fermentation – 60 to 75degrees fahrenheit.

The above are generalities that cover the majority of styles, there are exceptions to every rule.

Beer/Ale style and hops usedhttp://brewery.org/library/Hopprofs0497.html

This post would go on forever if I listed every beer style and hops used so I won’t attempt that.  Checkout the above referenced link to get your hop rhizome list together (you can sometimes find hop plants for sale).  Depending upon where you live, you may be able to plant right now (ground is still frozen here in Minnesota) but warmer regions can plant now.

One more resource I stumbled across http://www.hopunion.com/hopunion-variety-databook.pdf

One of my most popular posts will list a variety of online sources to:

buy hop rhizomes <== Click Here

Get your hop garden started!

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Nov
15

Overwinter Hop Plants

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Nugget hop rhizome 150x150 Overwinter Hop Plants

Overwinter Protection for Nugget Hops

Magnum hop plant 150x150 Overwinter Hop Plants

Overwinter Magnum Hop Plants

In cold climates it is important to overwinter hop plants / protect them from sub-zero temperatures.  Hops do fairly well on their own but can be killed off if the ground is unprotected and hard freezes the ground.  Snow will insulate the ground but occasionally the snow will be blown clear or animals may dig the snow away from the underground hop crowns (started as hop rhizomes).

Cascade hops crown 300x224 Overwinter Hop Plants

Protect Cascade Hop Crowns

No sense taking any chances of losing your hop plants to the weather.  All it takes is a layer of mulch – I used 6 inches of leaves and grass I bagged while mowing.  This also helps in the Minnesota climate to keep the ground cold enough in the spring to prevent hop sprouts from sprouting too soon and then freeze.  Generally they will send up new shoots if the first hop shoots freeze and die off but why waste the root stock energy.

When sub-freezing temperatures have past in the spring, You just clear the mulch and and the hop crown will send up shoots as the ground warms.

Unless you want the hops to spread in all directions, you will want to trim the hop rhizomes by digging down and cutting the lateral running rhizomes and pull them up.  You can plant these in other areas if you wish or give or sell them to friends and fellow hop growers and homebrewers.  I will be cutting the rhizomes about a one foot radius from the center of the crown (two foot diameter to contain the hop plants).  They are self propagating and will travel in all directions from the crown.

One problem with not containing the spread of hops is they will soon mix with other nearby varieties and can be hard to distinguish variety and/or you will have 2 or more variety of hop bines growing together and makes harvesting and separating the different varieties of hop cones difficult if not impossible.  My varieties are 5 to 6 feet apart so with a little effort, I can keep them separate.  You need to know which hops are which for accurate beer and ale recipes.  You especially do not want to mix bittering hops with aroma hops.

That’s it, just a layer of mulch – leaves, grass, hay, straw or compost to protect the hop crowns and the organic material will also leach into the ground as an organic fertilizer.  Next years hop yield will be even better!

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