Growing Hops

The humble beginnings of greatness

We're growing hops in our backyard this year. A local grower generously donated three rhizomes, which we have planted in pots (roughly following guidelines given in this Brew Your Own article from 2009) filled with nutrient-rich soil.

The photo above is of our nascent Centennial bine, which has grown considerably in the few days since it was taken and will eventually stretch 20-25 feet. Normally the bines grow upward, but we are going to have them climb a tomato cage as outlined in this Brew Your Own article from 2001 (thank God the Internet never forgets).

We also planted Cascade and Chinook hops. The Cascade hasn't done much yet (above ground, anyway), but the Chinook is showing signs of life. As with every other aspect of making beer, patience is key.

From everything I've read and heard, we shouldn't expect usable cones this year, as the bines root themselves and grow to full size. That doesn't keep me from hoping, of course. Who wouldn't want to wet-hop an IPA come September?

As my wife will attest, I am not the most patient person in the world (I might be in the top 5 billion on a particularly good day), but beer is trying to teach me. Very often the best course of action when brewing is to just wait and let things develop on their own. The same can be said of growing hops. Give them a good home, take good care of them, and then stay out of their way.

Easier said than done, right? Fortunately I have 24 bombers of homebrew in the fridge and a batch of Russian imperial stout fermenting in the closet, so that should keep me busy for a little while. I'll tell you about those beers some other day and get back to you on the hop-growing thing as well.

Meanwhile, pop open a cold (but not too cold!) one and enjoy. Cheers!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Homebrewing Is Kind of Awesome

Image
Kid Gloves Kölsch (front), Charlie (back) After getting laid off from a lucrative but unfulfilling corporate gig in February 2016 I had a little extra time on my hands, so I decided to give homebrewing a try. I'd been thinking about it for a while, read some books, taken a class. Plus my wife was game, which helped. If nothing else, we would at least gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for the ingredients and effort that went into making our favorite beers. Who knows, we might even like brewing. And if we got halfway decent at it, we might even like the beers we made. The good news is, brewing turns out to be fairly simple if you approach it with the right attitude. First off, understand that you will make mistakes. Probably lots of them. But if you document your process (I'm a writer by trade, so this part comes naturally to me) and figure out where things went wrong, you'll improve. Get your reps in, keep working on making better beer. That's j
Read more

Great Beer in Hawai'i

Image
The craft beer scene has been slower to pick up in Hawai'i than elsewhere, which makes sense if you think about it. The islands are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from the nearest continental land mass. Hops can't be grown there, and shipping ain't cheap. Tourists want fruity cocktails, while locals go for macrobrews. That being said, in recent years great beers from California and Oregon have surfaced (Breakside and Pelican are two of my favorites that are available in Honolulu but not San Diego). Even better, local breweries are now popping up and embedding themselves in the community. My wife is from Hawai'i and we still have lots of family over there, so we make one or two trips a year. People always ask what we do there, probably hoping for tales of snorkeling, zip-lining, or whatever it is we're expected to do. But usually we just visit folks, eat tasty local food, and hang out at breweries. We stay at my brother-in-law'
Read more

Joy (and Beer!) in Grantville

Image
Grantville is one of those San Diego neighborhoods that even natives might not know by name. Just east of Qualcomm Stadium and north of SDSU (down the hill, other side of I-8; think Friars and Mission Gorge), it's home to several breweries, including three that I recently visited. Benchmark Brewing , Kensington Brewing , and Groundswell Brewing have each carved out a nice niche in the area, offering fine brews and friendly service. As an added bonus, all are within walking distance of one another (as is a fourth, San Diego Brewing, which I've enjoyed on other trips). Benchmark Brewing The tasting room features a clean layout and was extremely chill on a Saturday afternoon. A yoga class had just finished prior to opening, with participants enjoying a pint before getting on with their day. There is ample seating on the main level and an upstairs that, at least on this day, was being used for a private function. Having been here several years ago, I knew I wanted the br
Read more