Hop Garden Final Update

August 22, 2011

The hops are pretty much done. For first year plants, growing in containers on a covered porch, they did decently, however the differences between the varieties were striking. All rhizomes came from RNV Enterprises - I planted two 4+" rhizomes in an "X" in each pot, one pot each of Fuggle, Willamette, and Cascade. The Fuggle was off like a flash, followed by the Cascade a while later. Eventually, the Willamette broke ground and slowly grew a very thin, delicate-looking bine. The Fuggle quickly grew out 3 strong bines that gained a lot of length in a short time - however, it was eventually hit with something (too mch sun exposure, too much rain, a fungus or mold, not sure) and midway through the summer, it started losing leaves. Eventually the two largest vines pretty much died in situ and I allowed two more new shoots to grow. The original bines that died measure out at 126" and 112" long. The original survivor is at 56" and the two "new" bines are at 81" and 67". The Fuggle was struggling so hard for survival that it never flowered. The Willamette was the late starter, and seemed very delicate and weak in comparison to the others all summer long. The bines were over two feet long before they were thicker than 1mm or so. However, once it started, it grew beautifully (of the three, the Willamette's smaller leaves and more trainable behavior is definitely the most decorative) and steadily, although still slowly. Length of the bines have topped out at 124", 99", and 72". Perhaps because of their delicacy, the Willamette never grew any side shoots along the bines, nor did it flower. Cascades at left, Willamette at right The Cascade (as one might surmise from its reputation) was the first-year harvest star - it was also the most prolific grower and healthiest plant. The Cascade broke ground a little more than a week after the Fuggle, and took a further several weeks to catch up in growth. Like the others, I started with 3 bines and trained them to separate lines - however, in mid-summer they were well established and the plant was so insistent on growing fresh shoots from the rhizomes that I allowed two more bines to train (which nearly caught up with the originals by harvest!). Of the three plants, the Cascade had the healthiest look, the largest leaves, the thickest (and most robust) stems/bines, and it was the most "wild" (lots of long side shoots, difficult to train neatly). Every single one of the 5 Cascade bines is longer than the longest bine from either of the other plants - the longest topped out at 16.25 feet, not bd for first-year container plants! The side shoots were really something impressive, giving the bines the wild, tangled look of briars and grape vines. The Cascade was also the only plant to give me a harvest, and a fairly decent one at that! The flowers formed quite slowly (to my impatient mind) and my 6-year-old son thought they looked awfully silly ("They're just little hairy balls, those aren't flowers!"). On the other hand, once I started noticing the core nubs start forming a few tiny cone flakes and the hairs started turning brown, the flowers turned into tiny cones and then grew an incredible 4-5x in size over the next week. They grew to full size very fast, then seemed to slow a bit as they developed their lupulin glands and filled them while starting to dry a little. My first harvest picked enough cones to cover the bulk of two cookie sheets for drying. It was quite warm and I just kept a large box fan blowing air over them - bagged, de-aired, and froze them the next day. The cones were definitely full-size (many larger than any I've gotten from commercial Cascades) - the largest were pushing past 2" long and 3/4" thick. Pulling a yellow-coated piece and sucking on it gives a VERY nice flavor and a sharp, spicy bitterness (can't wait to dry-hop these into my RYpalE). I tossed a couple into a large snifter of White Birch Brewing's Belgian-Style Pale Ale (they gave the nose a nice boost, not sure the flavor cooperates well with the ale's own hops). I also tried tossing a couple into their Hooksett Ale, which worked MUCH better (they rounded out both the flavor and the aroma, giving this reasonably hoppy ale a crisp freshness.

QUANDO OMNI FLUNKUS MORITATI