Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Growing hops....Oh boy!

So, in this time of rising hop prices in the world and brewers struglling to cope, I've decided to take my homebrewing to the next level in their honor. I'm going to start growing (or trying to grow) my own hops at home. I purchased 3 rhizomes from Northern Brewer and I designed a trellis to build for the hops. I have limited space so I'm going to give it a stab by growing them in large pots on the south side of my house.



My experience with growing hops is ZERO! I previously (and successfully) had a pepper garden and grew some fantastic hot peppers. There is a large difference in the plant, but I figure what the hell. Why not try it. The rhizomes were only about $5 each, so it was a small investment for a large potential for fun and great beer!



I've treid to do some reading on growing hops, and I know that I won't get a great crop, if any, in the first year. I'm hoping to maybe get at least an ounce or two from each plant as they normally yield over a pound per plant, so we'll see.



The ryzhomes won't arrive until april sometime (oops...see above), so once I receive them I'll post an update with some picture of the crop. If you've grown hops before and have some tips of the trade, please let me know!



Cheers,

Jason

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