hops. Not the cousin I live in Indiana and was wondering if anyone has some good reading sources or helpful ideas? I read Freshops.com and would like some more information.
Thank you in advance.
Member of the BN ARMY.
Nothing like a pint to hold you over to the next one, that's what I always say!
If you have the space for it... it's novelty at best. You have to erect (I said erect) a huge trellis. These things grow almost a foot a day! I did some a long time ago in NY. The biggest trellis that I could practically build was 6 feet high and 8 feet wide. It was for two different varieties. Because it wasn't designed for hugh growth, I had to constantly manually train them and correct when they had gone in the wrong direction. Third year was a mess. I ran out of possibilities except for letting them mingle.
No hops the first year. Maybe 2 oz. second year. Third year was about 1/2 lb. I brewed a couple of beers and used these for aroma hops. Like I said, it was novel to tell people that "a portion" of the hops in the beer that they were drinking were locally grown. I think that BrewWare has a a couple of trellis designs - but be prepared to build something 20 feet high if you really want any appreciable yield.
Mylo
"Life is too short to bottle homebrew." - Me
"HEINEKEN? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!!!" - Dennis Hopper, in Blue Velvet
Man, you'll love it. After a few years of growing my own, the plants are great and practically grow themselves. Plus, while everyone is freaked out about the hop shortage, I'm giving hops away to people.
I agree with yeast slurry. If you even moderately enjoy being in the garden than this is a great activity. Plus, once your hops get established you'll have the opportunity to make a wet hop beer. I made one for the first time this year and is was great. It is definitely going to be an annual brew at harvest time.
I live in the upper midwest and have had success growing both cascade and santium. I have not really tried any others. The cascade is more dominant than the santium thus far.
I am located about 6 hours north of chicago so I'm a bit further north than you, but I live on lake michigan so the climate is probably similar.
