Growing your own Hops

[kenstogie]

Sounds like a cool idea, how do you do it? How hard is it? How hardy are the plants? What growing zones? you know all that stuff.

Originally Posted by kenstogie

Sounds like a cool idea, how do you do it? How hard is it? How hardy are the plants? What growing zones? you know all that stuff.

Hops are interesting plant to grow. They are a cousin to Cannabis, so naturally they grow like a weed. You start by obtaining a rhizome. A rhizome is a section of root taken from an already growing hop plant. Because its a section of an already live plant the rhizome will grow to be a clone of its mother. Hops have male and female sexes. You want the females because they produce the "hop cone" which is used in brewing. The males are useless unless you are really into it and want to breed your own species of hops. The largest growing regions for hops is the pacific northwest. Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia produce the vast majority of hops produced in the United States and Canada. Typically, they grow best between the 38 to 52 degree North latitudes.
Once you get your rhizome you plant it horizontally six inches deep in the ground. They like good drainage so some growers will plant them in mounds aprox. 8 inches tall. The rhizome will first try to establish a nice root system, so proper watering during the beginning of the first season is essential. Once a root system is established a few shoots will sprout up. Because its a vine plant you need a proper trellis system in place to train the young shoots. By proper I mean something at least 12 to 16 feet tall. Hops can grow well over 20 feet, easily, and there are usually 3 to 8 shoots per plant.
As I said before they grow like a weed so they require very little fertilizer; in fact I would recommend none at all unless its organic. This stuff is going into your beer after all. I use 4X4X16 posts connected by a single 3/8 inch wire at the top; the posts are aprox 12 feet apart. I use a product called "Hop Twine" which is essentially coconut fiber made into twine somewhere in India. I take the twine and attach it to the overhead wire and run it down to the ground and tie it to a stake near the the plant. I do this twice to create a V-shape twine trellis for each plant. In the late spring as the hop vines get to be about 6 to 12 inches tall they want to start climbing something so I train the vines onto the twine. They train real easy and after a day or two the vines know what to do. Come harvest time, which for me in SE Michigan is about mid September (changes with hop variety, and location) I cut the vines close to the ground and then cut the twine holding them to the main wire. I take each vine separately and remove the hop cones. Then I dry the hops in homemade dry box. Which is essentially a box 3 foot tall and one foot wide with 4 layers of screens; its sealed p except a round hole cut out to fit a hair dryer in the top. Turn the hair dryer on medium and in a little bit you have home grown hops dried and ready for brewing.
I know this post would be a much better with pictures but I didn't take any of last years crop. This year, I will take photos from the very beginning of building the hop yard and trellis to harvest and dry time and have a sort of running journal of my hop garden. Brewing with your own hops is one hell of a rewarding experience. Not only did you make your own beer but you did it with ingredients you grew. It could just be my German background, but that just feels bada$$ to me