Hop Garden Update

Things are going well with 2 of my 4 plants. My Chinook Hops are still a no show. I will have to by some new root stock in the spring to get those going. My cascades are only about 2-3 feet high. If you remember, they had an issue early in the year when my dog decided to step on the young budding bines and break them. I was happy they came back, but they are still small and not going to produce anything this year.

My Centennial and Nugget Hops are doing great. I read that with first year hops, not to expect much. If this is true, I am in trouble for next year. My Centennial hops have a bunch of cones all over the plant and a bunch more blossoms that will be turning to cones. My Nugget Hops are a little behind, but have a ton of flowers waiting to bud into cones. They are both at the top of the twine (about 16-18 foot) and are producing a ton. I may be doing my first harvest during the week and can’t wait to try these out in a special brew.

Here are some pictures of their growth.

The 4 Varieties of Hops I Will Be Growing This Year

From my Hop Trellis post yesterday, you all now know I am growing hops this year. I think it going to be a big trend this year due to the hop shortage. I ordered my hops rhizomes (root cuttings) from the Thyme Garden in mid February and they should be here any day. I went for all high-alpha hops that are hybrids with both clean bittering and pleasant aroma characteristics. Thyme Garden is an Organic company, so the rhizomes were raised without chemicals. I'm not expecting much this first year growing them. But with in a couple years, I am expecting to harvest a couple pounds from each bine.

Below are the hops I chose and a brief description.

Cascade

Alpha rating: 5–7
Description: Unique flowery, spicy, citrus-grapefruit, herbal, perfumy aroma. Soft, well-balanced bitterness. Good dry hop.
Use: A must for American pale ales and IPAs, especially Northwest versions. Also good in steam beer, porter, American wheat beer, barley wine.
Substitutes (bittering and aroma): None, but Centennial is closest.

Centennial

Alpha rating: 7–11.5
Description: Smooth bitterness, flowery citrus aroma. Similar to (and blends well with) Cascade. A pleasing hop that many brewers ignore.
Use: Bittering and aroma in American pale ale and wheat beer, stout and porter.
Substitutes (bittering and aroma): Cascade.

Chinook

Alpha rating: 11–14
Description: Very bitter; medium-heavy aroma with a spicy, resiny, grapefruit character.
Use: Primarily for bittering, although some brewers appreciate the aroma, even using Chinook as a dry hop. Use in pale ale, IPA, lagers, steam beer, heavy-bodied dark ales.
Substitutes (bittering): Galena, Nugget, Cluster.

Nugget

Alpha rating: 12–14
Description: Extremely bitter. Mild flavour. Pleasant herbal aroma.
Use: Bittering for all types of beers, especially English ales. Aroma good for many beer styles (but not light lagers).
Substitutes (bittering): Galena, Chinook, Cluster, Cascade, Centennial.