Growing Hops in Your Backyard

Growing hops in the backyard is fun, easy, and rewarding. Hops can be grown in any moderate climate with proper care. Hop vines called bines grow from a rhizome. Within a few weeks of planting, noticeable growth happens. Several hop shoots start peeking out of

the ground. Growth can be vigorous, bines growing up to two feet per week until mid-summer when the growth slows, and the plant enters the flowering stage.  Hop bines can reach upward of 20 feet in height.  

Hops were first introduced into Massachusetts from Europe in 1629. Commercial hop yards in the United States were reported to have been established in New York in the early 1800s. Commercial hops production was pushed westward during the 1920s by plant diseases encountered in the east, primarily downy mildew. Modern hops production is currently in the western United States in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho—areas less conducive to plant diseases of the humid east.

Selecting Hops:

There are two basic groups and more than 100 varieties of hops plants. Hops can grow in most moderate climates, but they do best in zones 5 through 9.  

Bittering hops have high levels of specific acids that produce bitterness in beer. 

Aroma hops have a lower content of bittering acids and a more balanced essential oil that produces pleasant aroma and flavor properties to beer.

Warning: Hops cones can be toxic to dogs. Do not allow your dog to eat the cones, either fresh or dried. 

Planting and Caring for Your Hops:

Hop plants begin as rhizomes that require well-drained soil with a pH of 6 or 7 and long periods of full sun exposure. In early spring, plant the rhizome about two inches deep with buds pointed up.

Frequent shallow watering will help establish a healthy root system. After the roots are established, less frequent, deep watering helps increase root growth and drought tolerance. Water directly at the base of the plant, wetness on the leaves will encourage disease 

formation.

Hop bines are heavy feeders and will need a supplemental feed of compost, manure, or fertilizer to remain strong.

Training your Plants:  

Train your plants to grow on a trellis system. The training process helps the bines stay healthy and strong. Use twine to train the bines to the trellis. Select only vigorous bines to train and prune away the less vigorous bines.

Harvesting Your Cones

If the texture is papery, and the cones is between one to two inches, the cone is ready to pick. Inside the cone are small, yellow particles, called lupulin, that give beer its flavor and aroma. Over the next few weeks the cones will mature at different times. To avoid losing the lupulin use scissors or pruning shears.

Note: Hop plants can cause skin irritation, so wearing gloves and long sleeves will help to prevent any skin irritation.

Different Methods for Drying Cones:

Your cones are ready for brewing when the central stems are brittle and lupulin powder falls out easily. You can use the cones right away for brewing or stored in a sealed container in

the freezer for later use.

• Spread the hops out in the sunshine in a single layer protecting from wildlife.

• Dry hops in the oven, set the temperature at 140 degrees and leave the oven door slight open to allow moisture to escape.

• Electric food dehydrator at its lowest setting 90 to 100 degrees

After Harvest

Cut back bines to about three feet. After first heavy frost, cut the remaining bines at the soil surface and apply several inches of mulch over the grown plant.