I'm fairly new to homebrewing, and have no experience growing my own hops. But does this look like a good deal?
sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/grd/1635583252.htmlPosted Mar 12, 2010, 8:25 PM UTC
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sfbay.craigslist.org
If you're willing to spend the extra money to jump start your hops by one season I guess it's worth it. Otherwise, I'd suggest Freshops for rhizomes. $4.50-7 for your choice of 30+ varieties...
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Yep, this is what I decided to do. I have my spot scoped out, my trellis designed, and all necessary tools accounted for. But since this is my first time growing, I wanted to get r/homebrewing's thoughts on the varieties I chose. Going to grow 3 plants of each ... let me know what you think.
- Cascade
- Saaz
- Magnum
- Fuggle
Edit: For anyone chancing across this page, you might be curious why I never posted my results. It's because I ended up moving and returning to school to finish my degree, so I no longer have time to take on this project. Next year ...
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Looks like some nice variety. You may have to supplement with some other US varieties if you plan on making any huge IPAs, but otherwise those 4 can be used effectively in just about anything.
One word of advice I learned from a professional hop farmer: when the shoots get about 6 inches tall cut them down to about an inch above ground level. A couple weeks later when they hit 6 inches cut them down again.
The first shoots that pop out each year are always stringier and less productive than the ones that come a bit later, and stunting the growth on the early risers helps make the entire bine stronger.
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These will be used for experimentation and small batches; variety is what I was going for, not huge yield. If I end up wanting to have more output in later years, I'll consolidate to 2 or 3 varieties (likely, like you said, for an IPA). I'm also leaving some room and I'll have space for up to 18 more plants if I really decide to get serious about my output.
That's a good tip about cutting the shoots, thanks!
I'll post pics in a few weeks once I get everything set up.
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Freshops does have some great rhizomes, the local brew shop gets their's from them. My Zeus hops grew to about 12 feet and had about an ounce of hops the first year.
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I think I'm going to do this instead. I'll post pics to r/homebrewing if I do.
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I would buy this, just because most of the work is already done, worth $30 in my books
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Agreed, this is a bargain. Saves you time and they are up a season. One more year and you start to see even better results.
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Since you seem to be in the eastbay, you should know that morebeer.com is taking pre-orders for hop rhizomes currently. They have a retail location on Detroit Ave in Concord tucked back behind Costco. Makes for an easy local pickup instead of shipping fragile biological material.
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Handy. And actually I live in the South Bay, but I do work in the East Bay.
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I think they have a retail shop in Los Altos too.
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Being in the eastbay, I love beer^3. Though their prices are fair to high, the showroom, selection and staff friendliness/helpfulness/expertise makes them my goto supplier.
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The lhbs store in my area sells one rhizome for $30, no pot or soil. So this looks like fair market value. You could buy a pound of pellet hops for less, so if you are new maybe start there. Get an idea of what hops you really like and then think about growing.
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Good info, thank you. I definitely want to grow Cascade, but maybe I'll hold out for a while until I've made a few more batches.
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Yeah, can't go wrong with Cascade imho. A single cascade hop IPA is good anytime of the year, so refreshing. They are pretty low in price these days, I believe around $12 - $15 per pound. Amarillo is becoming my favorite, some call it super cascade. It not only has the grapefruity citrus bite, but has a passion fruit character to it. I love hops. Happy brewing
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That depends. How many ounces of hops do you get from a new plant compared to a plant that has aged a year? Value the hops at $2/oz, and then subtract the value of the first year's crop from the second. If the difference is greater than 15oz., then it is worth it.
You might also include the difference in time, effort, etc. I'm inclined to think it is worth $30, based on my hunch, but you can do the math if you want.
That being said, bargain with him.
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man i should peddle some of my rhizomes.
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Rhizomes go for $3 commercially and apparently $7 to the public.
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Imgur cache: http://imgur.com/YF2sP
Thanks codev.