Hop Growing Update

Yesterday I successfully put up my second hop trellis, for the Cascade hop bed and two Hallertau hop beds, bringing the total hop beds to six.  The two Hallertau beds used the “Jumbo” rhizomes from Freshops.

When I previously bought hop rhizomes, I got the standard size, but after seeing the viability of the Jumbo varieties (it looked like a small tree trunk), I would definitely recommend buying the jumbo rhizomes from Freshops.  In both cases, the rhizomes have vines over a foot tall within a few weeks.

As for the other three beds (Golding, Tettenang, and Willamette), I have one Tettenang hop vine that has already reached the top, and is about a foot above the trellis!

Stay tuned for updates, and I’ll see if I can snap a few photos of the setup, too.

Caramel Apple Tart

So, I had a chance to sample the Caramel Apple Tart beer this evening, in preparation for this weekend’s get-together.

It was really good.  I increased up the carbonation a bit to make it light and refreshing, and the hint of caramel balances the sour apple flavor and aroma.  It doesn’t have as much body as I would have liked, but it’s going to be great on the warm day.

I had my tasting panel tell me that it was top 5 beers I’ve made.  So, for my experimental beers, that makes 2 of 2 that turned out great.

Today I Hate Squirrels

Today during lunch, I dug through my recently planted Cascade hops, and I had a disconcerting find.  One of my rhizomes was missing.  At first, I thought I may have missed it, so I dug through the soil again, and couldn’t find it.

At this point, I thought about when I had last checked the rhizomes.  It was Saturday evening, and everything was good.  With both of the rhizomes, I took a couple of the sprouts and placed them above ground to reach the sun, to hopefully kick-start the growth cycle.  Perhaps the birds thought it was a worm and grabbed it out of the ground.  Then I remembered the dreaded squirrels liked to dig through my soil, mentioned in my last hops growing article.

I searched the yard, about 10-15 feet from the bed, and found the rhizome.  It had been split in half and chewed, most likely by squirrels.  I was devastated.  I decided to first soak what was left of the rhizome in some water, then buried the halves in the soil.  To try and repel the squirrels, I spread black pepper and cayenne pepper over the beds.

So, let’s hope for the best so the rhizome will grow, and today I hate squirrels.

Growing Hops in Iowa Part 2 – The Beginning

Early Hop Plant
Early Hop Plant

As you bring out your green thumb and decide to plant your own hops, here are the things you need to get started:

  1. Hop Rhizomes (obviously)
  2. A trellis system for the hops to climb
  3. Dirt (another obvious item)
  4. Protection from critters (this is optional, but I found out quickly that squirrels like to dig in the loose soil)

Let’s start by discussing each item one by one.  First, hop rhizomes are a section of the root of another hop plant.  What’s nice about rhizomes is they shoot off additional rhizomes each year, and those offshoots can be dug up and replanted, or given to friends.  As a matter of fact, that’s how the original rhizomes are harvested, and each one is genetically identical to the parent.  Each year around February or March, many homebrewing stores sell rhizomes to plant.  Unfortunately, if you miss this window, you may need to wait until next year to obtain a rhizome.  If you remember from my previous article on growing hops, last year I purchased Goldings, Tettenang, and Willamette hop varieties.  This year, I expanded my hop selection to five by also purchasing Hallertau and Cascade.  As of right now, the Tettenang hops are growing very well, and a couple of bines are over 2 foot tall.  I just planted the two new varieties this evening, but have heard good stories about how well Cascade hops grow in the Midwest.

Tying Up Hop Strings
Tying Up Hop Strings on the Trellis

Now that you’ve obtained the hops, the next step is to build some kind of a trellis system for the hops to grow.  There are numerous designs available, but, from the photo, you can see that I went with PVC pipes.  I found this design on the internet, but have had a hard time finding it again.  If you want details, let me know.

Each one is spaced 8 feet apart, and the PVC is 10+ feet high.  I have three eyelets for each vertical pipe, spaced 2-3 feet apart, screwed into the top pipe, and have strings tied to each eyelet.  Then, on the ground, I have a spike I tie the strings to.

The reason I went with this design is that if you notice at the bottom of the pipes there is a dark gray pipe sunk into the ground.  It is a bit larger in diameter than the white pipes, and each white pipe slides into the gray pipe.  This allows me to remove the white PVC pipes and store them for the winter with only the dark gray pipes staying outside all year.

Now that we have the rhizomes and the trellis, we need to plant.  You can simply place the rhizomes into the dirt and allow them to grow, or you can make the soil more hospitable.  For the most part, there are few nutrients needed, but I dig a hole and use garden soil or potting soil.  Some folks use regular soil mixed with manure.  I also use a liquid fertilizer.  Because the soil is loose to allow for water drainage, it’s advisable to put a fence around it to keep the local squirrels and chipmunks from digging in the dirt, thinking they left nuts from the winter buried in your hop bed.

So, that’s about all you need to plant hops.  They are hardy plants that just need a little attention and patience, and with time, you will have your own hops.  Look for my progress updates as growing season progresses.

What’s your experience with growing hops?  Have you had success where you live?

Homebrewing Update

Boiling Wort
Boiling Wort for the Caramel Apple Tart Beer

Some of you may have remembered me mentioning brewing a saison.  Since I wrote about it last, it has been completed and consumed.  To be honest, it was good, but might have been a bit phenolic, so next time, I will lower the fermentation temperature a bit.  It did hit as high as 85, but for this strain of yeast, that may have been a bit high.  But, it’s gone, so it couldn’t have been that bad, eh?

About a week before I made the saison, I brewed an IPA.  I have been brewing for about  two years, but this was my first IPA.  Personally, I think there is a right way and a wrong way to use hops in IPA’s.  In my opinion, the wrong way is using the hops early during the boiling of the wort, making the finished beer very bitter.  I don’t think this is right at all.  Instead, the correct way, in my opinion, is to concentrate the hop additions later in the boiling process, giving the resulting beer much more flavor and aroma, with balanced bitterness.  The IPA recipe I created used Cascade and Simcoe hops, for a nice, citrusy hop flavor and floral aroma.  I also dry-hopped with Simcoe to enhance the aroma.  It ended up as a very delicious beer.

Last week, I heard about a pastry place in southeast Iowa that creates a dessert called a  “Caramel Apple Tart”.  I thought to myself that it sounded like it could be a delicious beer.

So, Friday, when I got home from my trip to Boston, I ventured into unknown territory: a “sour mash”.  It was a small batch, about 1.5 gallons of wort, and I added a handful of dry grains to sour it.  I let it sit in a warm place until today (Sunday).  Today, I tasted it, and it was pretty good, because it was just slightly sour from the lactic acid produced during the procedure.  I mixed about a gallon of the sour liquid, the “tart” in my experimental beer, with the beer I brewed today, which was similar to an Irish Red, to give it the “caramel”.  As soon as the fermentation is over, I’m planning on adding a couple of pureed Granny Smith apples, to accomplish the “apple”.  Viola!

What do you think?  How does a “Caramel Apple Tart” beer sound to you?