So back in April 2011 I decided to have a go at growing my own hops. I opted for East Kent Goldings (Redsells Eastwell), can't quite remember why exactly as there were about ten to choose from. I was tempted to try growing Cascades but given I live not far from Kent, why not grow something that's proven in my local climate and its a pretty versatile hop for the kettle as well. I ordered the Rhyzome from Essentially Hops, and planted in a large plastic tub. I initially arranged three bamboo canes in a teepee style setup. According to the instructions once the plant had started to grow, I was to select three vines and train them around the three canes I had erected. So I duly ignored that and let five grow.
Once they started to grow they shot up pretty quickly, so I extended the bamboo cane across the shed and over the top to the fence. As it grew I split the five shoots accordingly.
I watered everyday, and fed with tomato feed every fortnight. I'd read in many articles that you are unlikely to get any flowering in the first year....bullcrap in my case, the thing went mental. Perhaps the weather this year helped, but it was soon flowering little white buds.
Then as you can see below some pretty big cones
So I've just tonight harvested the crop, probably a week too late as its now constantly raining. I used about 180 grams of it a week ago to make a new 'Best Bitter'. As this was 'Wet Hopped' I multiplied the required hops by five, to take into account the water content.
I've dried the remainder off in the oven and laid out on a sheet with a heater and a fan. And will put in the freezer once dried out. At the moment the house smells amazing !
No comments:
Post a Comment