For many years I have been wanting to start my garden. In this garden I won’t be growing your normal produce and herbs. Rather, it is filled with a tall vine that’s flowers are used in one of my favorite recipes, BEER!
Hops or Humulus lupulus are found as the bittering ingredient as well as a preservative in beer. Different strains of hops provide different characteristics. Some hops are better for the flavor, while others are better for the aroma. A brewer will add their hops in at different times of the brew to bring out different aspects of the flavor or character of the beer.
This year I started my garden. I went down the street to our local hop garden (Niwot Hops) here in Boulder County. A great guy by the name of Will helped me to select my plants. 2 Crystal hops, good for aroma. 2 Chinooks, great for flavor. And a Cascade that I had to grow from a rhizome. I have since added a second year Cascade to the garden as well.
The cool thing about hops is that they don’t grow from seed. They grow from rhizomes. It’s basically a root that you let grow every year. First year hops won’t yield as much as a second year. A producing garden will have 3rd and even 4th year or even older hops twisting up their trellis.
Cascade is an aroma-type cultivar which originated as the first commercial hop from the USDA-ARS breeding program. It was bred in 1956 but not released for cultivation until 1972. It reached its peak in 1975 when it produced 13.3% of the total American crop. It was obtained by crossing an English Fuggle with a male plant, which originated from the Russian variety Serebrianka with a Fuggle male plant.
A very popular U.S. variety, with a moderate bitterness level and fragrant, flowery aroma. Cascade is often used in highly hopped West Coast ales that have a citrus-floral hop character. (alpha acid: 4.5-6.0% / beta acid: 5.0-7.0% )
Chinook is a bittering variety with aroma characteristics released in May, 1985. It was bred by crossing a Petham Golding with the USDA 63012 male.
A high alpha acid hop with a wonderful herbal, almost smoky character when used as an aromatic during the last few minutes of the boil when dry hoping. Excellent for hopping American-style Pale Ales, especially those brewed to higher gravities. (alpha acid: 12.0-14.0% / beta acid: 3.0-4.0%)
Crystal is a triploid aroma-type cultivar, released for commercial production in 1993. It originates from a seedling selection (No. 8309-37) made at Corvallis in 1983 between the colchicine - induced tetraploid ‘Hallertau mf’ (USDA 21397) and the diploid male downy mildew resistant aroma hop, USDA 21381M. Crystal is a half-sister of Mt. Hood and Liberty. (alpha acid: 4.0-6.0% / beta acid: 5.0-6.7%)
I know a guy that can hook you up with some fresh hop cones
I actually haven’t personally brewed yet. I have read a number of books and followed along with friends. I have even spent a number of days in a commercial brew house following along with their crew. So by the time these hop plants produce usable cones, I hope to be brewing on my own.
