How long is everyone waiting? I think mine are ready, not a large harvest due to 1st year but time to make beer.

Mine haven't grown anything yet

http://www.whitedevilbrewing.com/images/hopssmall.jpg

I'll probably be harvesting mine this week, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the right time for you.

Jon, is that recent? Looks like you have a ways to go huh? I have 20-25 ft plants but don't see any buds yet. I do mean my hop plants.

ya, that was taken ummm, 2 days ago I think. They were just planted this year, so I'm not expecting to get anything from them. Plus, as you can see, I'm doing this on an apartment patio, so I really don't have much room for them to grow Maybe someday I'll own a house and I can plant hops all over the place!

huh. mine peaked a few weeks ago. I've got a sweeeet picture I took of them. PC Desktop Background worthy. I'll be putting them online within a couple months.

Yeah, Jon I didn't know what to expect seeing as this is my first time as well. I used some big pots and am happy with the vines however no buds yet.

Just brewed a Oktoberfest and Hoppy Homegrown Pilsner this last weekend. Used 2003 Mt. Hood for bittering and Hallertauer and Tettnangers (early hops) in the finish.

Can anyone give tips on storing and preparing harvested hops ready for use? The tips page on this site stops after harvesting...

ditto that....Ive got Goldings and Magnums, and am scared to death to use them, not knowing their strength.

I grew hops for about 6 years before I started using them. For some reason I thought they might be different from commerical hops, now I can't wait until havrvest season and if I want a fresh hoppy beer I will only use whole homegrowns or commerical pellets.

After you harvest the hops you can dry them in several differnt ways. On window screens (takes about 4-7 days depending humidity), food dehyrator (1-2 days) or a paper bag (need to turn over frequntly). I use window screens and the dehydrator (set at about 80 - 100 F). During heavy harvest periods I have to use both methods and sometimes all three. Commercial hop dryers dry hops at about 140 F, but I like to use a lowwer temp to preserve freshness. After the hops are dry I use a Food Savor (vaccum sealer) and bags or Mason Jars. After the hops are packaged they are stored in a freezer. The majority of hops I grow are aroma varities. If I am going to bitter with homegrowns (HG) for a specific style, I use the middle of alpha rating and the middle of IBU rating for the style of beer I am going to brew. I have not ever had a problem over hopping using this technique, if anything I underhop. Another thing to do if your timid about using HG's for a specific style make a hoppy type of beer and then use a whole bunch of them and that way you can really taste the hops. Just be carefull using bittering varities for flavor and aroma unless that hop is commonly used for that purpose. Bittering hops used in that manner are Columbus, Cenntenial, Chinook, Simcoe, Warrior, and so on. Good luck on using your HGs.

Is it really necessary to dry before freezing? I suppose the weight difference could screw up a recipe, but apart from that does freezing damage moist hops?
Thanks by the way!

You really don't want to be using moist hops in most cases, anyway. I supect that the moisture in them when freezing would be a bad thing.

You want to dry your hops before you freeze them. Brewing with undried hops is a pain. Takes more hops due to the water content of the hops and most fresh hop beers I have tasted have a grassy (chlorophyl) taste. By the way, I guess there will be a Brewfest in McMenville, OR on Sept. 25 and they will have 10 different Fresh Hop beers. The 10 breweries will be using 10 different freshly picked Oregon grown hops. One hop variety for each brewery.

Here's a good one for drying herbs, and I'd include hops.

Take some cheap furnace air filters. (the accordian style fabric in a frame-type dealies)
You need at least 2, but more and more depending how much you're drying. Lay them down flat, scatter hops in the ridges (not too much that it'd impede air flow). Top with another filter. Repeat as necessary.

Then using bungee cords, attach the sandwich of filters to the face of a square window fan. Prop the fan (horizontally of course) a bit above the ground and let it flow. The hops should be dry within a day if not less.

This bit of genius is from the food network- good eats. Can't take the credit here

Sounds like an easy way to dry hops, Bryan.

Last year, I tried using a space heater in a big bucket and on top put my wife's sweater screen dryer thing with the hops on them. It seemed like it worked but they ended up getting moldy so I must not have given them enough time. If it takes a dehydrator 1-2 days, then I definitely didn't wait long enough.

I used my wifes food dehydrater, and have only needed to go for about 6 hours. This is my first harvest also, so my quantities haven't filled it by any means. I've only ended up with about 1/2 an ounce each time. Have gotten 2 1/2 ounces total.
Fuggels and Saaz. The book I got, written by a fella from Oregon, gave good descriptions of feel and look, of what the mature hop buds should be so I'm confident I got them at the right time.

I lost my hops this year (tear). We are having a concrete patio poured in our backyard and the hops were right in the middle of the planned patio. I cut them down and saved the rhizomes in some compost for replanting post-patio. I think that this would have been my first good production year too. Rats!

Well i'm young but i want to start some new skills and my mom knew what i wanted because she planted me a hops vine about 4 or 5 years ago so its buding now but the problem i have is.... how do i know they are ready to be harvested and after they are harvested and dried... what next? i'm completely new to this but want to learn so any help is useful!
thanks for your time guys

Rob, start here: http://freshops.com/gardening.html

Thanks for the referral Bryan. Now I know I was ok to let the bottom of the hop bush out after harvest. I still have the question though of: after I cut the bine and bury it as suggested:

Do I need to continue to water the plant? I don't expect that we'll get much measurable rainfall here in sunny San Diego for some time and will certainly go through weeks and weeks of dry spells between here and next April.

Most of the information I have read on hops over the winter is just a good layer of compost to avoid freezing. I doubt you will have much trouble with that in San Diego. I would suggest looking up a hop seller on the net and asking there recommendation for where you live on the best way to care for them over the off season.

well thanks for the help so far guys.... yesterday i harvested my crop and got a pretty good amount out of it this year.... it pleases me because this is the first year it has produced bud so next year will be just fine. So know i need to find a stainless steel tub to start this off in... any tips on how much of wut i should use and do u need very much barley?

thanks again guys