Ah, one of the great joys of living in the Great North Wet. Plenty of hops and good beer.
amstradsays
I tried growing a hop vine in Florida. It didn’t work out well… too hot and humid.
spamamander, hellmart survivorsays
Ahhh yes, I live right in the middle of Washington hop country. Dry, hot, with volcanic soil that the plants seem to love. During the summertime I-82 is lined with the hop poles full of green.
crissakentavrsays
Doesn’t make me thirsty, but more hungry. I love eating raw hops or oats in the field. Dunno why.
Rev. BigDumbChimpsays
yes!
georgeriecksays
Ahhh, A common site here in the Wilamette Valley – well in season that is!
Hops! My dad had one growing up a telephone pole in our back yard. I never tried eating them.
chigau (同じ)says
We have those beside the garage.
Did you know they cannot be killed?
A. Rsays
chigau: They can be killed, it just requires a flamethrower, half a gallon of roundup concentrate, and monthly re-flamethrowerings for the next year.
chigau (同じ)says
A. R
Actually, the one beside the house died on it’s own.
Two winters with 5 months of sub-freezing, two summers of drought and non-stop ripping out by the roots helped a bit.
Antiochus and Glen look like they’re about to come to lagerheads.
A. Rsays
chigau: That works too, though I find the chemical/incendiary warfare route much more dramatic! :)
chigau (同じ)says
A. R
My neighbours get upset when I do gardening in full hazmat gear. And the black-ops helicopter just freaks them out.
robpowellsays
Ah yes. We see a whole bunch of these come into the experiment station during harvest. Joys of working at an ag research center, eh?
DLCsays
I sense some heady tensions brewing here. But, really guys there’s no need to get all foam-at-the-mouth about it.
Alex the Pretty Goodsays
Oh Hoppy Day!
fredbloggssays
Spent some time as a student picking hops nr Bosbury, in Worcestshire (UK). I spent a lot of time wading waste deep through them, and the jeans I was wearing became yellowy-green with hop oil. The citrus smell was overwhelming.
Those jeans weren’t much use for anything afterwards.
radpumpkinsays
Hmmmm, hops. One of the joys of living where I do, the sodding things just grow like crazy. I think I shall have some hop juice for lunch today.
suebolandsays
My Mom grew up in the slums of London and their annual “holiday” was going hop-picking in Kent.So, nostalgia.
amsterstormsays
I love how similar an aromatic hoppy beer can smell to cannabis.
Spent some time as a student picking hops nr Bosbury, in Worcestshire (UK). I spent a lot of time wading waste deep through them, and the jeans I was wearing became yellowy-green with hop oil. The citrus smell was overwhelming.
And now I have an intense craving for Zombie Dust.
I live for 10.5 months out of the year on a Caribbean island. Beer is something I look forward to with all the fondness and longing as snow crunching under my boots, the smell of woodsmoke on cold air and a day where the temperature dips below 75 degrees F.
IslandBrewersays
Ok, from the short flowers, and the color, I’m going to guess that those are Goldings or Willamete. the new cultivars tend to be longer flowers, and the power of SCIENCE has made practically oozing with yewllow pollen full of humulenes and cohumulenes, so those are definitely not Tomahawk or Amarillo, or somesuch.
I grow hops in the back, and don’t use all of them for brewing. Lately, my wife has been using the leftovers for little potpourri sacks (yes, I know some people attach woo-ey sentiments to hop pillows, but we just like the smell).
alektorophilesays
Thirsty, indeed. Just planted a few rhizomes of different UK varieties this past winter, having recently started brewing again (to relive halcyon student days?). Also, very hard to find a decent pale ale or porter anywhere in the southern part of the European landmass. Living in wine country has its advantages, but after getting hooked on the hoppy stuff while in the US, making my own seems to be the only solution.
Wild hops seem to grow beautifully where I live. Anybody ever tried to use those for brewing?
Azkyrothsays
I have a somewhat complex relationship with hops. They’re essential for balancing a beer; unfortunately, this is the West Coast, where for some insane reason people seem to insist that beer that tastes like grapefruit is palatable, and anything that isn’t a “motor oil” beer not identified as a black IPA is decently likely to surprise you by being hopped all to hell. >.>
ianmclaughlinsays
#32, IslandBrewer: “Ok, from the short flowers, and the color, I’m going to guess that those are Goldings or Willamete. the new cultivars tend to be longer flowers, and the power of SCIENCE has made practically oozing with yewllow POLLEN full of humulenes and cohumulenes, so those are definitely not Tomahawk or Amarillo, or somesuch.”
Uh, I think you mean “lupulin glands” – since hop cones are female flowers, they have no pollen.
—
And PZ, why is it so hard to log in to comment via my WordPress account? I try to log in, and it says “invalid password”. So I click the WordPress icon at the bottom, and it tells me I need to sign into WordPress first. So I do. Now when I click that icon again, it asks for my wordpress URL and I enter it, but a window comes up and says “you need to provide your email address to wordpress first”. WHAT?! There’s no place to put my email address… and why? I’ve already properly logged in… it KNOWS its me!
I’ve only ever had problems logging into Pharyngula to comment. Old site, new site, whatever. Just problems.
sinned34says
Man, I’m just dying for the weather to warm up enough for me to fire up the kettle and start brewing. I’m heading up to Gambrinus Malting to grab a bag of ESB malt and a bag of Munich malt next week to get ready for the brew season.
A friend of mind found a large amount of wild hops growing about 3 kms from my house. I think I might pick a couple of pounds of them and try them in a pale ale. If only I could figure out what strain they might be…
TimKO,,.,,says
Minnesota is at the right latitude for a hops trellis. Get a rhizome and let it go nuts.
Ah, one of the great joys of living in the Great North Wet. Plenty of hops and good beer.
I tried growing a hop vine in Florida. It didn’t work out well… too hot and humid.
Ahhh yes, I live right in the middle of Washington hop country. Dry, hot, with volcanic soil that the plants seem to love. During the summertime I-82 is lined with the hop poles full of green.
Doesn’t make me thirsty, but more hungry. I love eating raw hops or oats in the field. Dunno why.
yes!
Ahhh, A common site here in the Wilamette Valley – well in season that is!
I’m just feeling bitter.
Glen Davidson
crissakentavr:
Wonder no more: Prime animal feed, it is.
(Cattle love it)
What’s ale-ing you, Glen?
My meads simply aren’t being met.
Glen Davidson
Glen…no need to brewd about it
Thirsty?
Is that what a pretzel looks like before it sprouts?
Mmmm…
But what variety is it? We need to know.
Hops! My dad had one growing up a telephone pole in our back yard. I never tried eating them.
We have those beside the garage.
Did you know they cannot be killed?
chigau: They can be killed, it just requires a flamethrower, half a gallon of roundup concentrate, and monthly re-flamethrowerings for the next year.
A. R
Actually, the one beside the house died on it’s own.
Two winters with 5 months of sub-freezing, two summers of drought and non-stop ripping out by the roots helped a bit.
Every time I try them I pee, Eh!
Antiochus and Glen look like they’re about to come to lagerheads.
chigau: That works too, though I find the chemical/incendiary warfare route much more dramatic! :)
A. R
My neighbours get upset when I do gardening in full hazmat gear. And the black-ops helicopter just freaks them out.
Ah yes. We see a whole bunch of these come into the experiment station during harvest. Joys of working at an ag research center, eh?
I sense some heady tensions brewing here. But, really guys there’s no need to get all foam-at-the-mouth about it.
Oh Hoppy Day!
Spent some time as a student picking hops nr Bosbury, in Worcestshire (UK). I spent a lot of time wading waste deep through them, and the jeans I was wearing became yellowy-green with hop oil. The citrus smell was overwhelming.
Those jeans weren’t much use for anything afterwards.
Hmmmm, hops. One of the joys of living where I do, the sodding things just grow like crazy. I think I shall have some hop juice for lunch today.
My Mom grew up in the slums of London and their annual “holiday” was going hop-picking in Kent.So, nostalgia.
I love how similar an aromatic hoppy beer can smell to cannabis.
Same botanical family: Cannabaceae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humulus_lupulus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis
And now I have an intense craving for Zombie Dust.
I live for 10.5 months out of the year on a Caribbean island. Beer is something I look forward to with all the fondness and longing as snow crunching under my boots, the smell of woodsmoke on cold air and a day where the temperature dips below 75 degrees F.
Ok, from the short flowers, and the color, I’m going to guess that those are Goldings or Willamete. the new cultivars tend to be longer flowers, and the power of SCIENCE has made practically oozing with yewllow pollen full of humulenes and cohumulenes, so those are definitely not Tomahawk or Amarillo, or somesuch.
I grow hops in the back, and don’t use all of them for brewing. Lately, my wife has been using the leftovers for little potpourri sacks (yes, I know some people attach woo-ey sentiments to hop pillows, but we just like the smell).
Thirsty, indeed. Just planted a few rhizomes of different UK varieties this past winter, having recently started brewing again (to relive halcyon student days?). Also, very hard to find a decent pale ale or porter anywhere in the southern part of the European landmass. Living in wine country has its advantages, but after getting hooked on the hoppy stuff while in the US, making my own seems to be the only solution.
Wild hops seem to grow beautifully where I live. Anybody ever tried to use those for brewing?
I have a somewhat complex relationship with hops. They’re essential for balancing a beer; unfortunately, this is the West Coast, where for some insane reason people seem to insist that beer that tastes like grapefruit is palatable, and anything that isn’t a “motor oil” beer not identified as a black IPA is decently likely to surprise you by being hopped all to hell. >.>
#32, IslandBrewer: “Ok, from the short flowers, and the color, I’m going to guess that those are Goldings or Willamete. the new cultivars tend to be longer flowers, and the power of SCIENCE has made practically oozing with yewllow POLLEN full of humulenes and cohumulenes, so those are definitely not Tomahawk or Amarillo, or somesuch.”
Uh, I think you mean “lupulin glands” – since hop cones are female flowers, they have no pollen.
—
And PZ, why is it so hard to log in to comment via my WordPress account? I try to log in, and it says “invalid password”. So I click the WordPress icon at the bottom, and it tells me I need to sign into WordPress first. So I do. Now when I click that icon again, it asks for my wordpress URL and I enter it, but a window comes up and says “you need to provide your email address to wordpress first”. WHAT?! There’s no place to put my email address… and why? I’ve already properly logged in… it KNOWS its me!
I’ve only ever had problems logging into Pharyngula to comment. Old site, new site, whatever. Just problems.
Man, I’m just dying for the weather to warm up enough for me to fire up the kettle and start brewing. I’m heading up to Gambrinus Malting to grab a bag of ESB malt and a bag of Munich malt next week to get ready for the brew season.
A friend of mind found a large amount of wild hops growing about 3 kms from my house. I think I might pick a couple of pounds of them and try them in a pale ale. If only I could figure out what strain they might be…
Minnesota is at the right latitude for a hops trellis. Get a rhizome and let it go nuts.