OnTap Magazine

• Mildew can become a challenge on hops during times of high humidity. For this reason, it is important to trim back all leaves and excess stems around the base of the hops no further than about 600mm. Trimming excess shoots will also provide better growth to the primary bine or bines, and provide better growth. One to three bines are trained (clockwise) around the string when the stems are about 30-40cm long. Note: the growing tips of new shoots are regarded as a delicacy, and are regarded as the most expensive vegetable in other countries. (We might need some culinary education on this back home.) • Bull shoots might be present in the first growth of the season, these bines are thicker than normal bines, the nodes are far apart, have a purple colour, and are hollow. These bines are less productive, and should be trimmed back to soil level. Hops are frost hardy, they can survive very cold spells, but a good mulch layer will help to protect them. In winter the bines dry out and dies back to soil level. Bines should be removed from the strings, and I have learned the hard way, that it is 100% more difficult to untangle new growth from old dried bines. PLANT MAINTENANCE • Often, with newly planted hops, early season hop cones are produced by the plant. These make new hop growers very excited, but yields are normally low, due to the early stage of development of the root system. These cones can be harvested as soon as the cones start feeling “papery” and when some of the outer cone leaves loses the green colour. If you cut back the bines that produced early, you might even have enough time left to get a second harvest. • Harvested hops can “sweat” easily, avoid storing them in plastic bags during hot times of the day. • To preserve: semi-dry the cones on wooden screens with mesh or shade cloth to increase ventilation. Don’t over dry, and seal in vacuumed bags ASAP, and keep refrigerated. Fresh hops can also be vacuumed sealed and frozen immediately, but then it should be kept frozen until use. • The best way to use fresh wet hops is to add it to the end of the boil immediately after harvest, or add it as dry hopping during fermentation. • The leaves of the cones can cause blockage in pumps, so always use a hops basket of a hop bag to protect the pump. HARVEST TIME Unbranded Branded (1 colour & 1 position) Branded (2 colours & 1 position) Festival 350ml cup – Recyclable R 1.10 R 1.87 R 2.20 Festival 500ml cup – Recyclable R 1.45 R 2.22 R 2.45 Keg Cap TE - 8cm A Type - Peel Off R 1.40 R 1.99 Keg Cap TE - 7cm G Type - Peel Off R 1.40 R 1.99 Keg Cap TE - 7cm G Type - Snap Off R 1.80 R 2.39 Keg Cap TE - 6cm S Type - Peel Off R 1.40 R 1.99 Shot Glasses R 0.65 R 1.42 Speed Pourer R 4.35 R 4.95