Hop harvest!
We got off to an early start last night, so we had some extra time. We spent it on a quick little business meeting (more on that soon) and our hop plants, which have been growing like gangbusters their 2nd year in existence.
Thank the Lord that big ugly thing in the middle wasn’t a hop, but instead was Joel. Here’s Joel posing for the camera. He really wanted a shot of himself doing actual work.
We won’t know how many hops we’ll have until we dry them out and weigh them (turns out they lose a lot of weight during the drying process). About 75-80% of our harvest to date has been Cascade. The rest is Chinook ? which are HUGE compared to the Cascade flowers. Interesting. Here’s a cool artsy shot of the hops all laid out and drying. Imagine how cool and artsy it would be if it were turned 90 degrees:
We spread out the hops on an old screen door, which we elevated a couple feet off the ground. We are also shining a couple heat lamps down on them. Mostly for dramatic lighting, but also to dry them quicker (kidding, just to dry them quicker). My thanks to my brother Nathan and our friends Matt and Kate for supplying the photos. You can see many more pictures from last night here. And as always, thanks to all who came last night. We had a good crowd last night, even if our unnamed Belgian Wit was a mite uncarbonated!
You failed to mention that the Eye Patch Ale was A-mazing. And I usually don’t like IPAs.
Was “wit for brains” suggested? The hops look good, congrats on the harvest, but those Georgia hops aren’t nearly as pretty as NY hops.
Would it be better to put the lights under the hops? The whole “heat rises” thing would maybe help energy-wise and the water vapor wouldn’t have to traverse electrical equipment. You’re not trying to keep fries warm.
Chris: probably.