Black Thumb!

Well my black thumb finally claimed the last of the hops. Looks like we won’t be growing much this year but hopefully the roots are growing big and strong for next season.

In other news we are slowly getting ready to do some brewing, equipment being bought and whatnot, so hopefully we will have some brew news for ya soonish.

One Down, one left

So one of our little bines took a dive early on and the other is still hanging in there. He grew to about 4″ so far but is starting to look a little goofy.

Here he is in his upright glory:

Grow buddy, grow!

I’m sure you can see his little yellow stripe forming too.

Spike the Gremlin?

Any idea what this means? Too much sun? Too much/little water?

I haven’t seen any bugs around but they could still be a factor.

Breaking!Breaking!

Finally!!!!

28 days into this venture we finally had some hop bines break ground. Worried far too much about it but what the hell do I know about growing hops right?

We’ll see how it holds up for the next few days before we get too stoked. Now we have to think about how/where to train these little guys to grow onto some twine.

What are you doing over here?

We had a little bit of rain the past few days so i’ve been holding off on watering to let nature do it’s thing. I was curious about how the soil was absorbing the water since the top seemed slightly moist a few hours after last rain, so i decided to dig in a bit. I was sifting through the soil about 6″ away from the closest Rhizome when I uncovered a little sprout coming up about 1/2″ below the surface. I took this as a good sign that at least things are growing in there and quickly re-covered the sprout. Not sure why it’s sprouting up so far away from where I planted but i’m hoping that means there are a few more sprouts closer to that spot as well. So it’s not much news but now I know things are not just laying there dead,

So far, no bueno

Well it’s been two weeks and we’ve seen no sign of our little hop bines. Perhaps we planted them too late in the season. In the research i’ve done (i.e. lurking on message boards) it seems like this might not be the worst thing. Some people have had no bines their first year only to have a hops explosion in the second season. Here’s to hoping.

In other news we intended to do some shopping for supplies last weekend but I decided to go and have a baby instead, kinda threw things off a bit. But we are getting back on track and should be rocking our first batch pretty soon.

Beer Review: Dogfish Head – Aprihop

One of the reason we decided to brew our own beer and grow our own hops is because we both love beer. I know, pretty obvious right? So besides carrying on about our little hobby we decided it’d be nice to review a few beers here as well.

Our first review is of Dogfish Head‘s “Aprihop” presented as “a serious India Pale Ale brewed with real apricots.” Dogfish Head is a pretty well know craft brewer out of Milton Delaware.

Patrick: First thing that hit me was the smell. It was a strong apricot smell not unlike when I used to get pitchers of Lost Coast’s Apricot Wheat

James: I noticed the smell as well when the first bottle was cracked. However, after pouring my own, I didn’t get the same aroma close up. I noticed the hops jump up to my nose as I poured.

Patrick: I dug into mine a little quicker then you got to yours and was surprised at how un-fruity (new word?) it actually tasted. The apricot flavor was in the forefront to be sure but it didn’t overwhelm the beer at all.

James: Unlike you, I’m patient. I let my bottle sit out for about 15 minutes getting it out of the fridge cold temperature range. My first taste suprised me. It was a much thicker sip than your usual amber ale of a similar color. This seems to be common with Dogfish Head beers though. It must be the large amount of fermentables they put in to bump up the ABV which isn’t that high on this one, only 7.0%

Patrick: Well aren’t you just a fucking beer snob Mr. Fancy Pants. I’ll give an amen to the thickness comment too. Much heavier then what I expect from an IPA. I also noticed that the apricot flavor seemed to mute the hop aroma that tends to dominate most IPAs. This is my first Dogfish Head beer so I wonder if I’ll feel the same about their other beers.

Mr. Fancy Pants: The apricot muting the hops only seemed to happen at the end of the sip, cutting the bitter aftertaste that is usually associated with IPAs. I was hoping for a more fruity flavor.

Patrick: Not as super crisp and refreshing as I had expected. Kinda wish I had it with dinner earlier. I like it enough but i’m not sure if i’d throw down a ten spot for a four pack on a regular basis. More then anything this beer makes me miss the glory days of getting pitchers of Lost Coast Apricot Wheat (RIP) at Spikes. Good times those. Why did those fools stop making it?

Mr. Fancy Pants: I agree about the dinner. Dogfish Head’s website suggests pairing this one with salads, swordfish, Mexican dishes, barbeque and hummus. It would have gone quite well with the cheesy gloriousness of the enchiladas that graced our plates earlier this night. All in all, I wouldn’t drop down for this regularly either. It’s fun to try with a couple others picking up the tab, but if you’re just in the mood for a refreshing fruit brewed beer there are other seasonals that would hit the spot on a spring evening.

Patrick: So far I’d suggest it to neither Hop Heads or fruity beer fans but I would suggest it to anyone who was fearful of either if you know what I mean. It could be a good gateway beer to Hoppy beers or fruity beers without being to strong in either camp. Let’s crack the other two and see if that changes our views at all.

Mr. Fancy Pants: Agreed, let us to the kitchen for more. Drink it if you got it.

(15 or 20min pass and a discussion of IPA vs Pale Ales occurs )

Patrick: 2nd bottle is pretty good. Sometimes I find it best to judge a beer not merely on the first taste but how much you enjoy consecutive beers.

James: I suppose that is true. At this rate, I’ve found the second beer to be more mellow bitter-wise and the apricot flavor coming a bit more to the fore front.

Patrick: Totally. Too bad it’s only a four pack or we could see what the next 12 taste like. So overall i’d say it was a quality beer and makes me want to check out some of their other brews.

Sunshine Solution

Well it isn’t gonna be the best solution but it’s the one we came up with. Since we seem to be leaning towards keeping the hops in the barrels for at least this season the quickest way to get these little plants some vitamin D is to bring ’em out of the gutter and on to the deck.

C'mon up boys(okay I know they are female..nevermind)!

So there they are hanging on the patio proper. Good for them I say. They’ve only been in soil four days but i’m already fighting the concern about whether or not they will actually grow this season. We may have put ’em in the ground too soon. I keep reading that they are a hearty little plant though that do well no matter what so here is to hoping that works out right. Guess we will find out together eh?

The Empty Bottles

One of the most tragic things about brewing beer is that we will need to have empty bottles in which to place the beer, at least until we start kegging it. Not sure if you are aware of this or not but fresh new empty bottles are a bit expensive. So to try and keep this little hobby on the cheapish side we have opted to reuse bottles we get when we buy beer. Of course this means we have to go through all the hassle of drinking all of the beer in those bottle. Life is hard indeed.

We’ve been hard at work on building up a bottle collection as of late and today we started up step one of getting those pesky labels off of the bottles. Soaking them in hot water is easy enough and counts as work for the day no?

Not blurry, steamy

Should only have to do that a few more times in the near future to have enough bottles for batch number 1.

Looks like we may head out and buy the needed supplies next week. Right now we intend to do our first batch in June or earlier. Hard to say exactly when with a baby on the way.

Next up: The Sunlight Solution

Sunshine?

We may have a sunlight issue. The angle of shadow cast by the fence directly behind the plants is keeping them from getting enough of that glorious sunlight so another solution must be found.

Our original intention was to grow the plants in the barrels for a bit until we build a planter box and then transfer them. We are now reconsidering having them stay in the barrels for the first season and then trying to move them over. Or not.

While we ponder those possibilities we have to solve the sun issue in a big hurry.

Earth Day/Planting Day

I always get Earth Day wrong because when I was a teenager there was a Dramarama song called “What Are We Gonna Do” that starts off “It’s April 21st and everybody knows today is Earth Day” so i’m a day off thanks to them.

Didn’t plan it this way but I decided to plant the Rhizomes today so from here on out i’m claiming that it was for Earth Day. Or Alex’s birthday, or Gregg’s, or Alice’s. I know a bunch of people with birthdays today I guess.

I got the Hop Rhizomes from an eBay seller. They came via USPS wrapped in plastic bags and already popping some sprouts.

Dimebag?

Went to Farm Supply yesterday and picked up two large pots and some soil from my buddy Steve. He has a background in growing things so he is acting as our mentor in this aspect of the venture.

With all of those ends tied I up I went ahead and planted a few of the rhizomes today. Since they were already sprouting and I didn’t want to bury them too deep (about 1-1/2″) some of the sprouts were already above the surface. I wasn’t sure if that was the way to go so I didn’t do them all that way. I kept the Cascade’s in the left bucket and the Centennial’s in the right bucket. Keeping the variety’s separate seems like the way to go.

The little Centennial guy is popping up the most. Do we still get to celebrate when the first bine breaks through or is that invalidated at this point?

Smaller then a popsicle stick!

Haven’t decided how often to add pictures of these guys. Maybe once a week or more often if they start sprouting like maniacs.