Episode 146 - Home Grown Hops and Wet Hopped Beers

Have you ever thought about growing your own hops?

In Episode 146, we’re getting our hands dirty and heading into the garden to talk homegrown hops, harvest time and the latest trend for wet-hopped beer.

We’ll be discussing everything from choosing varieties and keeping your hop plants happy, to knowing when those precious cones are ready to pick. Then we’ll get into the really interesting bit—what do you actually do with several kilos of fresh hops once you've harvested them?

We’ll share our own experiences of growing varieties including Fuggles, Saaz, Goldings and Yeoman, including the successes, the failures and the inevitable battle to stop hop bines taking over the garden!

🍃 In this episode:

• Growing your own hops at home
• Choosing hop varieties and sourcing rhizomes
• Feeding, pruning and looking after your plants
• Trellising—and what happens when the hops ignore your plans!
• Knowing when your hops are ready to harvest
• How much fresh hop material you actually get
• Wet-to-dry hop weight calculations
• Working out the potential alpha acids of homegrown hops
• Brewing with huge quantities of fresh hops
• Drying and storing surplus hops
• Vacuum packing and freezing homegrown hops
• What makes wet-hopped beer different?
• Why breweries are embracing fresh hop beers
• The growing UK green-hop movement
• Five Points and Track Brewing's approaches to fresh hops
• And whether wet hopping really lives up to the hype

🌿 Wet Hopping

Wet-hopped beer is all about capturing something you simply can't get from conventional dried or pelletised hops—the character of freshly harvested, unkilned hops.

We'll look at the seasonality and logistics behind getting hops from the bine into the brewery in a matter of hours, as well as the distinctive green, grassy, resinous, earthy and fresh-hop character they can bring to a beer.

We'll also discuss why wet-hopped beers are becoming such a big part of the autumn brewing calendar—and why, just like the harvest itself, you only get one shot at it each year.

🏆 And there's a competition!

This is the first year The Malt Miller and Track Brewing Co. are running their wet-hop beer competition. If you don't have access to fresh hops, there's also a category for beers brewed using dried leaf hops.

So whether you're growing hops in a garden, allotment, up a pergola—or desperately trying to stop Fuggles taking over the trampoline—this episode is for you.

Huge thanks to The Malt Miller, our sponsor and premier supplier of all things homebrew. Check out their dedicated Hop Addition recipe section for beers featured on the podcast, including our own creations and recipes from our guests.

They've also got some new New Zealand hops in stock, but be quick—they won't hang around!

🍺 Next episode: 25th September. Keep an eye on our socials for details.

Grab a beer, head out into the garden and join us for a deep dive into growing your own hops and getting the freshest possible hops into your brew kettle.

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