I was out shopping for heirloom tomato plants at a local nursery last weekend when I made an interesting discovery. Amongst a selection of rare ornamental plants and hard to find heirloom vegetable plants I came across four pots filled with what looked oddly similar to a young hop bine. Not a spelling mistake, the long and fast growing shoots of the hop plant are bines, not vines. It turns out the four potted plants not only looked like young hop plants, but in fact were young hop plants. One of the owners of this greenhouse quickly took notice of my wide-eyed appearance and obvious interest in this plant and approached me.
I asked the owner if he knew what variety of hops I was about to purchase. He was unsure of the exact variety, but assured me that the plant I was about to purchase would produce hop cones suitable for brewing. After talking for a few minutes, I learned that this man’s father was born in the UK and was raised in a hop growing region of the country. As a young adult this man’s father moved to Chilliwack, BC where he found himself surrounded by the familiar aroma of the hop yard. Upon the closing of BC’s last hop yard, this man’s father walked through the remnants of this dead industry and pulled up one of the few remaining rhizomes left in the field. He gave this rhizome to his son, an owner of this small greenhouse operation, who planted the last remaining rhizome in his back field. This hop plant is still growing strong year after year – the aromatic hops cones are occasionally harvested, not used as a brewing ingredient but instead serve as pleasant reminder to this man’s father of his childhood in England.
Potentially BC's oldest hops plant
The plant I purchased, believed to be a descendant of BC’s booming hops industry, is happily planted in the ground where it will rapidly grow at a speed of up to 50 cm a week. I am not expecting much as far as hop cone production goes, but in future years look forward to brewing with what could be one of BC’s last remaining hop plants from our long dead, but potentially revived, hops industry.
Cheers,
Erik
Sweet, when can you harvest your own hops for homebrewing? Also, how can you find out what kind they are?
Could you possibly tell me where you found this and if there maybe be others avaiable? Would it possibly be an original BC Golding?
I found the plant at Twin Oaks Herb Farm – 4533 232 St. Langley BC. They did have a few more hop plants available, it may be a bit late in the season though.
There is a good chance it could be BC Golding. Once I have a few hop cones I may be able to identify the variety.
Hi Erik,
I am trying to track down what variety the hops may be on my property in Surrey. It is a more rural setting although in North Surrey near Guildford, zoned from a farm in the early 70′s. That narrows things down considerably I believe. Do you have a suggestion how I may find out more details on the variant of my hops, which have been growing wild for 40+ years?
Peter,
Unfortunately it is very challenging to identify the variety of hop by appearance alone. Most likely it will be Goldings, Fuggles or Brewers Gold. All three were quite popular varieties planted locally.
You could try making a hop tea with the hop cones. This would allow you to get a better flavour and aroma profile. If the flavour is earthy, spicy or floral is it is likely Goldings, Fuggles or Brewers Gold. If the aroma is “citrusy” than it may be a more modern North American hop (Cascade perhaps).
Thanks, Erik. I found a good site for all manner of hops info, and using your short list I’d say Goldings is a close fit. Very aromatic (I left them open and drying in the kitchen for a day and it was pretty nice); the bud description fits Goldings (large, loose leaved buds) versus Brewer’s Gold (small, with compact leaves).
Thanks again!
Peter
http://beerlegends.com/hops-varieties