How does one tell hop varieties apart

[Hamish Jones]

Hello,

I have a couple of random hop plants I was given and have no idea how to tell what breed they are, is there any method or way of telling what they are?

cheers

[Karl Hayes]

Hi Hamish.

An experienced hops grower might be able to tell the difference between plants but I have NZ Cascade and Smoothcone growing side by side and I've no idea which is which unless I trace the vines to the ground. When you have harvested the hops, you might be able to differentiate between the hops varieties but not with any great degree of certainty either.

Best bet would be to investigate their origin I suspect.

Cheers

[bart]

Considering that the flavour, aroma and bitterness of the hops can vary a lot depending on growing conditions, it is probably not overly important to know which specific 'strain' each one is... personally I find it just as good to try out the different kinds that you have in some beers, get to know their characteristics and use them accordingly. It should be relatively easy to categorise the hops into rough categories like piny, earthy, fruity, etc. but the chances of figuring out exactly what strain a plant is will be very very difficult stopping short of DNA testing.

[Hamish Jones]

the two random ones are quite green whereas the sticklebract I have is a lighter shade, I just purchased a seedling smoothcone today for $5 which I thought was alright and got some good advice from the grower about growing seedlings from cuttings so I might give it a crack, the smoothcone is a simalr shade of green to the sticklebract, I am just hoping the random two aren't golden hops