Picking my hops. When and then what to do?

[Ralph]

So I have a few hops growing on my front porch. 

They look like this

So... they look like they are ready to pick to me. Is there any optimum time to pick them?

Once picked should I then dry them somehow? What is the best way to do this?

[Sam Nelson]

Thanks Pilgrim, did you freeze them after vacuum sealing them? thats my plan as they should last better that way.

they were picked on sunday when they were pretty well dry on the bine then have been drying with the dehumidifier in the garage since then so i'd say they are getting pretty dry by now.

They are on net curtain material so they should get good ventilation all-round and I mix them up twice a day.

[Pilgrim]

I refrigerated them and within a short time, maybe a month, they were a smelly soggy mess. This time they are a lot drier and I've put some in the freezer and some in the fridge, both in zip lock bags. We'll see how they are in a month.

[Paul Fraser]

Well, i picked 580g wet and after drying it turned out to be 110g dry. Just enough for a hoppy pale ale i think using FWH and late hopping to get the most out of them. I dug up my smoothcone which i'm re-homing and wow, those roots don't hang around. My Cascade has been cut down to about a metre long and laid in a trench. I've been told that come spring time shoots will pop up along it's length which can then be cut off to make new plants. Looking forward to spring!