Hop rhizomes

[James P]

Hi All
(Hopefully I didn't miss a thread here, I searched first!)
Just wanted to see if anyone has rhizomes available this year? I hear there is a shortage, however if there are any suppliers anyone knows of I would be keen to given them a go!

Maybe we can get a list of suppliers going? I see in the old forum that Stephen @ Hallertau may have been one of them, any ideas?

Cheers

[Dan]

They make great shade covers over the deck too, trained on rope or timber, will post some photos sometime.

[Alelover]

I have a contact who is interested in growing some hops over a large area in Canterbury as a trial. If anyone is interested in contributing rhyzome for next year please contact me. It would be a good opportunity to have a fair quantity of fresh hops available in Canterbury if it works. Especially if they are a good variety!

[bart]

your mate might want to look in to the commercial viability of this a bit more before hand. I was just up in nelson and a lot of the growers are ripping out sections of hops or not bothering to tend to them as it is simply not profitable. this would be even more difficult outside of the nelson region as all of the hop processing infrastructure (hop kilns, etc) is in nelson.  see article linked below:

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/features/primary-focus/4455847/C...

[James P]

I think they would also need to look at the "old" Hop Board's requirements.... I think earlier in this there was discussions in relation to the "legislative" restrictions?

[Dougal]

I skimmed through the hop board review document on the MAF website that led to the 2003 hop industry act, and I'm still trying to work out who is legally allowed to propagate hop plants. 

The thing I'm curious about is why there are no other varieties than Smoothcone, Cascade, Sticklebract and the occasional thing that "might" be Hallertau available to homebrewers? I know that there are a small number of players in the industry, but I would have thought that growers would maintain collections of different varieties for breeding desirable attributes into their new cultivars? I'm sure the local craft beer industry would welcome NZ grown Columbus, Centennial, or Simcoe, but is local demand just too small to justify import and quarantine for these hops, even though they might be useful breeding stock for unique cultivars? Perhaps these have already been trialled locally?

I totally respect the right of the NZ industry to protect propagation of their unique varieties like Motueka and Riwaka, but I don't really understand why that precludes releasing non-unique cultivars they've used for breeding purposes onto the domestic market. You never know, greater choice for local breweries could spark more demand domestically for hop-rich beer styles, and help provide them some insulation from the international market?

Doug- if you're reading I'd love to hear your view.

[Reviled]

Dougal, why not flick Doug an email if you really want to know, I personally have allways found him nothing less than awesome to deal with!!

[Dougal]

I think I will. As a happy consumer of NZ hops :) , I really don't mean to sound critical of the hop industry. There's just not much info around on this.

Will report back. 

[Alelover]

My only real concern as I grow to become a commercial craft beer producer is the availability of hops. I have Riwaka in one of my recipes, which I cannot get in quantities I will require and also Nelson Sauvin is reportadly going to fall short soon? If the protection of the varieties/industry means we cannot get hold of hops to use in our beers, then is it working for us? Just a thought.

[Adrian Hayward]

The Hamilton weather been good to mine too, I do find the summer wind damages them a bit though. You should be expecting a few cones of that one Sam!

[Brett Mason]

Nice trellis. Mine are trapped in the glasshouse because I'm in a fairly windy part of the country. Keeps them safe but they have run out of room already.

[Dan]

Dont worry about the wind, I lived in Gore and it was windy there too. as long as your support is up to the job, you could always remove a roof panel from the glasshouse and set it free.

[Brett Mason]

All three are now at the top of the glasshouse with the louvres closed. Left the louvres open through with the wind a couple of nights ago and lost a few bines. I guess they are a bit soft from being in the glass house. They will be outside next year in bigger pots.

 

If anyone is interested, I have a bunch of sticklebract and smoothcone cuttings which are growing well and will be available to trade when they are bigger. Would love to add a Danscade to the collection if anyone has a spare cutting but beer is good too :-).

 

Also have the mystery old variety from trade me in case anyone wants to complete their collection. Seems to grow much faster than the other two.