If you are interested in growing your own hops this year, it’s time to start looking for them. Here is a short article on growing your own hops which may prove to be useful. I have grown hops every year for some time now. They are honestly pretty easy to grow and a fun way to combine two of my hobbies (gardening and homebrewing)
I don’t expect to save any money with them or anything like that but, it is fun to make a seasonal beer with wet hops. Keep in mind, 4 ounces of wet hops are the same as 1 ounce of dry hops. Normally with any of my wet hops which I grow, I just end up dry hopping with them so I get an aroma. It turns into my, “Summer Beer Special” or my very own seasonal beer. The reason I do that is because I just don’t expect a lot out of my hops. I also don’t know the actual alpha acid so I figure just using them as aroma is a special treat.
I’ve found in the past the hops that work the best in this area tend to have higher alpha acids (Cascade grows like a weed here). I put my hops in a pot when I grow them. After they start to sprout I take a string and tie it to an anchor of some sort, the hops just grow up the string. But the reason why I put them in a pot is I don’t want the shoots to get break off and end up getting hops all over the yard. I’m not sure if that is possible but I know it happens with horseradish which I grow too. Just a friendly suggestion.
Enjoy, and if you are looking for a source to buy hops to grow, this is a good one! If you have any pointers or tips for growing hops, please share.
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Jay's Brewing Blog 
January 30, 2013 at 11:17 am
so, year after year, you just keep them in the pot? no transfer to the yard?
I was wondering about this, I wanted to grow them, but not have to dig up the yard and take away planting area the BigHair wants for her veggies
and horseradish-tasting hops in beer sounds no good, but hop-tasting horseradish on my kielbasa or brats doesn’t sound too bad
January 30, 2013 at 11:30 am
Yep they keep coming back. I mean you have to make sure that they don’t get root bound or anything like that. But mine are just in Rubbermaid’s that I found lying around. Drilled some holes on the bottom then lined the bottom with some rocks, put some dirt on top and that’s about it. I haven’t had any problem with them in any way. The Saaz that I planted suck but the Cascade is the same, it’s like a weed. I end up having to cut it back all the time when it goes full out. Mt. Hood and Nugget have done pretty good for me too.
Agree on your last statement for sure.