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Message |
    
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 7934
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 208.102.247.68
| | Posted on Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 08:18 pm: | 
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Out side the front door of the shop, we planted some hops in two bourbon barrel halves last year. They produced a bit, but their purpose was clearly decoration. Unlocking the door this morning, I see that both have sprouts about an inch tall - in the middle of February. What a surprise! I am going out to the camp tonight and will carefully inspect the hills there. |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 13642
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.150.9.127
| | Posted on Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 08:30 pm: |
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It's been the mildest winter in all the years of my memory. On the local homebrewing e-mail list, someone reports that the maple sap is just beginning to flow. Our climbing roses planted in the sheltered space next to the house never completely died back. There have been only eight or nine days so far that I wouldn't have wanted to brew outside (not that I have  ). |
Jeff Rankert
Intermediate Member
Username: Hopfenundmalz
Post Number: 380
Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 76.122.178.91
| | Posted on Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 10:10 pm: |
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The local NWS station says this is the 7th warmest on record, interview on the radio last week. When asked if those were all recent winters he said no, they were spread out over the record. No patern that he knew.
He did say that those years were often followed by cool summers here. |
Tony Legge
Advanced Member
Username: Boo_boo
Post Number: 558
Registered: 05-2005
Posted From: 174.118.73.14
| | Posted on Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 11:28 pm: |
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He did say that those years were often followed by cool summers here.
Welcome to my world. It is rare that I get above 20c in the summer around these parts. Or if I do, that it lasts very long. |
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 7935
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 166.249.101.144
| | Posted on Friday, February 17, 2012 - 02:11 am: |
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No sprouts at the camp. Maybe the plants in the barrels are warmer than those in the ground. |
Jeff Rankert
Intermediate Member
Username: Hopfenundmalz
Post Number: 381
Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 76.122.178.91
| | Posted on Friday, February 17, 2012 - 02:57 am: |
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The NWS guy also said we could be in for some late winter blasts. The Arctic Oscillation has kept the jet stream north, and the cold air has been building up there. Alaska has been having a hard winter.
Europe has had a cold blast the last few weeks. |
Josh Vogel
Junior Member
Username: Loopie_beer
Post Number: 93
Registered: 02-2011
Posted From: 65.60.214.75
| | Posted on Friday, February 17, 2012 - 03:30 am: |
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Bill, sorry to hear that you haven't been able to brew outside. Although this is a mild winter, seems like the last 3 times I brewed happened to be the coldest of the season... like clockwork that never fails! Oh well, worth the hassle. |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 13643
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.150.9.127
| | Posted on Friday, February 17, 2012 - 03:36 am: |
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A cool summer might not be such a bad idea. Last July we didn't quite break the all-time temperature record (38.4 C or 101 F), but it did set an all-time humidex (as they call the heat index in Canada) record with 50 C (122 F).
Yes, it would be considered an even milder winter here if we hadn't had a couple of brief Arctic outbreaks where it went down to -17 C (+1 F). The good news was that it was clear during those occasions and didn't snow. So far we've had a total of 11 inches of snow and never more than 2.5 inches on the ground at one time. The average total snowfall for the entire winter is 52 inches. It would take a couple of real dumpers to give us that much with the winter more than two-thirds over at this point. |
Dave Hacker
Senior Member
Username: Dhacker
Post Number: 2509
Registered: 11-2002
Posted From: 99.117.36.145
| | Posted on Friday, February 17, 2012 - 12:13 pm: |
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Bill I think you just threw down the gauntlet! |
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 7947
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 208.102.247.68
| | Posted on Monday, March 05, 2012 - 04:19 pm: |
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Saw quarter inch sprouts at the camp yesterday. These might be considered "heritage." They were given to me by a customer who said that he found them growing wild by a very old cemetery in town. I suspect that they were left over from a 19th century hop garden. I have had them for at least 12 years in different places as things changed. They have never done well, but I have never given them much attention either. Someone told me that almost all "wild" hops are Cluster. |
Bierview
Senior Member
Username: Bierview
Post Number: 1128
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 68.192.183.144
| | Posted on Thursday, March 08, 2012 - 02:36 pm: |
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I've got some sprouts in the Catskills. |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 13719
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.150.9.127
| | Posted on Thursday, March 08, 2012 - 03:05 pm: |
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I went out this morning, and found three tiny sprouts. Yesterday was a sunny spring day with the temperature at 61 F and even warmer at the side of my garage. That's the earliest I've ever seen them sprout here. There was a meteorologist on the radio this morning saying our winter so far is typical of the normal climate in Nashville, TN. We're a lot farther north than that, at the same latitude as Concord, NH, and La Crosse, WI. |
Bierview
Senior Member
Username: Bierview
Post Number: 1129
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 68.192.183.144
| | Posted on Thursday, March 08, 2012 - 03:11 pm: |
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Yep, I spent some time in Nashville and this is how I remember the winters. |
Vance Barnes
Senior Member
Username: Vancebarnes
Post Number: 4274
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 76.122.104.54
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 01:35 am: |
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I noticed 4" or better sprouts over the weekend. Probably not green anymore but yellow from all the pollen. We set a pollen record here today. Over 8000. |
Dave Hacker
Senior Member
Username: Dhacker
Post Number: 2552
Registered: 11-2002
Posted From: 99.117.36.145
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 01:42 am: |
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My blue car looks rather green now, thanks to the nice protective coating of oak pollen. It sat out over the weekend and this morning I actually had to use the windshield washer to see out clearly. |
Rob Farrell
Advanced Member
Username: Robf
Post Number: 648
Registered: 02-2003
Posted From: 72.83.254.246
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 02:54 am: |
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My hops have some 4-inch shoots. There was nothing there a week ago, but we have been having highs in the 70's for week here in MD. |
Steve Ruch
Intermediate Member
Username: Rookie
Post Number: 359
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 66.96.79.211
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 12:03 am: |
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Lucky guys. 
My LHBS doesn't even have rhizomes yet. |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 13754
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.150.9.127
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 12:20 am: |
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The local shop in my area is supposed to have rhizomes this week, Steve. It has been an almost unbelievably early spring in much of eastern North America. We've got willow trees beginning to leaf, and I even saw the first dandelion blooming today. My hop shoots are more than three inches high. If it stayed this warm for about 10 more days (it's supposed to cool down by the weekend) I'd be mowing my grass in March. The normal time is more like the third week of April. |
Kevin Kowalczyk
Senior Member
Username: Itsfunbrewingbeer
Post Number: 1072
Registered: 10-2007
Posted From: 12.9.252.250
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 07:02 pm: |
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It hailed in Redondo Beach, CA on Saturday night. I'm pretty sure that this is a very rare occurrence--first time it's happened in the two years I've lived here.
On top of that, I can't grow my own hops here--we don't get a freeze, which I understand they need to go dormant so they can grow again.
On the other hand, it's always brewing weather here. |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 13759
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.150.9.127
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 07:33 pm: |
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I don't know that you need a hard freeze to grow hops, but you need a dormant period for a month or so with occasional frosts. Perhaps you're too close to the beach, Kevin. Even if you were further inland or at a higher elevation, you'd have to water frequently during the hot, dry season, and your yields would be small. |
Steve Ruch
Intermediate Member
Username: Rookie
Post Number: 360
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 66.96.79.211
| | Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 12:06 am: |
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We're still getting snow here where I live, Vancouver, WA (across the river from Portland).
The last two years we've had unusually cool and wet springs that killed the hops I was growing, going to try again this year. |
Spiked Helmet
Member
Username: Hey_newt
Post Number: 115
Registered: 07-2004
Posted From: 98.215.130.7
| | Posted on Friday, March 23, 2012 - 09:44 pm: |
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Just checked mine today. There are multiple sprouts and all are a good foot long. This is the earliest, and biggest, I've seen them sprout here in Central Illinois. I haven't even cleaned the dead vines left over on the trellis from last season yet. |
Brews and Views Archive 2012 
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