Expert: Ed Westemeier - 6/30/2005

Question
I was told by staff members at Listermann's (a local home brewer's supply store) that the climate in Cincinnati, OH (where I live) is too MILD to grow tasteful hops.  For the two previous summers I have grown a few vines of Nugget, Cascade, and Kent Golding next to my garage. Growth was fantastic (I would estimate that each plant was producing about 2-3 pounds of hops by mid-July.  Is Cincinnati's weather too mild to grow flavorful hops?

Question #2: How exactly does a person check for acidity of hops?  (Probably some sort of a laboratory test-not just simple litmus paper or a pH meter)

Thank you very much for your help!

Answer
Sounds like a bit of misunderstanding. The southern limit for reasonable hop growing is about 40 degrees latitude. Below that line, hop growth gets progressively less robust. That's probably what the person had in mind.

Since that line is just slightly north of Cincinnati, you can consider yourself about at the southern limit. But hops will certainly grow well there. You would probably have a bigger harvest if you were 100 miles further north, and an even better one about another 100 miles up, but then the yield would start falling again. In other words, there's a fairly narrow climate range that's ideal for hops.

There is no practical way for a home hop farmer to check the acid level. It's a procedure for a well-equipped laboratory, and you would need at least about 4 ounces of dried hops to do the test. That's nearly three pounds of fresh hops. The University of Oregon used to do this test on request (for about $30 as I recall), but I don't know if they still offer the service. My advice is to simply use your home-grown hops for flavor and aroma at the end of the boil (or even for dry hopping) and don't worry about the slight extra bitterness that contributes.

Ed