Hop shortages seems to be some incentive for hop growing
Bill Velek
-- 34 new members in the past week to bring the total to 442 members --
with _many_ of them expressing interest primarily due to the impending
hop shortages and price increases; that is based on comments submitted
to me at the time of their membership application.
Anyway, given the circumstances, I thought I would post this message to
let folks know what we are doing -- that we are available to offer help
to anyone who wants to start into this extra dimension of homebrewing --
that our group is a valuable resource of LOTS of info on the subject,
pretty much _specializing_ in hop-gardening with a tad bit of info about
growing herbs as alternatives/supplements to hops -- and that it's
probably not too late in most areas to begin important preparations NOW
for planting in the spring. Although it is not absolutely essential to
do things now, it will be a big help; if you're way up north and your
ground is already frozen, you'll just need to prepare your bed in the
spring. Also, some of our members are organizing a rhizome exchange
(the rhizomes are what you plant instead of seeds), and I also have a
database set up on our webpage to facilitate exchanges of rhizomes. And
our Links section will lead you to a _vast_ selection of all sorts of
information on the subject, plus we have lots of photos to give you
ideas on support structures such as trellises and arbors. Without a
doubt, 'Grow-Hops' is now the best Internet resource on the subject.
Having finally grown some hops myself, I can tell you that it was _not_
difficult (and I live in the south) and I found it rather enjoyable and
'cool' to do. I'm very glad I started. My first-year harvest was only
42 dried ounces, but the quantity increases as the plants get older; in
a thread in rec.crafts.brewing Denny Conn said that gets from 3 to 4
pounds from one plant -- http://tinyurl.com/2q7rlz -- but I'll be more
than happy if I can get just a pound from each plant, which is very
likely next year.
Cheers.
Bill Velek
Bill Velek
> Recently there has been a pretty good rush to join my 'Grow-Hops' group
Duhhh, I can't believe I forgot to give the link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Grow-Hops
Sorry.
Bill Velek
Charlotte_0'Neil
growers, but are you aware that herbalists advise against using hops
if you have problems with either impotence or depression? You know the
old joke about choosing between beer or women? It may be real. Not
that I would discourage anyone from doing what they wanted to do, of
course :-).
Bill Velek
> Well, I don't mean to disparage your group and all your devoted hop
> growers, but are you aware that herbalists advise against using hops
> if you have problems with either impotence or depression?
Well, I've been depressed about my impotence, so I've been drinking more
beer. Is that a vicious cycle? :-)
Despite our name, our group also includes the growing, processing, and
use of herbs in brewing (and also growing/malting barley). We have a
file folder and a links section devoted to recipes just for gruit and
herbal beers, too. We do not have a whole lot of content on the herbal
side, so I would really like to have some knowledgable/experienced
herbalists and historic brewers join our group because MANY of our
members have now expressed a new interest in that area because of the
developing hop crisis. Some projects that I'm planning -- and can
always use help with -- are a photographs folder to identify herbs, and
a better list of sources for buying them (and growing them), and I also
want to expand our herbal recipe sections which currently have only a
few entries.
Members can choose to hide their email addresses, and can also choose to
receive a daily digest instead of individual emails, or can even choose
not to receive any emails at all.
Thanks.
Bill Velek
Charlotte 0'Neil
The way to preserve beer is to make wine, so to replace hops as a preserving agent, don't preserve it. Drink it on days 6,7 and 8 of the brew cycle.
To replace hops as a way of cutting the cloyingly sweet taste of the malt, drink it on days 6, 7 and 8 of the brew cycle when it still has plenty of Vitamin C in it to tart it up. No hops necessary.
To replace the function of hops as a strong flavour to hide the fact that aged beer is rancid beer, drink it on days 6, 7 and 8 so it doesn't get rancid.
To add more flavor to the beer if you get tired of plain malt, I would use artemesias castle powys (related to absinthe), ground ivy (common lawn weed), sassafras root (which might be illegal), nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and/or cloves. Or just buy any herbal tea that you like the taste of and brew a strong batch of that add add it the wort just before bottling.
Bill Velek
> ... I believe
> hops are the agents of protestant fundamentalism and the religious
> right, and accessories to the crime of causing the epidemic of obesity
> and diabetes in the last century.
... snip
> So you see, mine is just a completely different philosophy from the way
> most people make beer. ...
Uhhhh ... I guess _SO_. Different strokes ... and all that stuff. :-)
> But your good natured view on hopping made me smile :-)
Glad to be of service. Since I don't know much about using herbs in
place of hops but want to give it a serious try, I'm going to save your
post re your references to artemesias castle powys (related to
absinthe), ground ivy (common lawn weed), sassafras root (which might be
illegal), nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and/or cloves. I've used a
combination of the nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in my pumpkin
beer, but why would sassafras root be illegal? Isn't that used for
candy and the like?
Cheers.
Bill Velek - PERSONAL sites = www.velek.com & www.2plus2is4.com
780+ homebrewer group just for Equipment: www.tinyurl.com/axuol
590+ just for Growing Hops/Herbs/Grains: www.tinyurl.com/3au2uv
NEW group just for Homebrewing Supplies: www.tinyurl.com/2wnang
Join 'Homebrewers' to Help Cure Disease: www.tinyurl.com/yjlnyv
Charlotte 0'Neil
The story of hops and the so-called purity laws is an amazing, dark piece of history that is no longer known ... history is written by the victors, and hops won ... at one time alewives could be burned as witches for even having certain gruit plants growing on their property.
The monks pushed them because hops make you sleepy and less able to sin. Big business, such as it was, liked hops because they made it possible to store, transport and sell ale commercially, when before most beer was made by women for immediate consumption, as part of their regular cooking. And the landlords liked it cos it stopped the peasants from having 3 day festivals and disrupting the work they did on the farm. There is nothing about hops that is actually good for the person drinking it, unless that person suffers from insomnia or is a woman on estrogen replacement therapy, as hops contain plant estrogen.
Is homebrewers to help cure disease about making medicinal potions? That would interest me.
Bill Velek
snipped some interesting info; thanks.
> Is homebrewers to help cure disease about making medicinal potions? That
> would interest me.
It is a grid-computing team that I formed on the World Community Grid to
use idle computer time (what a screen-saver uses) to complete packets of
computations for larger non-profit medical research institutions, such
as the New Jersey Cancer Institute (one or our recent projects) and now
a new project with the Ontario Cancer Institute. Why let computer power
go to waste when it can be used to help mankind? The software is
non-intrusive and very safe and secure; I've been doing grid-computing
for about ten years now. You and others really ought to check out my
websites about it -- velek.com, 2plus2is4.com, and the one for my
Homebrewers team -- http://home.alltel.net/billvelek/team.html
Cheers.
Bill Velek - PERSONAL sites = www.velek.com & www.2plus2is4.com
780+ homebrewer group just for Equipment: www.tinyurl.com/axuol
580+ just for Growing Hops/Herbs/Grains: www.tinyurl.com/3au2uv