The Homebrewer's Garden

Whole Earth,  Summer, 1999  by HortIdeas

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THE HOMEBREWER'S GARDEN How to Easily Grow, Prepare, and Use Your Own Hops * Malts * Brewing Herbs Joe Fisher and Dennis Fisher. 1998; 187 pp. $14.95. Storey Books.

"Grow Your Own ... Brew Your Own" says the back cover, but Homebrewer's Garden has interesting material even for tee-totaling gardeners. Hop plants can serve as unique ornamentals, and this book will give you all you need to propagate and grow them. Much space is devoted to growing forty-five different aromatic, flavoring, and bittering herbs that give unusual tastes to malt beverages. There is a chapter on backyard grain growing, with an emphasis on barley for malting (also briefly covered: amaranth, corn, quinoa, rye, sorghum, spelt, and wheat). The book includes plenty of beer recipes that use homegrown ingredients, as well as a list of suppliers of seeds, plants, hop rhizomes, and homebrewing supplies.

"Hop cones should be picked at their peak of readiness, which means that you have to pay attention to how they are developing. The most obvious sign of readiness is the development of lupulin glands, small yellow grains clinging to the base of the bracts. A mature hop cone will be heavy with this yellow powder. When you begin to suspect that the hops are nearing maturity, pick a cone and pull or cut it open. The lupulin should be dark yellow-gold, and there should be a strong hop aroma.

Mature cones feel different from green ones; they are somewhat lighter, and feel drier and more papery. They also give off an aromatic resin that sticks to your hands when you are picking.

When past their prime for picking, hop cones will turn tan along the edges of the bracts and then develop brown spots. Finally, they turn brown and start to open. Don't use any hops that have turned completely brown; even the tan and spotted ones are not of the highest quality. If you have let them go this long, it's best not to use them in beer.

You will find HortIdeas as the author of a half dozen or so reviews in this issue. HortIdeas is Greg and Pat Williams from Gravel Switch, Kentucy. They've been reporting for decades on the latest research and access for vegetable and fruit growers and gardeners. We couldn't find them at first, since Kentuck has micro-managed its booze and no-booze counties to make it easy to walk from one to the other; the Williams' phone line came from the neighboring country's area code. After a longish talk about Gregory Bateson and phenomonology, Greg said "Sure, print our reviews. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's been doing it for years." For more details and discussions on every topic from milorganite to xeriscaping, order the monthly HortIdeas ($20/yr.) from 750 Black Lick Road, Gravel Switch, KY 40328.

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