How to Plant Barley & Hops for Beer Making
Beer has four ingredients; hops, yeast, malt and water. Two of the ingredients, hops and barley, can be grown in most gardens. Hops is a herbaceous perennial vine that can grow up to a foot a day. There are now hops cultivars that are hardy in most growing zones. Malt is made from barley, an annual grain. Barley is classified into two-, four- or six-row barley. The rows refer to the rows of seeds growing on the seed head. Only two- and six-row barley are used to make beer. The hop flower, referred to as a bine, is used to make beer. Hops does not affect the percentage of alcohol in the beer; rather, it is used to improve taste. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Hops vine hardy in your zone
- Commercial fertilizer or well-rotted manure.
- Mulch
- Support system
- Barley seed
Instructions
-
Growing Hops
-
1
Choose a sunny location with well drained, loamy soil with a soil pH of 6.5 to 8.0. The location chosen will need to accommodate a trellis or other vertical support system.
-
2
You will need to plant both male and female plants for bine production. Plant your hops vine after all threat of frost has past. If you are working with a plant, dig a hole the same width and depth as the container the plant is in. If you are working with rhizomes, place the rhizome horizontally, approximately two inches deep, in the soil with the buds pointing upward.
-
-
3
Fertilize your plants with a commercial fertilizer or well-aged manure. You will need to fertilize every spring after buds have opened.
-
4
Once the hops vine has emerged, you will need to mulch heavily around each plant.
-
5
Select two or three of the strongest vines and attach to the trellis. Prune the remaining vines to ground level. In July, prune off all lateral branches and leaves to a height of four feet. You can either wrap the vines around the trellis, which is traditional, or attach the vine using plant ties.
-
6
Hop flowers are usually harvested in mid- to late July. Expect one to two pounds of dried flowers per plant.
-
7
In the North, you can overwinter your hops vine by trimming all vines to ground level and covering the roots with loosely mounded straw or wood mulch.
Growing Barley
-
8
Choose a plot of land in full sun.
-
9
Broadcast seed barley in spring after the ground has warmed. Try to distribute the seeds evenly over the ground.
-
10
Roll or rake the seeds into the soil.
-
11
The barley is harvested in the fall after the seed heads turn gold.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Hops need 120-frost free days to produce flowers. Northern gardeners can grow hops as a tender annual. Start hops indoors and plant outside after threat of frost is over. Plant two- or six-row barley to make beer. Two-row barley is used for ales and six-row for lagers.
Do not use four-row barley as it is not suitable for making beer. Keep your hops plant well watered during the hottest months.
