[Bigdreams]

It suddenly dawned of me that I could grow my own hops and make my own beer!!  Does anyone have experience of growing hops from scratch? Please tell me more 

Fruity x

[HesterF]

Only just seen this but there was a thread on hops somewhere else recently. We looked into it and so far have not found a suitable spot. 'Normal' hops need a 3m frame and don't like wind very much so the combination is a bit of a challenge since 3m takes it above most wind breaks. You can get lower growing hops - I think 6ft - and can grow them up through hedges or something instead so if you just want to grow a few for beer you could try that.

I got some great information from Essentially Hops who are near us (in fact, we've just bought two of their traditional Kentish hop garlands to adorn our kitchen beams so the whole house smells of hops at the moment) so you could give them a call to ask about varieties etc.

I'd have thought just for beer it would be a whole load of hassle for the tiny amount you need - will you be growing the barley too? You can buy frozen hops from our local homebrew supply store and they're really cheap so unless you've got a great, sheltered spot I'd look at that.

H