Hacksaw Hop Harvest Failure

I know I promised a post on the 2nd half of the Hacksaw Hop Harvest. However... due to my 2 week trip to Japan (future post on that coming) and a week of vacation in Palm Springs California - my hops reached peak picking! Unfortunately I wasn't there to pick them when they were ready and they proceeded to die on me.

Happenings at Hacksaw Brewery

Everyone once in a while a lot of homebrewing related activities seem to happen all at the same time. This past Thursday was one of those days so I wanted to show you just how much you can get done in one evening if you're prepared!

The brewery workday started out with pulling every single bottle out of my wonderful Beer Cave. The label stripping and cleaning of these bottles was done over the last couple brew sessions. I was thankful to have all that done and just be able to pull the bottles out.  Also went ahead and got all my bottling equipment and the beers out. All of this would be needed for the tasks at hand.

Hacksaw Homegrown Hop Halfway Harvest

Finally time to harvest one of my hop plants! Please don't ask if I'm harvesting the Nugget or the Centennial because I still haven't figured out which is which. Harvesting your own hops is one of the most exciting things you can do when you have a very small amount to harvest. My growing technique this year was to cut back all bines and only keep the two strongest. This strategy is going out the window next year. I'm letting them all grow wild and free and I will train any bine that gets long enough up a trellis.

Hacksaw Hop Growing

Gardening - it's probably my second biggest hobby after homebrewing. The wonderful thing about homebrewing as it has allowed me to blend the two hobbies together in the glorious pursuit of hop growing! I grew hops last year on a homemade trellis in 5 gallon buckets just off the back porch of my apartment. People called me crazy until they had the beer I brewed with the hops that I grew!

Now that I'm a homeowner I had this master plan to grow my hop plants up the posts of the pergola that I built in the back yard. I learned quite a bit... for example - hops don't like to wrap themselves around 4X4 posts very well at all. Halfway through the summer I made the move to some yarn lines dropped from the top.

You Might Need A Beer Cave.

Hi I'm Lauren, the Mrs. Hacksaw half of things!

First there's something I should say, I really don't like beer.  I prefer a nice cider, a glass of wine, or a mixed drink with way too much sugar.  Oh but I do love this guy, my claim to fame in the "Lauren likes a beer world." However, one thing I do love is the creative aspect of being the wife of a brewer.  The beer names, the homemade labels, and the creative storage solutions that come with all of the crap supplies! I don't mean to scare any potential brewers off, it's great stuff, but where are you going to store a 24-quart stock pot and the rest of your essentials?

When we moved into our house we had this stunning closet...

I kid.  I mean seriously, how many jackets do you need, and how would you even hang them?  Before we moved in, I knew this would be much better used as a Beer Cave.