Hops are usually ready to pick by late August or early September depending on where you live. Select a random cone and cut it vertically. A ripe cone will have yellow dust lupulin in the center and it should be pungently hoppy. Another way to tell is to snap a hop cone in half. If it breaks like a carrot would, you are ready to harvest. If it is still very spongy, then you need to wait. Only pick the cones that look similar to the one you tested because not all of the cones will be ready at the same time.
When you have enough cones, or you just want to move on, you need to dry the hops. A food dehydrator works well for this, but read your instructions first. Soil crisis! How biochar can help improve our growing conditions. You may also like. This site uses cookies: Find out more. Okay, thanks. We take a sample of around cones, and record the weight.
Finally, if the sensory test and the readiness test seem to indicate that the hop field is harvest-ready, we send a sample to our local lab for testing. This is a new development for us. In the past, we would send our hops post-harvest to the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
While this is a necessary step in determining alpha and beta acids and oil content after harvesting, the shipping and turnaround time meant there was not enough time to test the hops prior to harvesting. This changed for us last year with the opening of a local testing lab.
Commodity Lab Vancouver is located less than an hour from our main processing facility.
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