How to Plant Barley & Hops for Beer Making

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.

1). Choose a plot of land in full sun.
2). Broadcast seed barley in spring after the ground has warmed. Try to distribute the seeds evenly over the ground.
3). Roll or rake the seeds into the soil.
4). The barley is harvested in the fall after the seed heads turn gold.