Posts: 195
Threads: 32
Joined: Jan 2006
Does anyone know of anyone who is growing or has tried growing hops in Hawaii? All of the research I have done indicates that there would be no reason that they wouldn't grow well here, but I have never seen or heard of anyone growing hops here. We are looking to buy land in Hawaiian Acres and I'm thinking about devoting an acre to hops. I know some people who are getting into brewing (I'd also like to do some myself), and want to eventually open a brew pub in Hilo. This is what got me thinking about growing hops.
Aloha,
Mark
Posts: 325
Threads: 54
Joined: Jun 2007
I can't answer your question, but if you need a taste tester for the final product, I'm here for you!
Posts: 4,533
Threads: 241
Joined: Jan 2006
quote:
Does anyone know of anyone who is growing or has tried growing hops in Hawaii? All of the research I have done indicates that there would be no reason that they wouldn't grow well here, but I have never seen or heard of anyone growing hops here. We are looking to buy land in Hawaiian Acres and I'm thinking about devoting an acre to hops. I know some people who are getting into brewing (I'd also like to do some myself), and want to eventually open a brew pub in Hilo. This is what got me thinking about growing hops.
Aloha,
Mark
The young group at our house right now is making home brew! They are so cute - they collected rainwater and mangoes for their brew. Its about 2 weeks into it and it smells good. Bottling soon of 5 gals.
Posts: 1,727
Threads: 29
Joined: Feb 2006
Hops grows fine in Hawaiian Acres, I had some growing off (or rather all over) the front lanai when I lived there a decade or so ago. It makes a nice vine and has sorta cascading flower clusters. I forget the variety it was, but it grew fine.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
Posts: 105
Threads: 9
Joined: Nov 2006
So, now I'm wondering about how barley grows for a true blue Island brew...
Posts: 3,035
Threads: 201
Joined: Aug 2006
When we where growing hops at our place in the Willamette Valley of Oregon we found they were a wonderful host plant for Ladybugs, even the rare Oregon native Ladybug (black with orange spots). The Oregon commercial hops industry was wiped out by a vicious black mold that just melts plants and if it finds it way here could be a real problem. Because that part of Oregon gets no real rain for July, August and September the black mold would strike right at harvest time if there was an early rain. Puna gets more regular rainfall so I would guess your microclimate would really matter for commercial production. Its a beautiful plant though, and worth growing as a beneficial bug host.
Carol
carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Posts: 195
Threads: 32
Joined: Jan 2006
I found a guy who is growing hops with great success on the windward side of Oahu. As far as barley goes, I'm betting that there would be some place on the island that it would grow well, you just need alot of space to get a significant yield. But that would be my ideal, to brew with all local ingredients. I'm not able to get the hop rhizomes until late winter, so I'm hoping that we will be able to buy some property in Hawaiian Acres and do some land prep before then.
Aloha,
Mark
