I have a mysterious hop plant in the yard that just appeared a few years ago.
It is a long ways away from any other hop, so I know it is not one of my known varieties.
It is very distinctive and appears the same every year:
-very long pale yellow cones
-individual cones are pendulous and hang on long distinct stems
-leaves are all very incised and deeply lobed.
-aroma of the flowers is strong and a bit dankish
-pale yellow lupulin
Nearest plants are Chinook, Cascade, Santiam, Northern Brewer, and a native neomexicanus. Also, the year before these appeared I had a male Crystal about 120 feet away. Not sure if those are clues or not.
My chinook cones are that shape and size, but not that color. Maybe your chinook got pollinated by that male crystal and this is the offspring. Did you notice any seeds in you hop cones when you had that make plant? Have you brewed with these hops? If so, is it good?
I was thinking the same thing, as the cones do resemble Chinook. The pale yellow could be a result of soil conditions?
I have not brewed with them yet, but plan on it. Kind of a crap shoot.
I mean they smell tremendous, but my Magnum smell amazing as well, and I know what an all Magnum ale tastes like… :
It’s possible one of your other hops just got ambitious and grew a really log feeder root. Add in different soil conditions and you might have you answer. Just an idea that hit while I was reading this.
Thanks for the thought Paul. Hops are indeed ambitious!
I am certain that this is a new plant, but how it got there will likely remain a mystery.
I wondered if there were perhaps any other varieties with these habits. The long stems on the pendulous cones seems distinctive, as well as the leaf shape. None of my other plants have those tendencies.
I suppose there is a genetic test that could be done to determine lineage. Anyone know about formal testing?
I had cuttings given to me when I lived in Upstate NY (late 80’s) which were said to be Canadian Redvines (Canadian RedVine (21679)) which I had never heard of. A hop breeder over at Oregon State told me they were grown in PNW a long time ago but were replaced by other varieties. I gave him some cuttings which he grew and then did an oil profile once they produced for him. Each hop has a unique oil profile and can be identified this way. I’m not sure if this would be cheaper than genetic testing but you might want to contact them or maybe Ali Hamm. She was working for Summit Plant labs and recently assumed a teaching position at Colorado State fermentation program. She’s a fan of the candy and might be able to steer you in the right direction. Also, some of the folks in this article may be worth trying to contact: http://farmingtonsc.nmsu.edu/documents/hops-flier3-july2013rev3.pdf
So I brewed a small 3 gallon experimental batch using all these hops.
She is on dry hops now, and the preliminary impression is fantastic.
Interested in the hop oil profile test. Can anyone direct me to the right test? I have seen a few offerings on line…Hop Union, Western Mighigan U, etc.
I would be most interested in the test that can tell me what the hop lineage or parentage may be.
SUNBEAM GOLDEN HOP - alpha 4-5%
A beautiful hop with lemon-yellow leaves best grown in partial shade. Too much direct, hot sun will tend to brown the edges of the leaves. It originated in 1990 at the USDA Hops Research Farm in Corvallis, Oregon from an open pollinated Saazer 38 hop. Ornamental uses. Moderately resistant to downy mildew and verticillium wilt. Vigorous, matures early with good yield.
Thanks for the excellent guess EHall. But it is not. :-
I bought a Sunbeam a few years back. It grew really slow in the shade for me, but did put out some freakish yellow leaves. It is still living, but has never flowered. I did not know you could brew with it…though it was just for foliage show. Cheers.
Get in touch with Greatlakeshops & send some pics and descriptions. I know they’re growing some of the neomexicanus and should be able to help narrow it down for you. ITIS - Report: Humulus lupulus The dude that bred the Multihead, Neo 1 and Amalia told me that they produce really, really scrawny rhizomes so that’s another possible identifier. Without spending a bunch of $$ to have an oil profile or DNA done . . . it’s up to you. I pretty much had to give up on that kinda stuff, other priorities. Hopefully Zeus or CTZ candy next? Good luck!
Cool B-Hoppy! Thanks for the link to Great Lakes; very cool to see what they are growing.
Interesting on the rhizome size of neomexicanus… this particular plant sends spindly pencil thick runners. In fact, all her components are thin. Thin leaves that are highly divided with minimal leaf surface, thin cones, and thin rhizomes. Perhaps she is built for an arid climate.
It is early and this beer is still carbing up, but I swore I tasted pineapple last night when I pulled a sample.
I might consider spending the coin if it will enable me to decipher what the lineage of this plant is.
Cool on the CTZ candy…what flavor will you call it? Zeus? Columbus? Dank? Cheers.
I’m sure if you contacted these folks: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cor/reprints/hopexpedition2002.pdf , they’d take a few cuttings off your hands and be able to let you know what you have as that’s what they’re looking for. Merry Christmas!
Very interesting! Cool Job…traveling around the intermountain west botanizing wild Humulus!!
Interesting on the color as well; thanks Dave. I suspect that Chinook may be a player. The reason why I don’t think it is Chinook is that I have one nearby (maybe 120 ft), that I got from Freshops, but the cones on it smell very different than the one I am trying to research here.
But I would call or email and get approval first. They maintain an enormous bank of clean plant stock and might not be thrilled to open a package with cuttings that might bring disease into their labs/grow areas.
You may be right on the soil and aspect. I may harvest some material this spring and plant it elsewhere to confirm that the habit is the same irregardless of where it is grown.
For sure. I am sure they would not appreciate unsolicited or announced packages! ;D
I am convinced this plant may be part native, but not totally…so they may not be interested in such a polluted specimen.
I am normally not overly impressed with single hopped ales, but this one is quite nice. Cheers.
