So apparently, there’s a possibility that the previous owner of my home was also a homebrewer. I had this invasive climbing plant in my backyard all summer and just noticed today after our first snow, that it has things that look like cones that may have been allowed to fully flower rather than being removed. If anyone could help me identify this and see if it is indeed hops, I’d really appreciate it!
Flowers look like it might be hops, but on;ly a bit. Leaves don’t look like any hops I’ve ever seen.
There’s a lot of variation in hop leaves, even on the same bine, I don’t have a problem with that. The overall structure of the plant sure looks hoplike, but the sidearms are so short, and the cones so small and loosely shaped – could be wild hops? I’ve never seen a wild, native hop plant in the NE US to know what they’re like, but I’ve heard of them still being found in my neck of the woods. They were aggressively eradicated back when hops were grown in the East. Still that would be my guess. Watch it next year and see if the cones smell hoppy when they’re younger. But I bet there’s more seed than anything else in there.
I can’t recall ever having seen hop leaves that are serrated on the edge like that.
a little googling of hop leaf images shows that type of leaf, including serrations.
Google images of wild American hops, I just did. You’ll see some serrated leaves as well as stubby sidearms of loosely shaped cones. Lots of variations. Hey, given the recent interest in neomexicanus, you just might have discovered something interesting there. Or it could be crap. Or it could even be a male plant – I only found a couple pics of wild male flowers. That would be useless. Thanks for making me learn something, anyway.
I’ve been trying to find any info I can and all of your responses have been really helpful. I think the only way I’ll really find out is to take a photo of them again next spring when they first start to form. But it would be really cool if I could utilize them somehow!
That’s definitely hops, but not sure which species (there are several). Might be a decorative or wild variety. May or may not be good for brewing. Find out next season. But yes, those are some type of hops.
Yep, the ultimate test is, does it smell like you want it in your beer? If so, toss it in.
I agree they are hops. The serrated edges on the leaves are more pronounced due to being burned off late in the season. The hop bines I harvested this summer looked similar on the top of the plant. We waited too long to start picking.
No clue what kind you have. Next year should let you know if they are usable.
Paul
Well done, Jim. I think that’s it.
It is definitely Japanese Hops. Here is a good you tube ID video from the University of Wisconsin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LblI_diVAE
