Hopping Mad

Our hops were finally mature enough to harvest this weekend, you could smell the dark yellow lupulin on them.

Little helpers to strip the leaves from the bines.

Lots and lots of cones, and a job well done celebrated by a beer...

Drying time

The smell of the drying hops has sparked an interest in home brewing. We're going to have a look at the equipment we'd need to make some nice ales with our own hops next year, and see what we can source secondhand through ebay and freecycle. I'm already collecting our real ale bottles for decanting ginger ale into, and have my eye on a bench capper (just need to find one for the right price ;) )