My friend Pastor Joel just shared a picture of his happily growing hops in Florida:
For home brewers, hops are very important. They give beer its unique flavor, balancing the sweetness of the fermented malt with their clean and evocative bitterness.
Growing hops in Florida is generally not done. Hops grow in colder climates, which makes sense since the best beers are usually crafted in temperate Europe.
My friend Bruce Bethke (who is a more famous writer than myself… and the one who urged me to write and not look back) grows hops in his Minnesota garden. The roots are frozen beneath the ice all winter.
That’s a far cry from Joel’s garden in the Gainesville area… yet Joel has gotten a half-pound of hops in his very first year of growing hops in Florida!
Growing Hops in Florida: How Joel Did It
I asked Joel how he grew these hops since I was wondering if the hot sun of Florida might be too much for them. Apparently not! Joel writes:
“Planted them along a full sun south facing fence running up bamboo. Only got about 10 feet in length but should do better 2nd year. No problem with pests at all.”
Some years ago I bought some hops roots from a large mail order nursery and planted them along my fence. They never got taller than a few feet and ended up dying after the first year or so. The problem in that case, in part, was that they were “out of sight, out of mind,” and didn’t get cared for.
The other part was that they lacked much vigor at the onset. When I first planted them they got water, mulch and compost… but still just crept along. I didn’t baby them after the first few months and they never really got going. I don’t think they were from good stock.
Joel is a meticulous and methodical gardener. He has been making plenty of compost from the abundance of fallen leaves drifting into his yard, plus he has deep mulched his gardens and mixed in old chicken manure and kitchen scraps.
We shall see how these Florida hops do in future years, but I’d say if anyone could pull them off, it would be Joel.
After all, have you seen his homemade kegerator?
Anyone else have experience growing hops in Florida?
I would love to hear your story – please share in the comments.
14 responses to “Growing Hops in Florida?”
I grow hops at the University of Florida, since 2014. Being born and raised in Florida, I had never seen a hop or a hop plant though I was aware of their use in beer. My first year, I expected the plants to fail. They did not, though they didn’t produce a good yield, I was proud of my success in at least growing them when others simply said it could not be done. Some of the plants have entered their third year and we’ve gotten a pound and sometimes more off of those plants. Lots of interest seems to be following hops in Florida. Many microbreweries, nanobrewies, tap room, and homebrewers are very supportive of the work we are doing. Plus it’s pretty exciting to have so many people backing your interest. On occassion, I send out samples for breweries and homebrewers to work with. I admit that I am great at growing plants, my skill at making beer isn’t as honed. I leave that to the experts!
Marvelous! Thank you for the field report. Do you have any pictures I could post – or variety info? I would love to do a follow-up post. You can email me here: david ( at) the survival gardener (dot ) com.
This is super exciting! Did you ever get any varietal info?
Hi Richard, I recently harvest my cascade hop plant down here in Miami. I would like to ask you a couple of questions if you have the time. GerardoLcoronel at Gmail dot Com. Thanks and I hope you read this!
I’ll given you an email tomorrow!
I am a native Floridian, too. My husband has been brewing beer for a couple of years now and I just convinced him we should grow our own hops, also. It is late in the season but I finally got my rhizomes. I hope to get them in the ground tomorrow. I am very excited about this new adventure.
Very good! Good luck and bottoms up.
Hi Richard, I ordered 2 crowns (chinook to be exact) and plan to plant them as soon as I get them. I know this sounds crazy to do it during this time of year, but being that i live near Tampa, I hope I might have success with it. My only concern is keeping the containers I will put the crowns in warm so they don’t get too cold during the “winter season” here. Any suggestions? I plant my garden during this time too and have been for over 4 years and have been pretty successful. I am open for any suggestions, but figured maybe, just maybe, I might have some success and therefor growing hops during the fall/winter when others aren’t able may give me a shot at providing hops (maybe even just seasonal) when others cannot. I will take pictures of the progress and hopefully have success in the end. Again any suggestions are welcome.
Hi David, I ordered 2 crowns (chinook to be exact) and plan to plant them as soon as I get them. I know this sounds crazy to do it during this time of year, but being that i live near Tampa, I hope I might have success with it. My only concern is keeping the containers I will put the crowns in warm so they don’t get too cold during the “winter season” here. Any suggestions? I plant my garden during this time too and have been for over 4 years and have been pretty successful. I am open for any suggestions, but figured maybe, just maybe, I might have some success and therefor growing hops during the fall/winter when others aren’t able may give me a shot at providing hops (maybe even just seasonal) when others cannot. I will take pictures of the progress and hopefully have success in the end. Again any suggestions are welcome.
I’m not sure, but I know the hop roots don’t die in freezing weather. A friend grows them in Minnesota where the ground freezes solid in winter.
Story of the traveling hops-
My ancestors came from the Rhine valley in Germany,and brought there hops with them
The vines grew happily at there first cabin site for the following years ( the deer REALLY liked them-lol)
I’ve since transported the root stalk to North Thailand where they are in there first season of growth
So far there looking good
Keep you posted on harvest
Bob – that’s really cool. Those hops are world travelers!
hi…i need to buy hop seeds in the miami area….does anybody know where i can get them?…thanks
I am in Ft. Myers, FL. Just about as far S.W. as you can get, zone 10b. I have been growing Cascade bines in pots for a bit here. I harvested about 1/2 a pound a few months ago. I will cut them back and plant beans and peas in the pots to fix nitrogen into the soil for next seasons hop growth. Free fertilizer! I am also a home brewer, and plan to make an IPA with my harvested cones soon.