Growing WAAAY up north(savonlinna, finland)

[Kharnynb]

Been growing for few years yet, mostly northern brewer that i bought and split over the years.
The main, front of the house hop is now 5 years old and doing well, there's also a smaller 2 year old one on our terrace and last something I found in a nearby forest that hopefully will produce enough cones to dryhop and test this year.

 

[bonecitybrewco]

What are your daylight hours like? I know what mine are like at 50 degrees N, nevermind 61 degrees north...

I know of some people in Alaska who cannot get their crops to fruit because of the daylight transition.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

What are your daylight hours like? I know what mine are like at 50 degrees N, nevermind 61 degrees north...

50°N is the sweet spot for hops - you're the same latitude as Saaz and south of Kent (51°N), Hallertau and Tettnang are 48-49°N. By European standards most Canadians are not that far north....

35°N to 55°N (and the equivalent in the southern hemisphere) is the range that is typically quoted for hops, although there seems to be a bit of flex at either end depending on variety. In Finland I guess the European varieties would be more comfortable than US ones, but it's certainly worth a go. Certainly the existence of wild hops implies _some_ types of hop can reproduce up there!

 

[Kharnynb]

Currently we are at about 23 hours of daylight, it's not so big an issue, mostly with the northern brewer, the issue is that autumn just doesn't last long enough....
The finnish hops are faster, but not as nice for dryhopping.

 

[Apimyces]

Wild finnish hops?

 

[Kharnynb]

Wild finnish hops?

They were growing in the forest near our house, no idea what they are, hops have been growing in finland for a few hundred years(since the swedish crown required all farmers to grow them)
They could be old hops that have just been there forever, or something someone dug out of the garden and dumped there.

 

[schmurf]

...hops have been growing in finland for a few hundred years(since the swedish crown required all farmers to grow them)...

 

[schmurf]

They were growing in the forest near our house, no idea what they are, hops have been growing in finland for a few hundred years(since the swedish crown required all farmers to grow them)
They could be old hops that have just been there forever, or something someone dug out of the garden and dumped there.

for those who don't know, which probably is quite a few, Finland was a part of Sweden once. The requirement for farmers to grow hops was from the early 15th century to last part of the 19th century. The reason for this was that the crown provided a daily ration of some 3 liter beer to people of the crown, church and the military forces. The farmers just had to obey...