So there I was just walking down the street...

[Brainstasty]

So there I was just walking down the street and I passed a telephone pole and I had to back up cause something caught my eye that I just knew what it was- freaking hops just growing next to the side of the road up a telephone pole. I almost pooped but was able to force it back up into my bowels. Beautiful vine with some perfect looking cones. I almost yanked the plant out and stuck it in my car but decided to let it be cause it just looked so great. Only in the Northwest. Here are some photos.

[BDawg]

Awesome-

My club did a wild / wet hop brew (traditional Classic American Pilsner) out here on the Meadowbrook Farm right here in North Bend a week ago. The hops growing along the side of the road are the decendents of the hops that used to be grown on the farm back in the 1880's. The beer is still in primary and it's chugging along really nicely. I can't wait to drink that one in a couple months.

Yesterday morning, a couple guys from the club went back and picked some more from the same woodline. They got a couple full garbage bags of cones. We built a couple of drying screens yesterday to dry them out, and cleaned out the stems during our brew session yesterday (American IPA using commercial hops).

Gotta love living in hop country!

[Brainstasty]

Awww nice! I once overheard a guy talking about his friend having to hack at giant masses of hop vines taking over a piece of property they were working on. Unreal. Good luck with your brews, that is so sweet.