Wild hops in New-Brunswick?

[Madavascus]

A friend of mine (who is a real outdoorsman) claims there's an indigenous species of hops growing in New-Brunswick. Have any of you heard of this, or better yet worked with it?

[Richard]

Dunno about indigenous... maybe some planted by settlers grew out of control? Not heard of this myself.

[jeffsmith]

Yeah, not sure about indigenous either, but there's definitely "wild" hops growing all over the Maritimes. My family's old farm on PEI had hops growing all over the property.

[JohnQ]

It's a weed. Once established it'll just keep coming back.
The guy who makes all the compost up north of here showed me a bine that was planted by his grandfather 100 years ago that still thrives.
JQ

[Madavascus]

Thanks guys for your replies. A weed, is it? To be honest, that's what I thought. I'm guessing that wouldn't be stable enough as a bittering agent to be of any use to a brewer?

[Dave Savoie]

Sure it would although with out knowing the % you would be better off using it as a flavoring hop

[sdixon]

And it is part of the cannabis sativa family.

[Richard]

Eh not quite, tis in the Cannabaceae family though

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabaceae)

[sdixon]

Eh not quite, tis in the Cannabaceae family though

Of which Cannabis is a member of...

Cannabaceae are a small family of flowering plants. As now circumscribed, the family includes about 170 species grouped in about 11 genera, including Cannabis (hemp), Humulus (hops) and Celtis (hackberries). Celtis is by far the largest genus, containing about 100 species.

:mrgreen:

[Cuba]

I know this is an old thread, I'll start a new one if no one replies.

Has anyone located a wild hop plant here in NB that your willing  share?

I keep my eye out for them but have yet to actively seek one. I would assume they are found along river banks and abandoned farm fields.

[Roger]

I met a guy just recently who knows of some growing wild a in an old field up by his place. I plan to dig up some when they start growing. I have no idea what variety they are but I assume some old world hops. They remind of Nugget...
I'll try to grab a bunch of rhizomes this spring.

[Scott]

I have some growing at our place. Aaron from UPEI came and dug up a rhizome a couple of years ago he said its doing well, I think he told me he could test the %AAU . I have used them in the past, but not recently. I hope to collect some this fall and do a one hop with them or maybe just as a finishing hop. I'll try to harvest some this spring if anyone wants a piece.

[Cuba]

I met a guy just recently who knows of some growing wild a in an old field up by his place. I plan to dig up some when they start growing. I have no idea what variety they are but I assume some old world hops. They remind of Nugget...
I'll try to grab a bunch of rhizomes this spring.

I would say they would be old world. From the info I've read there are two varieties of the hop plant that are native to central/western North America. But the one found here came to being after Europeans brought hops with them then went wild.

[blisster]

Check this CBC article from last year:

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/prince-edward-island/hops-research-could-aid-beer-industry-1.3136764

@jdueck and I were at the FCBF17 learning day this year where Aaron Mills did a presentation on their hops research.. Very interesting what they do.  The picture in the CBC article is a "wild" hop they found near the Agriculture Canada farm. Turns out, through research, there used to be a monastery on those grounds from the early settler days; They suspect it's a plant that has been growing there since.

Through this article they received lots of tips about wild hops growing in the Maritimes.. They have went to many sites to get examples which they are now growing for research. Through Frank and Mike and CCNB Grand Falls, they had them analyzed and unfortunately, most of the true wild valieties they have tested wouldn't be very good for brewing... low AA or oils compared to the hops we all know.   

[ECH]

Wouldn't mind finding some wild hops to dig up and bring home, add to what I have here, which have finally shown their faces!!