Tag Archives: hop press

Vintage Hop Press Revamp

Whilst servicing goes on throughout the year on any farm, winter is the time for repairs or any major maintenance jobs. This year the hand hop press, which was a very special gift, needed repairing. This ancient J L Larkworthy from Worcestershire wasn’t exactly broken but when it was used last September for the first time since 1982, it had thrown up a problem that definitely needed fixing before next year.

vintage hop press

The hop press works by using the inherent weight of its stem combined with its gearing. The hop pocket is supported underneath by a sling below, the top being secured by a ring at floor level and when the empty pocket is filled up with loose dried hops, the press is put out of gear allowing the pan to fall utilising gravity and its own weight to do the initial stage of each pressing for you. You then put it back into gear and wind down the handle to apply the final pressure needed on each pressing before winding it back up to repeat the process all over again.

dried hops cooling on the floor

 

You simply repeat this sequence until the hop pocket is full of pressed hops. Each pocket will usually take 8 to 12 pressings to fill, depending on the variety of hops. The pocket is then sewn up and dropped out to the chamber below in a traditional oast and the next pocket put in. In a modern oast, pockets are often pressed into a hole in the concrete floor and then winched out. These days pockets are in fact fast being superseded by square bales which are smaller, easier to lift and move on pallets and more efficient to stack in a warehouse.

What’s to go wrong? Well nothing one would imagine with a hand winding mechanism, all that is needed is to keep the hop press well oiled. However, the out-of-gear initial ‘free fall’ is an important part of the process as hand winding throughout the whole process would make the work painfully slow and tedious, hence you want the press to do what it was designed to do, which is a good percentage of the work for you. The large wheel here weaved out of alignment by an inch, so naturally we thought the cast iron wheel itself was slightly warped. That in itself, though not perfect would have been fine.

However, when using it with hops underneath, it was the first time it was able to be put out of gear to free fall – omg what was that? there was a horrible noise as the cogs on the outside of the large wheel hit the edges of the cast iron casing which hold the gearing, then as the wheel weaved lopsidedly an inch to the other side it touched the main gear cog. Each of these contacts was by only a smidge, but a smidge would be just enough to cause the cast iron teeth to shear off eventually, hence it was top of the list of priority ‘get fixed this winter’ jobs. Oddly it did not hit the sides when it was wound throughout by hand.

The large wheel was removed along with the shaft but it was not the wheel that was bent as we had thought, it was only the very end of the shaft which protrudes from the main press body to hold the large drive wheel, it was barely noticeable at a quick glance.

hop press disassembled for repair

hop press wheel and key-way

This press was built as a hand press around 1900, converted to be used as an electrically operated press in 1970 it was used as such up until1982. The forces are much greater when powered by an electric motor, hence it is most likely that over this 12 year period with these extra forces, this was when the slight bend at the shaft end occurred. This did not show up until it was brought out of retirement and converted back to be used as a hand hop press 33 years later. I do not think there are many or indeed any hand presses being used nowadays, they would simply not be efficient on any large farm.

We took the large drive wheel and shaft to a local engineering firm to be straightened as much as possible and a new key-way was rebuilt.

hop press shaft after straightening and new key way cut

The wheel will always show a very slight weave but this is quite acceptable, the shaft is still original, it is part of its history now and it no longer hits other parts of the frame, so does not matter.

hop press not hitting edges now

Taking things off an old press is one thing but reassembly is quite another, it does not go exactly as you think it should and once the shaft had been straightened it had knock on effect on other bolts and alignment of the metal fixings.  With the wheel off my husband had put on the original handle that had to be cut off when the hop press was electrified.

vintage hop press new handle being welded on

Beautiful, now fully resorted it’s as good as new and rearing to go.

hop press final test to check alignment is all correct before tightening nuts

This wry extract is from a family poem from where the press came from, it was written in 1970 –  this same press gets a mention, as does the nightmare every grower dreads, of having a hop garden down ……

A second hand machine, was the next good buy

It will save us pounds up went the cry.

It came from Cranbrook, all complete

We built the shed and laid concrete.

 

They fitted new rollers and an electric press

whether it will work is any ones guess.

The next year we grew a tremendous crop

The bines went straight up and over the top.

 

One week before picking amidst heavy rain

The anchor wires snapped and down it all came!

load of cascade hops in the kiln

Traditional Charcoal Drying of Cascade Hops

In preparation for this first traditional charcoal drying of the Cascade hops,  locally made charcoal had already been sourced and collected during the summer.     All other hop varieties had been picked  and dried with an oil fired drying unit in the usual way used by growers today.   The late variety Cascade hops had been ear marked for this initial trial drying traditionally with charcoal.

When the hops were picked last weekend, the weather turned out to be perfect for this first trial drying, it was a dry and clear day with a light breeze running.     After the preceding wet week this felt like a good omen.

cutting the hop bines

There is only so much you can pick up from old books and hearsay from the very few remaining people who can remember  cascade hops being dried with coal and charcoal kilns. Basically it had to be a practical hands on, ‘go for it’ , learning on the job experience.   Of course it will take several burns before I become familiar with the many aspects of the furnace and the nuances of how the new oast behaves in different atmospheric conditions.

levelling the load of hops in the kiln

The hops were loaded very shallowly compared to their oil dried counterpart loads but carefully raked level in the same way.   I use a solid fuel rayburn to cook with so was hoping that this would stand me in good stead here.   The fire was lit and because this was a venture into unknown territory, the size and heat gradually increased until the correct temperature was reached.  Literally testing the temperature!  It was a surprise how quickly the temperature in the kiln responded to any alterations with the draft.

keeping watch of the charcaol kilnAs the hops were approaching being dry the fire was allowed to die down before unloading them onto the cooling floor then as for any other load left for a time before being pressed.

dried cascade hops cooling on the floorHave I already learnt masses?  Yes of course and would I try things a little differently next time?    Well again yes, I will make a few small changes,  but certainly nothing dramatic especially for another year yet.   And as for the finished article I am very happy with how things turned out with this initial trial drying.

pressing dried cascade hops by hand

If you’d like to try some of these traditionally dried Cascade hops in your next brew, visit the Hop Shop now as we only have a very limited quantity this year.