tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86546375469857729642024-03-12T16:44:43.373-07:00Eastern Hops GuildChris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-3392733960664182512012-04-13T07:09:00.003-07:002012-04-13T07:46:15.765-07:00Hi Folks!!<br /><br />In an effort create more synergy for the hop growing movement, the Eastern Hops Guild will merge into the Southern Appalachian Hops Guild effective April 15th, 2012. The Eastern hops guild blog site will continue to be live until may 15th, 2012 and will be shut down at that time. <br /><br />We hope that all of you that are currently following the Eastern Hops Guild Blog will be begin to follow the Southern Appalachian Hops Guild blog. We hope that this merger will allow us to incorporate more post from various growers, extension personnel, hobbyist and brewers from all the eastern region. We hope to create a thriving dialog that accentuates topics to help growers improve techniques, find inspiration, learn about successes and from one anothers mistakes. <br /><br />New post are already being shared on the Southern site that discuss how our dogwood winter is effecting the bines.<br /><br />Thanks so much for your support and hope to see your faces on the SAHG site!!<br /><br />For any questions, please feel free to contact Chris at <a href="mailto:hopnetwork@gmail.com">hopnetwork@gmail.com</a><br /><br /><br />Here is the link to the SAHG - <a href="http://southernappalachianhopsguild.blogspot.com/">http://southernappalachianhopsguild.blogspot.com/</a>Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-80530913974868886522010-08-16T18:38:00.000-07:002010-08-16T18:45:05.488-07:00Mountain Hopping from Justin Farrar to focus on hop growing in our areaMountain Hopping<br />Get out and get hopping<br />by Justin F. Farrar in Vol. 17 / Iss. 02 on 08/03/2010<br />[Editor’s note: This week, Xpress debuts our new biweekly beer column, wherein our intrepid, brews-obsessed reporter takes on different facets of WNC’s brew culture. Mountain Hopping will be a dispatch-style exploration of the people and places behind the regional beer economy. Gonzo journalism? Maybe. But a first-person take outside the well-quaffed path. Mountain Hopping will supplement our Brews News column, which will continue to run biweekly as well. We think they’ll complement each other nicely, and cover lots of WNC beer bases.]<br />Picking these hops is kicking my ass. It’s barely noon, and already I’m yearning for a cold one and a little James Gang on the stereo. Sun and labor have transformed my body into a nexus of slime, stench and ache. And just look at those poor mitts: molasses-hued stains on fingertips, while itchy red-bumps — resembling a relief map of some heretofore undiscovered mountain range — circle both wrists.<br />For the inaugural installment of “Mountain Hopping” I had intended to pen a blurry-eyed dispatch from the tail end of a craft-beer binge across our fine region. Too gonzo cliché, I ultimately realized. Instead, I’m kicking things off with sobering experientiality: a sweat-soaked (half) day of helping grow and harvest a plant that has become, since sometime in Middle Ages, the most popular flavoring agent in the greatest of all alchemical practices (beer brewing).<br />Founded in 2005 by one Julie Jensen, who greeted me at the gates this morning in a “Don’t Worry, Be Hoppy” tee, Echoview is an audacious stab at a “sustainable” commercial farm, one specializing in four primary crops: in addition to hops, there are bees, bamboo and even solar energy. Hops, though, is big daddy. Having just hosted its First Annual Hops Festival on July 31, the farm is looking to become major player in the region.<br />The property, just a few miles outside Weaverville town center, is a 70-plus acre spread, the layout of which Jensen likens to an outstretched hand. It’s home to eight varieties of hops, all of them in first-, second- and third-year stages of development. Three to five years, explains Jensen, is required to produce a truly viable crop. Until then, it’s a costly slog through hardcore trial, error and correction.<br />Along with General Manager Ric Horst (whose Texas Ranger-like ruggedness is pure No Country for Old Men) and farmhands Ryan Wooton and Aaron West, I’m working a hop field that contains four rows of a popular variety called “cascade.” Each plant slithers up a 10-foot rope suspended from a cable. On many of the farms in Oregon and Washington machinery has replaced the act of hand picking the cones dotting the bines. But compared to the massive ventures out west, Echoview is a feisty, young upstart. We’re kicking it old school: from pungent plant to plastic cup to drying screen. Over and over and over.<br />As we pick — and pick some more — my temporary boss and coworkers school me in the ways of this scratchy little bastard: alphas, betas, rhizomes, moisture levels and so on. The crop, I learn, is beyond finicky. Without delving into any abstruse science, growing hops is no less laborious than the taming of the shrew. And as Horst is quick to point out, our region’s humidity and dizzying array of ravenous pests do not make the courtship any easier.<br />Everybody here at Echoview welcomes the daunting challenge. Their excitement stems in part from the wide-open nature of WNC’s hops economy. “The hops-farm movement in North Carolina is reminiscent of what was going on in the northwest 20 to 25 years ago,” says Chris Richards, Brewmaster over at French Broad Brewing. “Even though we’re still a few years away, everybody’s trying to create this microcosm of industry in terms of getting the hops directly from the farmers.”<br />Here’s the one humongous hurdle: our region is home to numerous farms mainly hawking their whole hops and/or wet hops to the homebrew scene. Yet none of them have the processing facilities needed to transform their crop into the creature of consistency commercial brewers like Richards crave: pellet hops.<br />Very few breweries in Beer City, USA, actually use regional hops in high-volume brewing. Instead, they purchase them from various pelletizing plants around the country, all of which are at least a day’s drive from Asheville. To ship their crop to these plants isn’t financially feasible for local growers. Hops spoil so easily that shipping time between farm and plant should really be no more than one to two hours.<br />To be both farmer and onsite processor is exactly the long game Echoview is playing, Horst reveals. And if their big-picture plan to produce a competitively priced pellet hop of quality succeeds somewhere down the road, it will only strengthen the regional craft-beer industry, making it a far more localized and self-reliant entity.<br />Jensen and her team totally understand the costs of such a top-shelf facility. In fact, they even seem energized by both the rewards and the risks.<br />It’s an energy that’s downright infectious. On the other hand — when’s lunch around here?<br />Until next time, may your foameth never overrunethChris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-20453128160775827572010-04-05T17:14:00.000-07:002010-04-05T17:25:15.841-07:00Hop Trials and Local Grower spotlightedGreat Article about Hops under going some research trials in North Carolina. Also, Spotlight on Van Burnette, Black Mountain Hops Grower.<br /><div><br /><br /><div>Hopping into a new crop<br />April 05, 2010<br />Media Contacts: Rob Austin, 919.513.0255 or <a href="mailto:rob_austin@ncsu.edu">rob_austin@ncsu.edu</a>, or Dr. Jeanine Davis, 828.684.3562 or <a href="mailto:jeanine_davis@ncsu.edu">jeanine_davis@ncsu.edu</a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/S7p9OpzXxRI/AAAAAAAAADs/AOG_MYYPVf0/s1600/hops-071.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456811589205738770" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/S7p9OpzXxRI/AAAAAAAAADs/AOG_MYYPVf0/s320/hops-071.jpg" /></a><br />Rob Austin (left) of NCSU and Chris Davis, head brewer at Fullsteam Brewery, plant hop rhizomes at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory in Raleigh. (Becky Kirkland photo)<br />When Van Burnette wanted a drought-resistant crop to try on his 6-acre farm near Black Mountain, he decided on hops. The problem is, no one really knows much about how the essential beer ingredient will grow in North Carolina, much less whether burgeoning interest in local beers and home brewing will translate into a sustainable market.<br />N.C. State University specialists are out to change that, cooperating with Burnette and a few other pioneering North Carolina hops growers to figure out viable production, post-harvest and marketing options.<br />At the university's field laboratory off Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh, Rob Austin and Dr. Deanna Osmond, of the Department of Soil Science, planted a quarter-acre experimental hop yard recently.<br />And from the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River, horticulture specialist Dr. Jeanine Davis is monitoring conditions at four mountain farms where hops are being grown.<br />Some of the key questions the scientists will be asking: Can new varieties and better production practices ease the disease pressures that pushed the East Coast hops industry to Oregon and Washington decades ago? What types of nutrients and soils do the fast-growing plants need? And do local conditions impart flavors and aromas that beer producers will be interested in buying?<br />Austin, a geographic information specialist, has some experience with hops: He's a home brewer, and for eight years he's been growing a few plants along a fence in his backyard in Apex.<br />But, he points out, there's a big difference between growing something in your backyard and growing it on a scale that makes it a worthwhile commercial endeavor.<br />Hops are climbing perennials that on most farms are grown on expensive 20-foot trellis systems, he explains. The up-front costs that such systems require aren't immediately recouped because, as with winegrapes, hops take about three years to be fully established.<br />Also, cost-effective mass production requires large acreage and specialized machinery for harvesting the flowers (or cones, as they are called), drying them and turning them into pellets. Such machinery is used in Oregon and Washington, which currently have the national hops market sown up.<br />But a few years ago there was a national hops shortage, which raised the price of hops -��� and the hopes of growers looking for alternative crops. Austin says the Raleigh home brew store he bought hops from even went as far as to limit the amount of hops a customer could buy. That led him to wonder if North Carolina farmers might be able to help fill the gap.<br />Davis says scores of growers had similar ideas.<br />"When it comes to interest in growing hops, people are coming out of the woodwork. We had 100 people on a hops tour we had last year," Davis says. "But we need to stress this is very risky. We know very little about it. And we have real concerns."<br />She, Austin and Burnette think that North Carolina is unlikely to become a major hops producer. The major hops-growing region is drier than North Carolina, and this makes them concerned about the damage that diseases such as downy mildew and powdery mildew could cause. But they are hopeful that new, more resilient hops varieties and advances in disease control might make it easier to avoid devastating losses.<br /><br />Van Burnette started growing hops in 2009. (Photo courtesy of Van Burnette)<br />Burnette is looking forward to being involved in the N.C. State hops research project, which is funded by a one-year grant from Golden LEAF, a foundation that supports research into economic alternatives for tobacco-dependent communities.<br />Burnette's farm has been in his family for 150 years, and he's hopeful that niche markets for crops like hops and blueberries and associated tourism will prove <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/S7p9dplF3wI/AAAAAAAAAD0/fdgph3I5Xn8/s1600/vanburnette.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 283px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456811846843883266" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/S7p9dplF3wI/AAAAAAAAAD0/fdgph3I5Xn8/s320/vanburnette.jpg" /></a>economically sustainable.<br /></div><div>A Western North Carolina AgOptions grant from North Carolina Cooperative Extension enabled him to set up his hop yard, and he's hopeful that the grant-funded research project will led to reliable production recommendations.<br />"The hops project can't do anything but benefit me and the rest of us growers," he says. "I know that I found it frustrating -��� and so did the other growers -��� that there's not enough known about hops. ... I mean, how do you know what hops need as far as the soil? And how are we going to take care of these pests and diseases? And how are we going to know for sure what kind of pests and diseases we have?"<br />In spite of so many production challenges and questions, he and others think the growing local food movement and the interest in specialty and regional beers could mean that buyers are willing to pay a premium for locally produced hops with special qualities.<br />In Burnette's case, a small brewery that's less than 5 miles from his farm bought all the hops he was able to produce last year. This year, he plans to sell most of what he produces to that brewery, but he's also planning a second "you-pick" harvest for home brewers.<br />Interest in North Carolina hops production has been highest in the mountains, perhaps because Asheville has a growing reputation as a center for microbrewery. It's been called "Brewtopia" and named the East Coast's "Beer City, USA."<br />In the Piedmont, interest is gaining momentum. For example, Sean Wilson is weeks away from opening Fullsteam, a Durham brewery. The company's tagline -- "plow-to-pint beer from the beautiful South" -- emphasizes local connections.<br />"Our goal is to try to ... be the bridge that connects consumers who want local with farmers," he says.<br />Already, the beer maker is buying all the rhubarb it can find locally, and the company is looking into purchasing locally processed sweet potato puree.<br />When it comes to locally produced hops, Wilson is cautiously enthusiastic.<br />"We would like nothing more than for our flagship beer, which we call Carolina Common, to use North Carolina-grown hops, at least in part of the process if not for the entire thing," he says. But, he adds, "beer is an art and a science, and for us to rely on a hop provider, there has to be a fair amount of science involved. ... They have to meet exacting standards to make quality, consistent beer.<br />"And we have to be practical when we look at our flagship beer," he says. "Like any business, we have to be attuned to our raw ingredient costs, and that's where the challenge is: There's an opportunity, but it's a challenge."<br />Written by: Dee Shore, 919.513.3117 or dee_shore@ncsu.edu</div></div>Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-12110496845762633862010-03-22T19:48:00.000-07:002010-03-22T19:52:06.753-07:00Rhizomes available for sale at the Hops cultivation seminarIts possible that there will be 200 cascades and 150 centennial rhizomes for sale at the March 6th and 7th hop cultivation seminar. Those interested please email me Chris at <a href="mailto:hopnetwork@gmail.com">hopnetwork@gmail.com</a>.Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-5019174220412951672010-03-17T16:49:00.000-07:002010-03-17T17:07:42.830-07:00<span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Preregistration is now available for the upcoming hops growing seminar</strong></span> - Hops - a cultivation seminar for the prospective, beginning, and intermediate grower. Class space is filling up so preregister while there is still space!<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/S6Fs_AMZPiI/AAAAAAAAADA/mumJJ-SnOhI/s1600-h/barthhaasgroup_us_mtHood.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 113px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 209px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449756853734555170" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/S6Fs_AMZPiI/AAAAAAAAADA/mumJJ-SnOhI/s320/barthhaasgroup_us_mtHood.jpg" /></a>Please use the following link and enter "Hops" under the title and click the button that says show classes. Here you will find the course number (SEF -2039-100) and description.<br /><a href="http://www1.abtech.edu/schedule/ce/spring/index.php">Http://www1.abtech.edu/schedule/ce/spring/index.php</a><br /><br />Registration information is available at: <a href="http://www.abtech.edu/ce/registration/default.asp">http://www.abtech.edu/ce/registration/default.asp</a><br /><br />Hope to see you there!!! If you have hops rhizomes you wish to buy, sell or trade, please feel free to bring them.Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-17329197565519275102010-02-24T13:51:00.001-08:002010-02-24T15:48:19.536-08:00Eastern Hops Guild on FacebookLook for the Eastern Hops Guild on Facebook. The latest topic of discussion deals with growers experiences with hop rhizome dealers. Please feel free to share any similar experiences on this forum also.Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-63491814123544455552010-02-24T13:31:00.000-08:002010-03-07T17:06:41.316-08:00Hops – a cultivation seminar for the prospective, beginning and intermediate growerThe Eastern Hops Guild is proud to coordinate the upcoming Natural Products Business seminar at AB-Tech through the BioNetwork. Hops – a cultivation seminar for the prospective, beginning and intermediate grower. The Seminar will consist of five 2 hour presentations on April 6th and 7th, Tuesday and Wednesday, 2010. The classes have been allotted a minimum of 30 minutes for Question and Answer sessions. Class fee is $25. Here is the Current line of speakers:<br /><br /><br />Day One - Tues, April, 6 2010<br /><br />10am - 12pm, Economics of the Hop yard - Chris Reedy, Eastern Hops guild, program coordinator, Hops seminar coordinator<br />1 pm - 3pm, A year in the life of the Hop yard - Van Burnette, Hop farmer & entertainer<br />3 pm - 5pm, Soil Fertility/Nutrient Management - Bill Yarborough, NCDA&CS regional agronomist<br /><br />Day Two - Wed., April 7 2010<br /><br />10am - 12pm, Integrated Disease and Pest management, Sue Colucci, NCSU Area Specialized Agent for Commercial Horticulture<br />1pm - 3pm, Hops, a brewers perspective, Andy Dahm, French Broad Brewery, Asheville brewers supply and the Consigliere of Brewing in Asheville<br />3:30pm - 5pm, optional brewery tour at French Broad Brewery<br /><br /><br />Topics of discussion will include:<br /><br />1. Start-up cost<br />2. A realistic look at the labor requirements in hop cultivation.<br />3. Specific nutrient and micro-nutrient ranges<br />4. How to take and understand your soil samples. Soil samples kits will be provided at the seminar. Those who pre-register are encouraged to take soil samples from their yards and bring the results to the seminar. (Bill Yarborough has agreed to help interpret your results. Check out this link <a href="http://www.agr.state.nc.us/agronomi/pubs.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.agr.state.nc.us/agronomi/pubs.htm</a> for more information or see your local extension agent for a free soil sample kit.(North Carolina only)<br />5. Specific hop disease and pest that have already been observed in our region as well as the methods of treatment.<br />6. Possible non invasive techniques to reduce the risk of possible disease and pest.<br />7. A brewer’s perspective on hops which includes Hop chemistry, processing, quality, and use in the brewing process.<br />8. Also, an optional brewery tour to one of Asheville’s oldest breweries.<br /><br />And much more<br /><br /><br />Please contact Sarah Schober at <a href="mailto:sschober@abtech.edu">sschober@abtech.edu</a><br /><br />Or<br /><br />Chris Reedy at <a href="mailto:hopnetwork@gmail.com">hopnetwork@gmail.com</a>Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-72000136421526999822009-10-21T11:05:00.000-07:002009-10-21T11:44:19.631-07:00NY Times Article on Fresh Hop BeersHere is a recent NY Times article on Fresh Hop Beers. I like the fact in the last line of the story that Phil Markowski, the Brewmaster at Southampton Publick House in Southampton, N.Y. made the point that fresh hop beers 'won't hold up'. Fresh hop beers could give the growers, brewers and the Guild a good excuse to host a fresh hop beer festival. I do think that in the initial commercial uses of hops in the South east region will be used in Fresh Hops recipes. It is one of the ways to put more emphases on beers becoming more local and in some cases more organic/sustainable(i.e. organic farming practices as well as considering issues like shipping fuel usage). Hopefully, in the next few years growers will be able to market and sell a majority of their products to the home brewers and begin to establish a reputation of quality which will in turn help to open up the commercial brewing market.<br /><br />October 21, 2009<br /><br />A Hop and a Sip to Fresh Ales<br />By LUCY BURNINGHAM<br />Salem, Ore.<br />TINY emerald cones on 18-foot-tall hops plants trembled as workers whipped the freshly cut stalks into roaring machines here at Sodbuster Farms. Gnashing metal fingers then stripped off the sticky cones — female flowers of the Humulus lupulus — and poured them onto conveyor belts, setting afloat bits of hops, like ash from a fire.<br />The debris, flecked with a resinous, yellow powder called lupulin, stuck in workers’ hair and eyelashes. Even more persistent was the aroma: a lemony, leafy, earthy scent that is precisely what brewers try to harness when brewing fresh-hop beers in autumn.<br />Hops give beer its distinctive bitterness and lend it other lively notes that range from citrus to flowers. But brewers usually use dried processed pellets of hops. The fall hops harvest is their brief window of opportunity to brew with the fresh green cones to make beers with a subtle range of hops flavor.<br />“You really get to taste the whole hop,” said Alan Jestice, an owner of the Blind Tiger Ale House in Greenwich Village, which serves fresh-hop beer on draft from Sierra Nevada and Two Brothers Brewing Company in Illinois. He said he enjoys their bright, herbal quality.<br />Standard high-hop styles, such as India pale ales, which can be quite bitter, don’t usually work with fresh hops, said John Harris, the brewmaster at Full Sail Brewing Company’s brewery in Portland, Ore.<br />“In order to taste and feel the hops, you have to put them in the right kind of beer,” he said. “If the beer gets too bitter, you start losing the nuances of the fresh hops.”<br />Mr. Harris sipped a glass of his 2009 Lupulin Fresh Hop Ale that was brewed using fresh Crystal hops, a variety with less assertive flavors.<br />“It’s kind of like a white wine to me, with its light fruity nose and effervescence,” he said.<br />Timing is crucial for these brews. Once the hops are harvested in late August or early September, they must be added to the beer within 24 hours of being picked. Brewers must use five to seven times more fresh hops than dried because drying concentrates flavors.<br />Fresh hops must be harvested within a few hours’ drive of where they will be used in a brew, as they’re delicate and don’t freeze or ship well.<br />In Oregon and Washington, hop farmers call brewers hours before a harvest, when plants (called bines — vines without tendrils) have reached perfect ripeness. Brewers will drop everything when they get the call. Newborn baby at home? Too bad. Fresh hops require even more coddling.<br />Personally making the pick up has become a ritual for brewers who like to be reminded of beer’s agricultural roots.<br />“Brewers are like normal civilians: we think chickens come from the grocery store and hops come in pellets from Yakima,” said Jack Joyce, an owner of Rogue Ales in Newport, Ore., which released the Chatoe Rogue Wet Hop Ale on Oct. 1. “It’s an eye-opening experience.”<br />Once the brewing ends, the beer ferments for two to four weeks, which makes October the prime time for drinking them. Fresh-hop beer should be consumed within three months, and the sooner the better; the essence of fresh hops fades more quickly than that of dried hops.<br />The hops shortage of the last few years has given brewers a greater appreciation for the ingredient. Last year, Rogue planted 22 acres of hops and added another 22 acres this year.<br />“Growing our own hops wasn’t to save money,” Mr. Joyce said, “but to make sure aroma hops were available to us and our ilk.”<br />But owning a hop yard also ensures that a brewer can have fresh-hop beer.<br />Sierra Nevada Brewing Company planted nine acres of hops next to its brewery in Chico, Calif., and uses fresh Cascade and Centennial hops from the yard for its Chico Estate Harvest Ale. It calls the beer a “wet hop” ale, while its two types of “fresh hop” beer are made with hops picked and dried the week before brewing. One of them is Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale, with hops flown to Chico from New Zealand in the spring.<br />Steve Dresler, the brewmaster at Sierra Nevada, said that his brewery made the first fresh-hop beer in the United States, 13 years ago. He said he got the idea from an English hops merchant, who said cottage breweries made fresh-hop beer in small batches during the harvest season.<br />“It’s something that was done on a limited basis in Europe before we did it in the States,” Mr. Dresler said.<br />In the Northeast, brewers are finding fresh hops on a smaller scale, in home gardens and on farms.<br />Phil Markowski, the brewmaster at Southampton Publick House in Southampton, N.Y., helped handpick 10 pounds of fresh hops from a Long Island nursery specializing in hydrangeas. The harvest was smaller than expected because of the rainy, cool summer.<br />“We saw how the season can really affect our ingredients,” Mr. Markowski said. “Very few brewers have learned that lesson firsthand, even though it’s routine for winemakers.”<br />The demand for fresh-hop beer could help teach more brewers about the crop, said Rick Pedersen, who owns Pedersen Farms in Seneca Castle, N.Y., with his wife, Laura. In addition to growing vegetables, Mr. Pedersen tends 10 acres of hops. This year, he sold fresh hops to the Ithaca Beer Company, Harpoon Brewery and Victory Brewing Company, all of which made batches of fresh-hop beer available at their breweries.<br />“These beers won’t hold up,” Mr. Markowski said. “They’re brewed for the moment. It’s like fresh local <a title="More articles about tomatoes." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/tomatoes/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">tomatoes</a> and corn, an old-fashioned way to remember traditional seasons.”<br />From the Farm to the Barstool<br />Places in New York City that serve fresh-hop beer:<br />The Blind Tiger, 281 Bleecker Street (Jones Street), Greenwich Village, (212) 462-4682.<br />Jimmy’s No. 43, 43 East Seventh Street (Second Avenue), East Village, (212) 982-3006.<br />d.b.a., 41 First Avenue (Second Street), (212) 475-5097.<br />The Pony Bar, 637 10th Avenue (45th Street), Hell’s Kitchen, (212) 586-2707.<br />Rattle N Hum, 14 East 33rd Street, (212) 481-1586.Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-4256040041462117012009-10-20T15:35:00.000-07:002009-10-20T17:51:31.681-07:00Hops Production MeetingWednesday, November 18th. The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service will host a Hops production meeting at Camp New Life at the Mountain Research Station, Waynesville, NC from 1 - 5 pm.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/St5Yl4C6eKI/AAAAAAAAACU/sklY3hNu1OU/s1600-h/September09+106.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 253px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394846811359443106" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/St5Yl4C6eKI/AAAAAAAAACU/sklY3hNu1OU/s320/September09+106.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Come learn about the challenges and opportunities of growing Hops, a new, exciting crop in Western North Carolina.<br /><br /><br /><br />Topics Covered will include:<br /><br /><br /><ul><br /><li>Site Selection and Soil requirements</li><br /><li>Trellising Systems and cover crops</li><br /><li>Disease, Pest and Weed management</li><br /><li>Economic and budgets</li><br /><li>A rep from the Eastern Hops Guild will be present to discuss the opportunities for communication and advantages of cooperation.</li><br /><li>Current hops growers will be present to discuss their experiences!</li></ul><br /><br /><p>Meeting Fee is $5. Payable at the Door. <em><span style="color:#ff6666;"><strong>Cash Only!</strong></span></em></p><br /><br /><p><strong><em><span style="color:#ff6666;">Please RSVP to the Haywood County Extension Office:</span></em></strong></p><br /><br /><p><strong><em><span style="color:#ff6666;">Phone: 828.456.3575 or email at <a href="mailto:erin_freeman@ncsu.edu">erin_freeman@ncsu.edu</a> or <a href="mailto:tim_mathews@ncsu.edu">tim_mathews@ncsu.edu</a></span></em></strong></p><br /><br /><p><strong><em><span style="color:#ff6666;"></span></em></strong></p>Directions Link: <a href="http://www.ncagr.gov/Research/MountainResearchStationWaynesville.htm">http://www.ncagr.gov/Research/MountainResearchStationWaynesville.htm</a>Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654637546985772964.post-21672100420148883602009-09-09T14:45:00.000-07:002009-09-14T13:55:10.589-07:00<span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:180%;color:#33ff33;"><strong><em>Great Turn Out For 2009 Hops Farm Tour</em></strong></span><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/SqgpVKPA3II/AAAAAAAAAAU/fm-hqHdD2aQ/s1600-h/August+071.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 221px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379595198395374722" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/SqgpVKPA3II/AAAAAAAAAAU/fm-hqHdD2aQ/s320/August+071.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />On Saturday, August 29th, 2009, the NC Cooperative Extension Service hosted an informative and educational tour of two local hops farms in the Western North Carolina region. Over 100 interested growers, commercial brewers, and home brewers attended the event.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6Z8HT1jYI/AAAAAAAAACE/nDymcs-msyE/s1600-h/August+076.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381407862787771778" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6Z8HT1jYI/AAAAAAAAACE/nDymcs-msyE/s320/August+076.jpg" /></a><br />Landfair Farms in Weaverville, NC was the first to host the attendees. Participants traveled from all over North Carolina and as far away as Central Virgina and Tennessee. A majority of the participants were either home brewers with 'hobby' gardens and those with interest in commercial hop yards. We were lucky enough to have commercial brewers attend as well.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Tour Coordinator, Melinda Roberts, a Small Farms agent from Buncombe Country, started the tour with an overview of the days agenda. </p><p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6dpAM0KyI/AAAAAAAAACM/x6zXqh9ifSg/s1600-h/August+064.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381411932508269346" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6dpAM0KyI/AAAAAAAAACM/x6zXqh9ifSg/s320/August+064.jpg" /></a><br />Dr. Jeanine Davis followed with an excellent presentation regarding hops as a relatively new and unproven crop in our area and stressed the importance of a communication network to facilitate the flow of ideas and experiences.<br /></p><p>Next, Chris Reedy with Eastern Hops Guild, discussed the formation of The Eastern Hops Guild as well as the issues of Processing, Harvesting, Testing and the possibility of a Disease and Pest work shop.<br /></p><p>Julie Jensen, owner of Landfair farms, then led the tour into the fields to actually discuss the nuts and bolts of the growing process. Currently, landfair has 1300 crowns in the ground consisting mainly of Cascade, Willamete, Brewers Gold and Chinook. Chinooks seemed to be the most vigorous growing and heavily fruiting variety of all. Landfair has been using organic cultivation methods with their yards for the past two years.<br /></p><p>Sue Colluci, NC Extension, Plant Pathologist also answered some questions from the attendees concerning possible disease as well as pest problems. Sue has some experience with Hops and will be a valuable asset for Hop growers.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6MyBpt3sI/AAAAAAAAABk/ULD1oWS3CsM/s1600-h/hop.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381393395819077314" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6MyBpt3sI/AAAAAAAAABk/ULD1oWS3CsM/s320/hop.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The Group proceeded to the Second stop on the tour. Van Burnette's Hop'n Blueberry Farm in Black Mountain, NC. The Farm has been in Van's Family for over 100 years He has been awarded the Centennial Farm designation and also a 2009 WNC AgOptions Recipient to cultivate hops. Van's hop yard has over 130 crowns of Centennial, Chinook, Nugget and Cascade.<br />The Yard is irrigated by a gravity fed drip irrigation system that uses both water flowing through the property as well as rain water catchment.<br /></p><p></p><br /><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 228px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 248px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381397878861050386" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6Q2-SNshI/AAAAAAAAABs/QzqAuVzlP_8/s320/pisgah.jpg" /><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The day ended with a networking session/after party at Pisgah Brewing located 5 minutes from Hop'n Blueberry. The Brewer gave samples of Endless Summer Ale, India Pale Ale and Belgian Amber. Dave, owner of Pisgah Brewing, stressed his interest in sourcing local hops.<br /><br />The Eastern Hops Guild would like to thank all the participants involved in the tour. The Guild would also like to recognize the truly unmeasurable contribution of the NC Cooperative Extension Service. Special thanks go to Steve Ducket, Jeanine Davis, Amanda Stone, Erin Bonito, Sue Colluci and Mike Ford. Extra Special thanks go to Tour Coordinator, Melinda Roberts. </p>The Hop Guild hopes to continue to create more educational events as well as promotional activities for the Hop growers in region. If you are interested in what the guild can do for you, please contact Chris Reedy at <a href="mailto:hopnetwork@gmail.com">hopnetwork@gmail.com</a> .<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/SqhJcKvH5qI/AAAAAAAAAAk/Ad33mELtHOs/s1600-h/August+067.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379630503161226914" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/SqhJcKvH5qI/AAAAAAAAAAk/Ad33mELtHOs/s320/August+067.jpg" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6Xte1wcEI/AAAAAAAAAB0/ISnsntYagMI/s1600-h/August+065.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381405412382765122" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sIkthNyVqtA/Sq6Xte1wcEI/AAAAAAAAAB0/ISnsntYagMI/s320/August+065.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#33ff33;">Eastern Hops Guild</span></strong></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center">Looking toward the Future!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Chris Reedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05138307176732960879noreply@blogger.com2