Spring Planting has begun throughout the region and we are now in the middle of planting season at the farm. One of the biggest goals of the Va Hops Initiative is the education and alignment of brewers with local hops. We have seen an increase in the number of growers but the biggest obstacle is finding the market for their passion. We love beer! We love hops! We love Brewers!
For every new brewery that opens up, there is someone tasked with determining just where it is they will acquire the hops to brew their deliciousness. This is becoming harder and harder in terms of procuring hops and too many contracts are not an option. Small breweries can ill afford to tie up working capital in excessive inventory simply to store it for a latter date when they will brew with it. This can get really expensive.
Local options will serve breweries with a clean, fresh and sustainable product within hours of their brewery and promote the local economy on so many levels. The procurement of hops from our farm also helps us reduce breweries carbon footprint. Many source from the Northwest or even Europe and as far away as New Zealand for their hops but if we can move our local brewers into the acceptance of a local product than we help them play a critical role in making them more "green".
Where does this start? This kind of paradigm shift does not start with large scale production breweries. The economies of scale are just not aligned with small scale growing. Its starts with Home Brewers and small, regional breweries who seek to differentiate themselves from other bigger brands in the market. It may be cheaper to procure 2011 or 2012 hops in bulk, but does that translate into a cleaner, fresher beer?
Home Brewers are on the cutting edge of the our brewing future. A majority of "commercial" brewers began as Home Brewers. This is the niche we have always sought out to educate and bring about more awareness about working with local hops. If a Home Brewer begins to feel comfortable using local hops and establishing relationships with hop farms, when the get that call to step up and become a commercial brewer they will be more likely to incorporate local hops in the brewing mix as best they can. "Cold calling" on production breweries is probably the biggest mistake a new hop grower can make. It basically illustrates that the grower does not understand the brewery business. There is no hop farm in the region that could sustain any one of those breweries for a year and it is incredibly difficult for them to incorporate local hops into a run that will result in thousands of cases or hundreds of kegs.
In order to bridge the gap that exists between "local" and hops featured online or brands via a Home Brew store that are mass distributed and we all know the names, growers must seek to provide a vessel in which the Home Brewer can learn about hops. How they grow, how they change throughout the season, how each hop will demonstrate unique profiles of aroma during different stages of development and how to harvest wet hops and use immediately or harvest wet hops to dry or pelletize for later use.
Our Home Brew Hop Program does just this!
We invite local Home Brewers to come to the hop farm and plant within the Home Brew Rows. They bring rhizomes, cuttings or plant transplants to plant in the row with us and we help them get them in the ground. This is a great social event for Home Brew clubs, which typically meet indoors at pubs or breweries on a monthly basis. We mark each section or plant for the Home Brewer and provide basic care until those points in the growing process where we train Home Brewers how to strip bines, care for plants, look for signs of any potential hazards like insects or even mildew as well as soil/nourishment additions---signs of yellowing leaves --where hops may need a jump start. These plants belong to the Home Brewers. They will from time to time come out and we will keep them aware of the progress with social media of the plants as they grow. At the end of the season, the brewers or the club from which the brewers are from will harvest all the hops from the plants AND can then brew of Wet Hop Ale or share the hops with other club members and create a brewing event centered around using local hops.
This is a win win for everyone!
In September for participating clubs we will also be rolling out our private label program where we will contribute 10% to directly to the club whose members buy our hops from the farm via local home brew stores in the region. When Home Brewers make the commitment to purchase local hops; we REWARD their Home Brew Club. The Club can use these funds for events, socials or other club activities.
Again.....its a win win!!
