For craft beer lovers, hops farming is catching on
Like it or not, the fall season is upon us. What better way to embrace sweater weather than by heading out to the farm to pick – hops!
That’s just what I did at the Fir Farm in Colts Neck. Believe it or not, hop farming is catching on in New Jersey, and September is the time to cut the bines and harvest those fragrant and bitter nuggets.
I know that pumpkin beers are already on the shelves, but early fall is all about hop harvest ales. The pumpkin can wait.
Hop farming is a fledgling industry in New Jersey.
In 2015, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), awarded a grant to James Simon of the Rutgers University Department of Plant Biology and Pathology for the “establishment and marketing of hops production in the mid-Atlantic.”
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That study is now in its third growing season, which is a key milestone. It takes about three seasons for a hop plant to reach its full, mature potential.
In an email update, Simon said, “We record the overall yield, and the quality of each variety and note issues with insect and disease pests. Dr. Megan Muehlbauer, just joined the Rutgers community as an Extension Agent for Hunterdon County and is now leading the hops field project.”
The project also performs chemical analysis to determine the levels of alpha acids (an indicator of bitterness) and essential oils (flavor and aroma) contained in the hops. Knowing those numbers is important for constancy in brewing.
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Simon went on to say that Dr. Muehlbauer “reports that yields are higher than ever before, and the hop season is looking fine!” Good news indeed. Look for beers by Triumph Brewing and River Horse Brewing, which use the Rutgers grown hops.
In the Pacific Northwest, where hop growing is done on a much more industrial scale, high-priced machines are used to pick and pelletize the hop cones.
For the small-scale farms in New Jersey, such capital investment doesn’t make sense, so they have to do things the hard way. They pick hops by hand.
I can tell you from experience that the novelty wears off quickly.
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The event I attended was organized by Jughandle Brewing in Tinton Falls, who would be purchasing the hops picked that day for its 2017 Wet Hop Harvest Ale.
Mike Skudera of Jughandle describes it as “an American ale brewed with 80 poundsof organically grown Chinook and Cascade hops picked fresh from The Fir Farm in nearby Colts Neck with many helping hands.
New Jersey grains from Rabbit Hill Farms in Shiloh make this a sessionable brew with a balance of malt that lets the freshness of the hops shine through.”
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Friends and fans of the brewery gathered around a long table on which an equally long hop bine (hops grow on “bines” as opposed to grapes, which grow on “vines”) has been laid.
My only instruction was “don’t get any leaves in the collection bucket.”
So, I began plucking the bright green hop cones one by one and tossing them into a bucket. The hops in those buckets would wind up in a brew kettle less than 24 hours later.
What’s the rush? Hops decompose fast unless they are dried and pelletized. However, the fresh, or “wet” hops impart a clean, green character, which can be compared to newly cut grass.
There’s an enchanting immediacy to harvest beers. You need to drink them now. And, because of varying growing conditions, they’re like unique gems each season.
Picking hops may be tedious, but it’s also a rewarding experience.
The Fir Farm event also featured beer to slake your thirst, live music for entertainment and a little barbecue to sustain you.
Then, there’s that aroma!
There were brewers, beer geeks and just plain curious folks, all thoroughly enjoying a day out at the farm.
It’s like you went to a party and some hops got picked.
Similar events are happening at hop farms dotted all around the state. If your local brewery is sponsoring a hop picking event, I would definitely recommend giving it a shot.
Peter Culos is the craft beer editor for JerseyBites.com where he comments on breweries, bars and good beer in the Garden State. A graphic designer by day and a lifelong New Jersey resident, Peter was first introduced to the novel idea that beer could actually have flavor during several visits to the United Kingdom. He’s been riding the craft beer bus ever since. Email him at peteculos@gmail.com.In about two weeks, you could be drinking a beer that you literally had a hand in making.