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My Little Hop Garden
DAY 125 - HARVEST! On Friday 3 March, we finally harvested #MyLittleHopGarden. Here's how the day went: It's not over, however... Now we have to decide what to do with the hops! DAY 115 Hop harvest time is in our sights! DAY 111 After over a day of persistent rain... They hops' aroma has started to change from ultra-green celery like to what we'd expect from hops. We were considering harvesting the hops this week, but we'll have to wait for them to dry out a bit now. DAY 108 We clearly didn't need to pull out the watering can...
US Hop Harvest 2016 - What actually happens.
One question I was asked recently is what do you do while you are in Yakima during hop harvest? The short answer is I visit hop farms and meet with the hop growers and select my hops for the year. This year I am visiting the following hop farms, from which I selected some of my varieties from last year's harvest. Van Horn Farms - Columbus Black Star Farms - Mosaic C&C Farms - Centennial Perrault Farms - to visit the hop breeding plot. What does a hop farm visit entail? It is a chance to meet up with the...
Epic + Hops = First, Best, Most, Only, Greatest and Supreme.
When people think about beer from Epic, the first thing that jumps to mind is big hoppy beers. They would be right as we not only brew with massive amounts of hops, but also visit the hop fields and know the hop farmers to get the best hops in the world. Not many brewers in New Zealand do this locally, and none visit the hop farmers on a yearly basis in the US. Here are some fun facts as to why HOPS = EPIC BEER. Epic Brewing Company used the MOST AROMA HOPS in the last 10 years, more than...
US Hop Harvest 2016 - The Countdown Starts Now
It is that time of the year again, and I am finalizing plans and counting down days to my trip to Yakima, USA. I am visiting because it is the time of the year that they harvest the hops. Yakima is where the majority of hops are grown in the USA. Every year since 2012 I have traveled to Yakima at hop harvest time, to visit hop farms, and meet hop growers, but mostly to have the opportunity (which is the ultimate privilege) to be able to select the hop I want. This will be my fifth consecutive season at...
