Great Beer Starts Here Radio Show: Recent Episodes
Great Beer Starts Here
A show featuring current trends and techniques on ingredients that go into the fuel that is Craft Beer.
Olson and Son Hop Yard's goal to grow quality hops for use by local breweries, utilizing as much of the plant as possible for other products, all while documenting our process through photography and storytelling. The Olson & Son Hopyard story includes our advocacy as a voice for the families of children with special medical needs. At its heart, the story of the Olson & Son Hopyard is simply the story of my family.
Honey Hop Farm was started in December of 2016. They are located in the beautiful quiet town of Waterford Works NJ. Their love of craft beer and home brewing inspired them to turn 3.2 acre farm into a hop yard. They currently grow two varieties of hops; Centennial and Nugget. They also currently have three bee hives on their farm.
We talk with the Kansas Hop Company to see what makes their operation tick, where they are headed and their successes.
THE KANSAS HOP COMPANY is a joint-venture between Clyde Sylvester, Nick Feightner & Ryan triggs. They started in 2015 with an empty field NEAR Ottawa, KS and a desire to add a local ingredient to the growing number of craft beers being brewed ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS.
You won't want to miss this show, these guys are leading the charge for local hops.
Richard M. Smith, founder of Florida Hops, LLC, and a former Biological
Scientist at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences, is a specialist in production of ornamental,
specialty crop, and medicinal plants in field and greenhouse conditions.
His foundational work, a thesis on Humulus lupulus, the first scientific
research studying Florida's environment and hop production, has grown to
challenge anecdotal beliefs regarding its growth and production in the
Southeastern region of the United States. This research has captured
nationwide attention and has been featured on National Public Radio
(NPR), The Wall Street Journal, as well as statewide and local
publications. Richard finds privilege in speaking to organizations from
garden clubs to Extension offices, as well as industry professionals and
scientific conferences about horticulture’s contribution to beer
production. His work which includes publications, scholarly
competitions, panel discussions, professional and academic memberships,
and has delivered an innovative contribution to the establishment of new
perspectives within Florida’s horticulture and agriculture community.
Florida Hops, LLC draws from knowledge developed through research,
experience, and industry relationships to provide Florida’s preeminent
consultation services on hop production and lead the way for the
establishment of a new crop for Florida agriculture and a new
perspective and experience for Florida craft beer.
Grow More Hops LLC is dedicated to providing hop grower education, hop consulting services and hop growing-related products. Their mission is to help hop growers to be well-informed and successful. Growing hops outside of the Pacific Northwest area of the United States is challenging. Reliable information and equipment for small to medium-sized hop growers is very hard to find. Unfortunately, very few universities have been able to fund research in all of the areas needed by new hop growers. In those cases, we rely on advice from successful growers and their vendors.
Lee Jennings, an experienced agronomist, lives Appleton, Wisconsin and is dedicated to helping farmers of all sizes and crops become profitable. Lee founded Grow More Hops, LLC in 2013. Grow More Hops focuses on helping the Midwest's hop industry grow into a tremendous commercial success. Lee offers hop growing education, crop consulting, clean hop transplants and specialty fertilizer products to hop growers.
Lee earned his Master of Science in Agronomy - Crop Production at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a Certified Crop Adviser. Lee's experience includes working with farmers of all sizes for over 35 years, conducting several hundred grower educational meetings, field demonstrations, and seminars. A highly respected and sought after authority, Lee has conducted hop grower seminars in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota since 2013. Grow More Hops is a member of the Wisconsin Hop Exchange Cooperative and the Minnesota Hop Grower Association.
Instagram - @landlockedhops
We will interview Land Locked Hops and get to know Ross and Nick. These guys are killing it in Illinois right now. They describe themselves as "Two Guys. An Idea. And Lots and Lots of Time." Can't wait to see how they are doing and what is on the horizon.
BIO
We like beer, dirt, tractors, good people and the American Dream. The sum of that equation led us to start a small hopyard in the middle of nowhere. We hope, through continued hard work, to become a medium hopyard in the coming months (we are also just a smidge sarcastic). Our number one goal is to grow healthy hops in an honest and sustainable manner. The rest of the details (flavor, smell, and brewing analytics) will take care of themselves.
Crazy Horse Hops is Indiana's largest producer, processor, and broker of quality hops. We have put together an excellent team, with the right skill set to be able to move our business forward and expand our operation quickly. Our goal is to grow 110 acres on our farm by Fall of 2019, as well as to be an outlet for other growers to bring their product to us and we can finish the processing for them. Becoming a centralized processing facility for growers all around the state and opening the door for prospective growers that have been afraid to move forward knowing that they could only produce a "wet" hop product, which is not necessarily desirable to craft brewers.
Cone Keepers, established in rural Jasper County, Indiana, is a family-run hop farm. Our mission is to grow fresh, high quality hops. We are delighted by serving microbreweries and helping them make some fantastic craft beer. Their hops went into the WINNER of Indiana's 2016 Bincenti-ale Beer Competition, made by our friends over at Pokro Brewing.
We talk with Aaron Harden and Joe Oliphant from Eight One Two Farms. We will address a number of topics including what types of activities they are involved with in the field, some feedback on their hydroponic project and what upcoming brewing events they plan to attend.
In this inaugural episode we talk with Steve Howe of Howe Farms. Steve will talk about how he got started in hop farming, things he learned along the way, his passion for local and an interesting project he and Indy High Bines have started.