Adventures in Hop Farming

[fod]

Ever since becoming a born again bachelor and moving into town I have been looking for a little land to get away to. Back in May 2013, I stumbled on to and purchased a 10.75 acre lot and acquired the adjacent lot in spring of 2014, making it about ideal for my get away spot.

From the road it looks like about any other ten acre lot:

But about 2/3 of the way back in the land drops about 40 feet of elevation through the woodlot.



and at the back of the property, a flowing spring. . .a 45 degree 30 foot stream pops right out of the ground

Got the plunkin range setup:







And a view towards the barn:




The previous owner had accidentally burnt down a smaller pole barn on the same sight. The township would not allow me to reuse anything other than the concrete slab and the utilities were underground to the slab, so I built over the existing slab, almost smack in the middle of the property

So, what does this have to do with hop farming? Simply put friends and I decided that I had this flat land, why not grow hops? Why not indeed.

So we planted a Hop Yard last year.

 

[fod]

[video=youtube;it3mb1myCro]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it3mb1myCro[/video]

 

[fod]

[video=youtube;o72afXh85jw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o72afXh85jw[/video]

 

[fod]

[video=youtube;Cj4b5Jme2oM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4b5Jme2oM[/video]

 

[fod]

[video=youtube;qB2e4Tz5fpE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB2e4Tz5fpE[/video]

 

[fod]

[video=youtube;R7Cc-UHhNBM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7Cc-UHhNBM[/video]

 

[fod]

More to come. . .

 

[Lieblad]

......

 

[fod]

Yay for hop farming !
I wish you well with it. The private outdoor sports range is nice too !

I grow for fun & near Willamette Valley, huge hop growing area.
Between what I grow and pick up roadside spillage during harvest time we have plenty for our hobby beers.

Thanks!

We are having fun with it. We are tiny compared to your area. . .a typical farm out there is more than Michigan's total number of acres in hops.

I'll get some pics of the barn, bar and brewery in here too.

 

[Fiddleback]

OK, now that was impressive. I can't wait to see the rest! Thanks for posting this!

 

[fod]

Thanks Andy!

Here is the new tractor and harvester, this was on our first day learning to run, dialing in and debugging the machine:







Success! Fresh beer buds:

 

[fod]

Running the Hops Harvester. . .with Fiddleback content. . . I use my patch knife to clear a jam.


[video=youtube;R3rEDSSnHnw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3rEDSSnHnw&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[TxSportsman]

Awesome! Very interested in this.

 

[fod]

A view of the rolling bar, "Singed Timbers" made from a bar top and brass rails from a Lansing steak house with a frame made from reclaimed lumber from the old barn.




Another view of the planning and drinking zone:



Me minding the boil at the brewery:



10 gallons of wheat beer. . .the second keg of this is on tap just now.

 

[Tekton]

This is a great thread!

 

[mete]

In earlier days ,central NY [Syracuse ] was the hop center .Things slowed way down until all the craft beers appeared.Then with bigger demand hops spread .Hops give that bitterness to beer that some of us prefer. There were a few other uses for hops .

 

[fod]

Thanks everyone!


On October 3rd,

we will be hosting the

2nd annual
Source Farms
Rock and Weed Hoptacular


We could use some help putting the yard to rest for the year. . . come on out for light labor (moving rocks/weeding. . .), homebrew, venison chili (we took the 1st deer of the year last weekend), live band, movies under the stars at dusk.

So if you are in the area (southern Michigan, Spring Arbor/ Jackson area), give me a PM and I'll give directions. Or just show up. . .We plan on 10 AM start.

5294 Moscow Road
Spring Arbor, MI 49283

 

[Hone]

Lovin this thread, cheers! :thumbup:

 

[therealmrjones]

I haven't felt this jealous since.. well ever!

 

[fod]

Awesome! Very interested in this.

This is a great thread!

Lovin this thread, cheers! :thumbup:

I haven't felt this jealous since.. well ever!

Thanks guys, we are having fun with it.

In earlier days ,central NY [Syracuse ] was the hop center .Things slowed way down until all the craft beers appeared.Then with bigger demand hops spread .Hops give that bitterness to beer that some of us prefer. There were a few other uses for hops .

Yup, NY State used to be the big hop producer. About a hundred years ago disease and competition crippled the industry, prohibition killed it. They are now 5th state in production of hops.