Heritage Hops in the Michigan Beer Guide

Heritage Hops is mentioned in the article "Growing Hops in Michigan" in the November-December Michigan Beer Guide which is a feature about Bob Krieger of Saranac who has been successfully growing hops for several years. If you live in Michigan and are a beer enthusiast I highly recomend picking up a copy of the Michigan Beer Guide at your local brewery or fine beer (and wine) store. Not only is packed full of great information, its free. I'll be attending a seminar on growing hops in Michigan later this month and I'm looking forwad to meeting Bob Krieger, Rex Halfpenny (the editor of the Beer Guide) and all the other hop growing enthusiests.

Some vines for thought

These are some photos from throughout the summer that I haven't posted yet...

A very short centenial vine. Next year she will be ready to make hops for you favorite IPA's.

The Norther Brewer almost make it to the top this year.

More happy Norther Brewer...

What do you suppose is at the top of this bean stalk? A bearded giant brewing in a golden mash tun?

Hop Harvest!

Well, they're ready! I have a modest harvest of Michigan hops to offer this year. These are freshly picked Northern Brewer hops ready for someones next batch of beer...maybe a porter for fall...thats what I would do anyway. I will be sending out an email to those who are on my mailng list in the next few weeks with purchasing details. So, if you would like hand-picked Michigan grown hops in your next brew, join the mailing list. I would also like to thank everyone who has visited my website and the blog this summer. Your words of support and encouragement have meant a lot to me.

Happy Brewing,

Chris

Trellis Construction Photos

These photos are from a month ago. Since these were taken I've strug the guy-wires and most of the top and bottom wires for the hop twine and planted the hops. The next post will include photos of hops (very small vines) on twine!

Running string for the line level

Contemplating the question: cirrus of cumulus? (cirrus)

Raising the top horizontal.

The hopyard skeleton

Hops In Posts Up

Both the hops and the posts are in the ground. I've started the top beams for the trellis (with help of course). The top wires will run at 12 feet. Thats a Northern Brewer vine wondering where its climbing twine is. Soon little vine, soon.

Posts for the trellis

As it turns out, the farm I'm establishing the hopyard on has a beautiful swath of forest near a creek with an ample supply of dead cedar trees (and may live ones too). Cedar is the perfect wood for making posts due to its rot resistance and a 15 foot log is light enough for me to drag around myself (although the 4-wheeler did come in handy). I've cut most of the posts already. The ground has been thawed for a few weeks now so I've taken a soil sample to be shipped off to the soil lab at MSU. Plowing will happen very soon and then I can get these posts in the ground.

Step One: The Field

This could be any tree-lined field in the Northern US. However, this happens to be the field were the vines of Heritage Hops will call home. It hasn't been tilled in 17 years. It will take some work to prepare the soil for the rhizomes, but hey, nothing good ever comes easy, right? We plan on following organic farming methods, however being "certified" organic is cost prohibitive at this point. Also, at this point, there are grass and shrubs in the field...get to work...

Welcome to the blog

Hello and welcome to the newly minted Heritage Hops blog. The format will change as time goes on, but this allows me to post for the time being! As it turns out, my garden hop stash is gone, so I had to buy hops at my local home brew shop. The selection was dismal, but I’m sure I can make a good brew. Let me know what your favorite hops are so I can get them in the ground this spring. Not much longer now…