The practical application of scientific principles to the art of hop agriculture and brewing science
We’re going back to school! Gregg presents James with a series of problems in the hop yard during a virtual walk-through of nutrient deficiencies, pest infestations and general issues in an imaginary hop yard that hopefully doesn’t look like yours.
So….he’s back. If you enjoyed our first conversation with Dan Dettmers about hop drying you’ll love this one. If you didn’t, well…I’m not sure what to say. Dan takes his shoes off and we get more specific about dryer designs including a discussions on bed depth, pressure drop and using concrete blocks as air filters.
The bines are climbing, sidearms reaching, cones starting to burr. It looks like a hop yard! But what’s that lingering tickle at the back of your brain? Perhaps it’s the question of whether your hops have a home after harvest. This week we take a step out of the dirt and back into the business […]
Join us with special guest Dan Dettmers as we discuss the importance of drying your hop crop. Improper drying can lead to quality loss, mold, processing nightmares and so many other issues which will prevent your hard work from getting into your favorite craft beer. The perfectly maintained and harvested hopyard can be destroyed in […]
Ah, dear Mother Nature. There is so much that can go wrong and it’s completely out of our control, whether it’s late season frost, freak hailstorms, desert-like conditions and other madness. While you can’t predict these events and certainly can’t prevent them, what can you do to mitigate the damage and understand the path forward? […]
Just turn on the sprinklers and your hops are set for water, right? Wrong! Bring your calculators for some heavy math. Too little water is bad, but so is too much and we get into lots of fun stuff like foliar feeding, turgor pressure and my personal favorite, root hair death. Plus we take a […]
Do you pay an extra $0.30/lb for organic bananas as you’re walking through the supermarket? Why? What does “organic” really mean from an FDA perspective and how does it impact your hop yard processes? To the end consumer, does this really matter and do they really know what they are getting? Plus, we have a […]
You’re having a great conversation with a brewer, they’re interested in your hops, and then they ask for your advice on their use. “I just grow them, you’re the brewer” isn’t an acceptable answer. We take you through brewing terminology and how to engage in this conversation. Provide value to your customer while putting your […]
Pop in your headphones, put on your gloves and get out to the farm to remove weeds while you listen to us tell you all about it. It’s not fun and not cheap, but it’s a critical and often overlooked part of your hop yard life cycle.
Is that….could it be….OMGmyHopsAreComingOutOfTheGround!!! Okay, calm down, that’s called Emergence. With it comes Training, where you get your baby bines started on their climb up the trellis. Looking for some guidance on how to get this going, along with our usual comic horror stories of things that go wrong? Stop reading and listen!