Hop(s) To It

There are four mandatory ingredients to the delicious beverage we know as beer: water, barley, yeast and hops.

Here on Gael Glen Farm we grow two types of hops that Ian uses to home brew beer: Cascade hops and Centennial hops.

The hops vines get cut back in the fall during harvest time and the blossoms are removed, dried and vacuum packed for use in future brewing.  In the spring, new buds sprout from the plant's roots and before we know it, the hops vines are growing like crazy.  If not properly managed these wild velcro-like vines get all tangled together in an unruly heap.

Before

Our solution is to provide the hops vines with ropes to climb up.  The ropes are attached to the top of our clothesline posts and work perfectly to guide the hops up, up and away!

After

After

You need to look hard to see the guide ropes in the after photos but they are there!