Category: Northwest Hops

Delving into the History of Oregon Hops

2/22/2017

Dr. Peter Kopp is seen here at Oregon State University presenting information from his new book “Hoptopia: A World of Agriculture and Beer in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.” Photo courtesy of Tiah Edmunson-Morton

By Tiah Edmunson-Morton
For the Oregon Beer Growler

Oregon native and environmental historian Dr. Peter Kopp recently returned to his home state to educate an audience about the history of a very special beer ingredient that’s the focus of his new book. “Hoptopia: A World of Agriculture and Beer in Oregon’s Willamette Valley” was the focus of the talk held at Oregon State University. Kopp’s research illustrates how the hop in Oregon offers a fascinating glimpse into the way our “sense of place” is reflected through the physical, cultural and social aspects of the industry.

While Dr. Kopp focuses heavily on the history of Willamette Valley and Pacific Northwest hop farming and culture, his book travels to ancient Sumer, visits the boom times for the hop industry along the East Coast and then delves into the years where the Willamette Valley was the hop center of the world. Also included is the birth of the Cascade variety at OSU in the early 1970s along with tales from present-day Beervana. Additionally, Kopp connects the broader global history of beer to local farmers, scientists and the magnificent hop.

His research draws heavily from local sources, so you’ll find that farmers, laborers, brewers, historians and scientists all have strong voices in this book. In addition to creating a thorough academic text on the global impact of this specialty crop, Kopp encourages his audience to become curious about where our food comes from. He suggests that "plants have incredible stories to tell, they just lack an easy way of telling them" and that "capturing these stories offer ways to rethink environment, agriculture, labor, business and science over time"

Kopp has written and presented extensively on projects related to agricultural and environmental history, and he often focuses more specifically on local history, culture and traditions. While he's taken a turn toward more coverage on horticulturalist Fabian Garcia and his work with chilies, another specialty crop that is closer to Kopp’s current home in New Mexico, much of his writing has related to hops and brewing in the Northwest. The stories of annual hop harvests, the local and global roots of the craft beer revolution and prohibition are all areas of interest to Kopp.

As the director of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives, I work with a wide range of researchers and scholars, advocate for accessible local history, collect oral histories and gather records that document the history of "fermentable liquids" in our region. I hope that Dr. Kopp's book will inspire you to get involved in saving and sharing our local history. It is a must-have for people curious about the rich regional history poured into their pint glass!

Want to get involved with saving local brewing history? Contact Tiah Edmunson-Morton at or .

Learn more about OHBA at scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/ohba.html and more about our collections at bit.ly/ohbaguide.

Read more about Dr. Kopp at thebrewstorian.tumblr.com/search/kopp.

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Things are Hopping for ODA Inspectors

11/3/2016

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The hop harvest was in full swing last month at Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn. Oregon Department of Agriculture inspectors sort through the cones to look for seeds, leaves and stems. Photos by Andi Prewitt

By Bruce Pokarney, Oregon Department of Agriculture
For the Oregon Beer Growler

While you quietly sip a beer this month, it’s more than likely that Judy Parent and Erin Harding were painstakingly picking leaves and stems from the Oregon hops that might be an ingredient of that brew. The two women aren’t necessarily cleaning up the hops but, in fact, inspecting samples of this year’s harvest for seeds, leaves and stems — the undesirable elements of hops.

It’s an annual six-week ritual performed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Inspection Program. The state’s $34.5 million hop industry depends on grading done by ODA.

“ODA provides an invaluable service,” says Michelle Palacios, administrator of the Oregon Hops Commission. “Hops are sold on contract. In order to market the product, growers need an accurate analysis of their crop. The greater the accuracy, the greater the confidence brewers have in Oregon hops.”

Each “lot” of hops grown in Oregon is sampled and inspected for seed, leaf and stem content. That’s the job of a close-knit team of inspectors — some of whom are retirees who have already given years of full-time service to ODA in other jobs. Now they work hard and fast, but only in August and September after hops are harvested.

Once inspected, the grower receives a certificate for that lot. The sale to the brewer is based on that certificate. The lower the percentage of seed, leaf and stem, the better the price of the hops. ODA inspectors are considered third-party participants. They don’t take sides in the process, but merely determine the percentage.

“We have a very good relationship with the growers,” says Randy Black, who manages the seasonal inspection program. “They know we are unbiased, honest, very precise and accurate.”

Each sample is identified by a number corresponding to the appropriate grower. Most of the hops come from nearby fields as a majority of the crop in Oregon is grown in the area between St. Paul, Woodburn and Mt. Angel. The Salem-based “inspection facility” is not some kind of high-tech clean room with white tables and antiseptic walls, but it is appropriate for what needs to happen. Up to a half-dozen inspectors gather daily during the season to do what they do best — sift through hops with tweezers in search of leaves and stems.

“It’s a fairly easy job to do and just a matter of looking closely at the hops to be sure you pick out all the leaves and stems from the sample,” says Parent, who has come back every summer for 15 years to help out. This is after three decades of service to ODA as the agency’s payroll coordinator.

“My only challenge in this job is that I laugh a lot,” says the 20-something Harding, who also does other commodity inspection work for ODA. “If you laugh, cough or sneeze when your face is close to the hops, those hops blow everywhere.”

Hops are pictured here drying at Crosby Hop Farm. Once Oregon Department of Agriculture inspectors sort through a sample, the grower receives a certificate. The lower the percentage of seeds, leaves and stems, the better the price of the hops.

The inspectors typically pick through 80-110 grams at a time once the hops have been put through an eighth-inch screen to remove the fine debris. Once all the leaves and stems have been removed from the sample, a percentage is determined after the hops are reweighed. A separate process is designed to find seeds. A sample that is between 40-60 grams is baked for two hours at 118 degrees. After baking, the sample is threshed until individual seeds remain. They are counted and another percentage is calculated. It all sounds like an old-fashioned recipe for some unique brew. In fact, the only thing cooked up are some numbers and percentages that translate into the price of the crop — something important to both grower and buyer.

“Buyers could start docking the grower right off the top if there is more leaf, stem or seed than the contract calls for,” says Black. “If there is too much, the lot can be rejected.”

Growers receive premiums if the samples are cleaner than average or deductions if they aren’t. ODA inspection means quite a bit to both parties.

Oregon ranks second, only behind Washington, in hop production. Last year, 6,600 acres produced 10.6 million pounds of hops in Oregon. The Pacific Northwest produces nearly all of the nation’s hops and about 30 percent of the world’s supply. This year’s acreage strung for harvest has increased 16 percent compared to 2015. Acreage has gone up 57 percent the past five years while the value has remained relatively steady.

The 2016 crop appears to be average quality. Warm spring temperatures led to some early bloom for certain aroma hop varieties, but the mild July helped steady the growth.

With the arrival of a booming craft brewing scene in Oregon, the rest of the U.S., and internationally, the world of hops has changed a bit.

“The hop industry has several large dealer/merchants that growers contract with to purchase their hops,” says Palacios. “Over the course of the past decade, growers have increasingly marketed at least a percentage of their crop directly to craft brewers. The success of the craft industry can be attributed, in part, to success in telling their story to their customer. And when a brewer can directly source hops from a grower, they can continue to tell that story through the hops and the beer they make with those hops. Generally, craft brewers seek the connection to their raw materials. With the Oregon hop growing region in such close proximity to Oregon’s craft brewers, the relationship between the two industries has continued to grow.”

Just as ODA’s commodity inspectors are a band of specialized workers, so are those who grow hops in Oregon. There are only about 30 multi-generational family farms producing hops in the entire state. A few new hop growers have emerged in recent years as the strong market attracts farmers who might want to consider getting into the business. However, hop production on a commercial scale requires a significant up-front investment, which is a limiting factor for many would-be growers.

It is truly an industry that remains all in the family. And for the inspectors who look at the product? For six weeks each year, it’s like a family reunion.

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The Farm is Where the Family Grows Together

9/9/2016

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Maya LeaJames is pictured here harvesting at Sauvie Island Hops, a new farm she’s helped cultivate with other family members, including husband Jordan. Their baby Mateo is already getting used to life on the farm. Photo courtesy of Sauvie Island Hops

By Jim McLaren
For the Oregon Beer Growler

Dirt.

The chickens in the yard are scratching at it.

A giant sprinkler in an adjoining scrub field is wetting it down.

Horses are grazing in the grass growing in it the next field over.

And beyond that, a young buck is bedding down in the shade of a tree line bordering another field — the dirt still warm from the afternoon sun.

The dirt is on Sauvie Island and Jordan LeaJames is worried it might not be good enough. If it is good enough, why hasn’t anyone else grown hops here?

That question was actually the third in a series that brought Jordan to this place. The first was to a young teacher named Maya: “Will you marry me?” The second question was asked of Maya’s uncle, who makes very good homebrew: “Did you ever think about growing your own hops here?”

The answer to the first question was “Yes.” To the second question, Maya’s aunt said ‘If you want to try it, go ahead.”

Sauvie Island, just outside of Portland, is bordered by the Willamette and Columbia Rivers and the Multnomah Channel. Named for a 19th century French-Canadian dairy farmer, the low-lying, 24,000-acre island is best known for its dozens of farms, nurseries and gardens. While another important beer-making ingredient, barley, is harvested on Sauvie, that didn’t answer Jordan’s question. Will this dirt grow hops?

Jordan knows what that takes. He’s had hops in his Northeast Portland backyard for about seven years. Plus he has a professional background in environmental engineering. Still, most Oregon hop farms are farther south in the Willamette Valley.

So before they decided to plant, Jordan and Maya scooped up some Sauvie Island dirt, boxed it up and sent it to an Eastern Oregon lab that analyzes soil. Jordan says they also “provide a recommendation on fertilizing, what you need to do to amend the soil, change the pH. They email you the results.” He continues, “When I got the email, it had all the results – to me they were just a lot of numbers, it looked good. But then the attachment, where they recommend what kind of fertilizing and what schedule to utilize, that page was blank.”

Blank! Is that good or bad? Jordan called a tech who explained, “The reason that page is blank is that your soil is so perfect for what you’re doing.” The analysis found that Sauvie Island dirt beat all the benchmarks. Nothing needed to be added.

Jordan and Maya understood why. The new hop farm would be a small part of a 26-acre parcel where nothing had been planted for about 30 years. Jordan says his uncle-in-law told him “They’ve just been mowing it, recycling and concentrating the nutrients into the soils. The soil is just super rich.” Maya, who grew up on a houseboat on the Multnomah Channel, remembers something else that helped: “The ’96 flood added nutrients.” Good news, yes. But better news was coming. Maya was pregnant. Both the farm and a family were beginning at the same time.

Farming can be a slow, deliberate process, but also hurried and deadline oriented. And this hop yard was behind schedule — in part because Jordan and his father John McCann were learning production farming. Also, as small growers, supply companies put them at the back of the line. But the pair pushed ahead and spent a lot of time prepping the soil for 600 plants.

“Cultivating the soil is hard,” John explains. “The clay is just about 3 or 4 inches down.”

Jordan adds, “It’s just loaded with so many roots — years and years of these grass root balls. We had to chop up each one. We used a rototiller, but you can only get so far with a hand-driven rototiller. What we should’ve done is plow the whole field first.”

“That’s what we will do in the future,” John says.

The process was further slowed when the farmers had to wait an extra month-and-a-half for trellis poles. Those poles finally arrived on a Thursday. Work and stress intensified for everyone that weekend when Maya went into labor. She delivered a healthy baby boy named Mateo. And as the family grew, so did the farm. Maya’s uncle and father-in-law continued boring holes for the trellis system. Jordan and his father then planted the hop rhizomes and hung special coir ropes, which the bines climb as they grow. The pair then carved out a second, smaller field using a circus tent-type trellis system. Jordan thinks it could make harvesting easier.

Terroir is what wine growers call the effect a particular place has on a grape — it’s the culmination of earth, climate and farming techniques. And that may be just as important to the flavor of hops. “I assume that the type of soil can definitely have an impact on that,” Jordan says before he ticks off the hops he is growing. “Cascade, Chinook, Crystal, Centennial, Galena and Willamette hops” are his choices after talking to brewers.

Since Sauvie Island Hops is new and still growing, the farm may only sell fresh hops in its first year. But looking to operations like Ladyhops and Smith Rock Hop Farm in Central Oregon, Jordan knows there’s a market for cones right off the bine from smaller producers. “A lot of brewers look at it as a challenge to come up with something, like a really good fresh hop. It’s something that needs to be consumed within a few weeks of being bottled.”

Sauvie Island Hops didn’t plant until early May and will need a long, slow end to summer for its first crop to fully ripen. Meanwhile, sitting next to the hop yard, Jordan daydreams. Maybe, he imagines, there will be a small brewery in his future that creates farmhouse ales. Maybe he’ll create a special strain of hop named after his son. It’s all possible, you know, because the dirt is good.

Sauvie Island Hops
[p] 503-666-1234
[w] sauvieislandhopfarm.wordpress.com

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Central Oregon Farm Sees Early Success With Hops

9/4/2016

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Despite having more experience in business instead of farming, Andrew Bloo has found early success with Cascade Hop Farm located in Central Oregon. His family, with agricultural roots, have been a huge help. Photo by Dustin Gouker

By Dustin Gouker
For the Oregon Beer Growler

Andrew Bloo was not a farmer before founding Cascade Hop Farm, despite the fact that his roots were in agriculture.

“I was the first person that didn’t farm in my entire family,” Bloo said on a recent warm August morning in the shadow of his second-year farm near Bend, just outside of the small town of Tumalo.

After a career spent mostly in business — in marketing and as CEO of a software company — Bloo turned to hop farming as a way to spend more time with his family while starting a new endeavor.

Despite a lack of experience — outside of voluminous research on hop farming conducted by Bloo and help from his family of farmers — the first year resulted in a successful fresh-hop crop in 2015. Redmond’s Wild Ride Brewing used Cascade Hop Farm’s product for its Three Sisters Wet Hopped Red Ale.

“It’s exciting from the standpoint that someone showed the faith to buy it from us, a first-year farm, a local provider, instead of going to Yakima or over to the [Willamette] Valley,” Bloo said.

The Three Sisters beer quickly sold out last year, and Wild Ride came back to Bloo’s farm for enough hops to make a double batch this year.

The farm is also contracted with Central Oregon’s Cascade Lakes Brewing Company and Juniper Brewing Company this year. Bendistillery — literally right next door to the property — is also experimenting with a hop-infused product, Bloo said.

After that first year, Cascade Hop Farm has already increased its hop acreage from one to three acres in 2016. Another acre is planned for the coming years. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing in year two for Cascade: A late, hard frost in the middle of June killed most of the plants. But good weather and a solid root system allowed Bloo to start over nearly from scratch right as summer was starting. The farm, which is growing Centennial, Cascade and Nugget hops — is planning on harvesting early in September.

Cascade Hop Farm has helped to prove the so-called “craft hops” movement is on in earnest in Central Oregon, with a handful of small farms providing hops for area breweries.

For Central Oregon brewers, the advantage of getting their fresh hops locally is that the time from pick to boil is cut down dramatically. Getting hops from the big growers west of the Cascades or in Washington could take hours. Hops at Cascade Hop Farm or another local grower could go from bine to brewing in half an hour.

“You have such a limited window,” Bloo said on the harvest period for fresh hops. “A., you have to schedule a brewing opportunity, and B., your crop has to be ready. You can’t really sell hops until it’s time, and there’s this kind of tension of when brewers need it and when you can actually harvest a quality crop.”

Cascade has a lot of other things going for it besides having a quality product and attracting brewers who want to support a local business. Most of the property on which the farm is set is a wildlife preserve. The grounds surrounding the farm have been left in a natural state, and hop trimmings and spent bines are placed around the preserve so that animals can use it for habitat.

It’s also a truly family endeavor.

Bloo’s wife and children were out surveying the land in the morning as Bloo talked about the farm. Bloo’s mother lives in a house and acreage right next door to the farm and checks on the plants daily. Bloo’s father also visits regularly and plies his agricultural expertise to help the farm get off the ground.

“Our goal is really to do this as a family and spend our time out here,” Bloo said.

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Nuggets of Resilience Grow at Capitol Farms

9/24/2015

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Capitol Farms may be a modest-sized hop farm compared to other local growers, but the multigenerational family operation has deep roots and devoted workers. Some of the hop harvesters pictured here, Jorge Hernandez (foreground), Sergio Bravo (left) and Fidel Sosa, put in long hours when the cones are ready to come off the bines. Photo by Emma Browne

By Erica Tiffany-Brown
Of the Oregon Beer Growler

When you ask hop grower Mike Kerr about his favorite variety of hop, he’ll tell you it’s the Nugget.

“It’s just an absolutely outstanding hop to grow. It’s vigorous; it’s adaptive, if you will. It can adapt to hot growing seasons, cold growing seasons. It’s just a wonderful hop.”

Just like how the Nugget hop can adapt to whatever Mother Nature throws its way, Mike and his brother Andy have also had to learn how to become resilient.

At 160 acres, their Salem-area hop farm is quite humble compared to most local growers, but that hasn’t stopped Capitol Farms from having a full-scale amount of setbacks.

It was late summer 2013 when an aggressive thunderstorm made its invasion onto the farm, threatening the hard work the brothers and their crew had put so much time and effort into.

“We could watch it coming in on the radar and it was just horrible to watch. And it came and it knocked down 95 acres of Nugget hops. They were within just days of being harvested,” Mike said.

“At that point, you’re really faced with some challenges. You have your harvest window based on a 24-hour picking cycle and you immediately lose 12 hours because you can’t harvest at night because you have to bring in this complex machinery to help raise the trellis so that you can pick the hops. Then, you’re also faced with about a seven-day window before the hops start turning bad that are lying on the ground. So at that point, we didn’t think we’d be able to get through 50 percent of what was left. In fact, we knew we wouldn’t be able to.

“So, you’re out there walking through these fields that are just devastated … crop poles are looking like matchsticks … I mean it’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen in your life. And you’re looking at it going, ‘There’s just no way in hell.’”

And that’s when the Davidsons showed up.

A multigenerational family of hop growers about 20 miles north of Capitol Farms, the Davidsons had just finished harvesting their hops the day before and had sent their team home, but when they heard what had happened to the Kerrs, they called within hours to say, “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be there.”

All of a sudden, truckloads of equipment started coming in.

“Not only did they spend a week harvesting our hops side by side with us, but it wasn’t just a matter of sending their crew out to pick hops … I mean those guys were out in the field treating it like it was their own.”

Where does that desire to lend a hand come from? According to Mike, it comes from a family with a great sense of responsibility.

Jim Davidson, who passed away many years ago, held a monthly breakfast as a means to get other hop growers together and just chat, which helped foster a sense of camaraderie in the business that still lives on.

“The Davidson family was just remarkable; they literally saved our crop,” Mike said. “And I think you would find that anywhere in the industry today. People will really pitch in and help each other.”

Whether by blood relation or not, hop growing definitely seems to be rooted in a family environment.

Capitol Farms was started by Mike and Andy’s grandfather in 1951. He had grown hops in the St. Paul area and was the local buyer for S. S. Steiner, which is still a very prominent hop dealer today — located just down the road from the farm. His son, Mike and Andy’s father, came back after a stint in the Air Force and he farmed for a while before opening a computer store in 1980. Shortly thereafter, Mike ended up leaving Oregon State University to come back and help out with the farm, which ultimately led to the brothers purchasing the farm from their parents.

Mike and Andy made the decision a long time ago to diversify the farm, so they added a perennial nursery. “It’s a nice balance, it creates more work for our labor force year-round, which we feel is important,” but, Mike emphasizes, “Hops are our history, they’re our blood. Can’t imagine doing anything else.”

The brothers grow four varieties of hops on their farm: Nugget, Willamette, Centennial and Cascade. When asked about his favorite part of the growing process, Mike said it’s the springtime. “It’s the season of renewal. You start turning the earth and it just smells wonderful. It’s almost miraculous to watch the growth rate in the spring. Everything’s fresh, everything’s new.”

Mike, of course, enjoys the other times of the year, like the harvest season, but says, “It’s so go-go-go that you really rarely get a moment to pause to appreciate and enjoy it. You have to remind yourself to stop and enjoy those moments during that time because it’s pretty easy to get caught up in the rush.”

Although the Kerrs have weathered their share of storms, it sounds like they’ve found their balance. And just like those resilient Nugget hops, they’ll continue to adapt and grow with some helping hands and a good foundation.

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Delving into the History of Oregon Hops

Things are Hopping for ODA Inspectors

The Farm is Where the Family Grows Together

Central Oregon Farm Sees Early Success With Hops

Nuggets of Resilience Grow at Capitol Farms

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