Hydro Hop Farms produces the only commercially hydroponically grown wet hops in the world! Unprocessed and gently packaged for the highest quality hops!
So Why Hydroponics?
The hop plant, Humulus lupulus, is sought after in beer production for their bitterness, flavor, aroma and anti-bacterial properties. Most of these characteristics are derived from the essential oils and acids in the hop plant.
Protection A major concern for all traditional hops farmers is weather and pests. Early or late frosts can devastate a crop. Hail, snow, flooding are all things of common concern as well. Pesticide application often becomes a necessary practice to keep pests from destroying the hops in the fields. These issues are all alleviated with the introduction of a completely climate controlled greenhouse. We are also able to stimulate the population of beneficial insects that will naturally kill any pests that happen to slip into the greenhouse.
“Spoon-fed” Hop plants are notorious for demanding large amounts of fertilizer each season, particularly Nitrogen and Potassium. In soil based growing this option is not easily available if they want to maintain their soil integrity, save money and/or not over-fertilize their plants. Hydroponics give us the ability for the first time to provide the hop plants with the full nutrient spectrum at the appropriate dosages throughout many different phases of morphology (growth). Plants require different ratios of fertilizer during different growth phases. During initial growth (vegetative) the plants require higher Nitrogen levels compared to other macro-nutrients. During final growth (flowering) the plants require lower levels of Nitrogen and higher levels of Potassium and Phosphorus. This is a more difficult and costly task to accomplish with traditional hop field growing, however with hydroponics this task is quite easy and in fact the nutrient recipe will vary through all stages of the plants life based on how the plant is responding. A special blend of micro-nutrients are also added to our hydroponics system to supply all of the known minerals that plants derive from the soil, 17 in fact. Finally we use traces of naturally occurring, organic, growth additives such as seaweed and humic acids. In summary this all means we provide the plant the best possible opportunity to thrive and we are rewarded with a harvest that is superior to any other hops in the world!
Extended Growing Season With the help of the greenhouse we can keep temperatures in the appropriate range for hops (41F-75F) much longer than traditional methods. This gives our plants a jump start on the season allowing for a larger photosynthetic area (leaf canopy) established in time for the intense summer sun to show up. This also allows for an extended harvest season, providing the cones more time to become larger and ripen directly on the bine (FYI-hops have bines and vines).
Hand Picked Hops, Insane? Yes, quite possibly. Hand harvesting hops is a monumental task. However the end result is a hop cone that has had minimal physical turbulence, meaning that more oils and lupulin (think of hop pollen) are intact. Traditional hops are chopped and drug through the field, forced through a large machine then sifted and dried, saves time yes, but the amount of lupulin and other hop goodness has been depreciated before they even get shipped! For some brewers that’s fine, however we here at Hydro Hop Farms feel the extra care for a quality product is worth it.
Wet Hops
What are they and why do I want them?
Wet Hops are like Christmas. We all love them and they only mysteriously show up once a year. We are not sure how they arrived or really what they even are, but we still wait patiently for next years arrival!
Wet hops have not been dried or processed and go from plant to brew kettle within 48 hours! Often called fresh hops they provide a fresh, raw hop flavor to beer. Think of herbs like basil, fresh is so much more potent and aromatic than dried, the concept for hops is the same. Wet Hop beers are becoming an addition to all self respecting breweries. Often sold under various names such as: Wet Hop, Fresh Hop or Harvest Ales. The hop expression that imparts from beers with Wet Hops is an experience that is truly unique. Until now Wet Hops have been very difficult for homebrewers to get a hold of. This is due to the seasonality of the harvest and the buying priorities of larger breweries. That is why we cater only to home brewers like you, you’re welcome!
What makes our Wet Hops so special?
We are the ONLY producer of commercial hydroponic Wet Hops in the world! So what’s the big deal? Well…..first of all you need to know how wet hops differ from their dried counterpart. As stated before Wet Hops are a “100% processed free” product. This is a good thing, however this can also be a bad thing. This means that the hops go directly from the plant to your brew kettle (you can’t wash hops). Think of hops growing in an open field, these hops are exposed to everything mother nature and mankind will throw at them, including insects, rain, dirt (dust), pesticides, animals, etc. As an added insult these hops are then harvested by large agriculture equipment that produce a slue of harmful products, including oil and exhaust. All of these contaminants can end up inside of the hop cone. Being a Wet Hop this creates a larger concern. Many Wet Hops are used as a form of “dry hopping” (I know this can get a bit ambiguous) meaning that they do not go into the boil rather they are added directly to the finished product. This means you don’t have the added safety of the boiling water to help sterilize and filter out any possible contaminates in your hops. So how do you solve this issue? Well until now, most people just look the other way and address these issues as minimal risk. At Hydro Hop Farms we eliminate ALL of the variables that can cause contamination in Wet Hops. Our greenhouses are near sterile (our Hops have never even seen soil), protected from the climate and each plant is paid special attention to from seedling to harvest! It’s like an incubator for plants.
How do I brew with Wet Hops? How much do I need?
How much do I need for simple Fresh Hop ALE?
1 lb of Wet Hops per 5 gallons will give you a modest idea of what flavors you can attain and then tweak it from there if you’d like. Save 2-3 oz or more for “dry” hopping if you wish. The amount for “dry” hopping will be limited by the size of your carboy or dry hop vessel. Keep your “dry” hop portion in a loose plastic bag (not airtight) in the fridge.
Remember Wet Hops are just that, wet. The water in hops is around 5 times the weight of the hops biomass(dry). So you will need to add close to 5 times the amount of hops if you wish to reach the same bittering affects of dry hopping. Keep in mind that Wet Hops offer a new unique flavor and aroma that dry hops simply can’t provide. So experiment with different amounts, varieties, grains and find what works for you. The nice thing about a seasonal beer is it gives you plenty of time to create it!
Check out their website at: http://www.hydrohopfarms.com/home.html