If your brewery is ready to take the next step, consider learning to grow your own hops or partnering with a farm that can grow them for you. Fresh hops, as opposed to hops extract or hop pellets, can take your brews to a whole new level.
If you do decide you want to grow your own hops you’ll need to start with rhizomes – essentially the rootstock for the hops plant. Hops need something to grow on (they can climb to be quite high) so you’ll need to create a trellis. It can take two or three seasons for your hops to get large and abundant enough to harvest. Once that happens, they’ll need to be dried before you can use them to brew. It will be extra work, but your fresh and homegrown hops will certainly elevate the quality of your beer. Great products always start with great ingredients!
