News

Check out an interview with Atlantic Hops Director Michael Roffman on Brewbound’s website by clicking here.

On Saturday January 22, 2011, Mike Roffman and Gregg Baimel from Atlantic Hops gave a presentation to the New England Chapter of the Master Brewers Association of America.  Craft breweries from throughout New England were represented at the meeting, which was held at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Merrimack, NH.  The presentation gave us a chance to interact with regional craft brewers and to discuss our efforts to develop a commercial scale supply of locally grown hops.  We received a lot of feedback both during and after the presentation, and we established many new relationships with brewers in our region.  Last but not least, we also had the opportunity to taste some great craft beers.

Atlantic Hops was featured in a Lancaster Farming article dated January 15, 2011.  The article is based on an interview conducted by Marjorie Struckle with Atlantic Hops founder Mike Roffman.  In the weeks following publication of the article, we received phone calls from numerous farmers looking for more information on growing hops.  Below is a link to the article: http://www.lancasterfarming.com/results/Processor-Hopes-to-Build-Locally-Grown-Hops-Industry

Thanks to those of you who came to our very successful 7/16/11 workshop!  If you missed it and are interested in learning more, please contact us directly at info@atlantichops.com.  To be informed about upcoming workshops please sign up for our mailing list.  Below is a summary of what was covered in the last course.

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Topics Include:

• History of Hop Production in the East Coast
• Botany and Horticulture
• Market Analysis
• Hop yard infrastructure, trellis designs, hardware, material costs
• Plant nutrition, soil, and irrigation essentials
• Proper Hop Drying
• Hop Processing Overview

Attendees will learn:

• How/why the hop industry collapsed in our regions
• How to design and install a hop yard trellis
• What the economic potential is for hop production
• What hops require for high yield and high quality
• How to harvest and dry hops properly
• What a hop yard operation will cost to establish and operate

Who should attend?

• Current farmers looking for high value niche crops
• Aspiring farmers looking for an entry point into farming
• Extension agents, educators, etc.
• Brewers interested in locally sourced ingredients
• Serious home brewers looking to raise their own hops

Atlantic Hops was one of several organizations to sponsor a pair of courses this October that focused on small-scale hops production in the Northeast. The courses were held over the weekend of October 9th and 10th in Cooperstown, NY (download the course flyer). Both courses were well attended, with existing farmers and potential new growers coming from several different states across the region. In addition to the two full-day courses, a dinner for attendees was held at Brewery Ommegang that Saturday night.
Flyer

The next meeting of the Northeast Hop Alliance (NeHA) is scheduled for December 2nd in Syracuse. The meeting will be held at 6:00 PM at the Empire Brewing Company.