When hops become hip
Breaking Trail
By Dianna Leighton
The story goes that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, not because of its natural charm and beauty, but, rather, because … well … they were low on beer.
While the story may just be the stuff of pre-Prohibition advertising, there is little denying that drinking untreated water was a deadly matter in the 1600s, leading the colonists to depend on the sterilized virtues of ale imported from England. In time, communities would begin brewing their own, with domestic cultivated hop farms appearing around 1631. Centuries later, hop cash crops flourished throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic by the late 1800s, but would later be devastated by the downy mildew outbreaks, volatile market prices, and Prohibition restrictions of the 1920s. Today, 77 percent of U.S. hops production occurs in Yakima Valley in Washington state, with much of the rest grown in neighboring Idaho and Oregon.
Sobering stuff, eh?
Yet, within the past decade, the demand and price for hops has risen sharply (more than doubling between 2006 and 2008, according to USDA statistics) with the steady increase in small-scale breweries. Brewers Association recently reported 2,403 breweries in the United States … the highest total since the 1880s. Homebrewing has recently become popular for many beer-lovers who seek to understand and control the quality of their own beverages. Along the way, many have taken this economic bull by the horns and (you guessed it) have started to grow crops of their own. So, is there hope for a New England-based resurgence of the heavenly, citrusy hops?
I stopped by Aroostook Hops in Westfield recently to meet with Krista Delahunty, Jason Johnston, and their two small daughters to learn more about hops production in Maine. Homebrewers themselves, Delahunty and Johnston started their farm in 2009 out of personal interest and curiosity. Today, they operate four acres of hops using organic methods and hand-picking practices, supplying not only themselves, but also Maine-based breweries such as Allagash Brewing Company and Gritty McDuff’s Microbrewery. Their Cascade hops also hold the distinction of being included in Dogfish Head’s Crown-Breaker Artisan Ale, a limited edition beer featuring ingredients from family farms across the country and available only at the 2013 Beer Advocate Extreme Beerfest held in Boston last month.
When speaking with the couple about how hops has captured their attention, they mentioned the combined intellectual and physical appeal of working with the crop. Delahunty and Johnston share professional and academic backgrounds in science, so conducting research in their backyard came naturally. In 2011, Aroostook Hops received a research grant through Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) to examine the effectiveness of irrigation and cover cropping in producing sustainable hops in the state. Since then, they have received a second SARE grant to help identify non-herbicidal methods for weed control. As interest in Maine-produced hops continues to grow, this type of research is proving to be invaluable for fellow farmers. The couple recently presented their findings at the 2013 Winter Hops Conference held at the University of Vermont and regularly tend to e-mailed questions from throughout New England.
Yet, there is no denying that growing hops, like much of farming, is a labor of love. Financial costs and time investments can be high for a crop that typically takes three years to reach full potential. For Aroostook Hops, day jobs and family life still hold high status and neither Delahunty or Johnston plan on becoming full-time hops growers anytime soon. In the meantime though, they would like to gain enough revenue to add equipment and increase efficiency (although they’ll always find a hand-picker volunteer in fidgety/writerly types like me, hey!).
I will continue to be fascinated as this crop returns to the region and look forward to seeing what it brings to local communities. In researching for this article, I’ve also found another local hops operation in Fort Fairfield, The Hop Yard, owned by County-native Ryan Houghton and Geoff Keating. In addition, it sounds like quite a few of you have a vine or two in your backyard. So perhaps time will tell after all these years. In the meantime, let me know how it’s going.
To learn more about Aroostook Hops, including photos of the unique hop poles and links to their SARE reports, visit aroostookhops.com. Krista Delahunty and Jason Johnston can also be reached at (207) 429-8105.
Dianna Leighton is youth librarian at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle. Her professional and personal interests include community building, digital media and content creation, and promoting transliteracy skills. In her spare time, she enjoys testing her cooking skills, reading anything she can get her hands on, and sharing stories and experiences with those in her community. Dianna can be reached at (207) 764-2571 or via e-mail at diannaleighton@presqueislelibrary.org.
