Hopsteiner

There is a certain kind of peace that falls over the hop fields after harvest. The air is crisp, a light dew coats your boots as you move through the fields, and the only thing you hear is the wind quietly blowing the small remaining twine strings that hang from the trellis. We want to give a big thank you to all the crew, their families, and all who helped make this a great season! More selection images to follow as we head into pelletizing and processing season here at Hopsteiner.

Sharing some time spent with the R&D team today harvesting the latest multi-hill varieties coming up in the breeding program. Because these are small scale (non-commercial) yards, each is harvested by hand and in extremely limited quantities. If you have a small (sub 5 bbl) brewhouse, are able to provide sufficient brewing data, and interest in playing with some truly unique unicorn hops, leave us a message 🍻.

Just look at that cone to leaf ratio 🤩🙌. Our R&D team has truly developed some of the most amazing, disease resistant, high yielding hop varieties grown today. So much so that we have had to reinforce our hop haulers because of all the extra weight from the additional cones! Stronger yields mean more bales per acre, fewer resources used, and better land use efficiency 🌎💚.

Weather conditions have varied across the PNW leading up to harvest. There have been a few thunderstorms and some mild temperatures in WA & OR. Mildew pressure remains moderate in most places with mite pressure starting to build in others. Jessica updates us on how her team prepares for pesticide testing and Leanna walks us through testing dry matter on the Near-infrared Spectroscopy. Stay tuned for more updates as we roll into harvest! 🌱🍻

We are just days away from harvest 🍻!

New on the scene this season is HS16660, best known for its wickedly high geraniol content. This devilish delight boasts intense citrus, berry, and tropical fruit notes in finished beer with stacked disease resistance. Introducing experimental hop HS16660 Alpha: 8-11% Beta: 3-4% Oils: 2-3% The beer garden will have some tasty treats featuring HS16660 this season from Stone Brewing, Revolution Brewing, and more. Minimum contract amount is just 220lbs. for selection eligibility. Be sure to contact your sales rep to set your appointment 🍻.

We are in the fields today with the R&D team introducing pollen that was collected from our male yards a couple weeks back. Pollen introductions are made by tying a poly bag to a female bine, locking in both ends, and transporting the pollen from males to the enclosed portion of the bagged female bine, being carful as to not accidently pollinate the surrounding hop plants. Frist step toward making stronger, more resilient hop plants 💪🍻 . Check out our https://hubs.ly/Q02HF3XK0 portal for more hop varieties and hop products.

July crop update from the farm with our agronomists Jon Blatchford and Leanna Vaage. Temps in the PNW have picked up leading us into the first part of bloom for some varieties. Reservoirs for the Yakima Valley are good while the irrigation water outlook remains strong for the Treasure Valley and Willamette Valley. Pest pressure has been consistent for the last half of June, while powdery mildew continues in certain areas, but regular fungicide rotations have kept things manageable. Downy mildew pressure has subsided, but is still being monitored closely. Insect populations have increased but nothing too far out of what can be expected for this time of year. With warmer temperatures in all three production regions there is a lot of excitement to see how the crop will continue to develop. Stay tuned for more 🍻.

This week we are carefully gathering pollen from our male yard. Because hop plants pollinate anemophily, or by wind, male hop plants are kept at a safe distance away from any female (commercial) yards. Once a male plant flowers, it signifies that pollen is ready to be released, helping our scouting team identify plants and pollen ready to be collected for future crosses as shown here 🌱.

Today marks the Summer Solstice ☀️🌱, the longest day and shortest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Summer Solstice is a marker for those working the land, meaning summer is already halfway over. Before modern technology, people relied on the sun to determine the time of year. This was especially crucial for farmers as it helped them know when to seed fields and plant crops. Thank goodness for technology!