One hundred and fifty years ago, Wisconsin grew 75 percent of the nation's hops and supported a thirsty market locally. Even blink-and-you-miss-it towns like Wiota in Lafayette County had a local brewery.
Monroe Brewing Company (now Minhas Craft Brewery) sourced its barley and hops from Wisconsin back then.
But within about 50 years, a combination of blight, Prohibition and market forces sent the majority of hops production to the Pacific Northwest, where it remains, and shuttered all those little breweries.
As the craft beer market explodes in Wisconsin, local hops production is following suit and even local beer makers are experimenting with growing their own hop plants.
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Minhas has a token patch just outside the tour center entrance at its downtown Monroe facility.
Recently, hops harvested from this garden made it into Minhas' Lazy Mutt Wet Hopped IPA, said Gary Olson, president of brewery operations.
New Glarus Brewing Company has a small hop garden along Wis. 69, mostly intended as an educational demo for visitors, said Randy Thiel, assistant brewmaster. Last year the brewery harvested some for its limited-edition Scream Double IPA. It was a hit.
"We got such great feedback that we brought it back year-round," Thiel said.
But brewery-grown hops represent only a fraction of New Glarus' hops needs. The rest come from the Pacific Northwest, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Germany and Gorst Valley Hops, a farm in Sauk County.
Likewise, Wisconsin hop farms alone can't supply the roughly 35 tons of hops that Minhas goes through every year.
•••
We're not likely to see a return of the Wisconsin hops boom of the 1860s, when hops production was so hot that bankers were writing blank checks to farmers, according to one historical account.
Slowly and selectively, however, hop-growing is on the rise in Wisconsin and in Green and Lafayette counties.
Rich Joseph, founder of the small-batch beer company The Hop Garden, grew 15,000 pounds of hops last year at his farm 5 miles south of Belleville in Exeter Township. This year he's planning for 20,000.
Joseph brews with hops only from his own farm. He also sells hops to breweries across Wisconsin and is working with a Madison kombucha company to infuse hops into the fermented, non-alcoholic tea drink.
Bottom line, "We want to showcase our hops," he said. The company's tagline is "From our farm to your glass!"
The Hop Garden Tap Room has its grand opening in Paoli today, May 2, from noon to 7 p.m. It's located on the back side of the Old Mill at 6818 Canal St.
•••
One craft beer company, out of Gratiot, is using its own locally grown hops on a significant scale. Only two years old, the Pecatonica Beer Company already produces 2,500 to 3,000 barrels annually.
About 35 percent of the hops used to make Pecatonica beer come from co-owner Tom Quinn's farm in Gratiot Township. He grows 5 acres in 500-foot rows along Larse Road.
It's an unusual sight. Repurposed telephone poles create the framework for a sparse trellis system with evenly spaced ropes. Full grown, the hop plants climb to 16 feet. The part used in brewing is the flower, which is dried and vacuum-packed as is. It can also be pelletized or distilled into an oil.
"A lot of people drive by slow," Tom said, surveying the budding plants Friday morning with his business partner and twin brother, Tim Quinn.
Hop plants are more work than people think, Tim said.
"If you think you know how much labor it's going to be, multiply it by three. If it still sounds like fun, go for it," he said.
"There's really good money in it," Tom said, "but if you count up your hours, you're not making much."
The hop plant is a bine in the cannabis family. The new shoots can be eaten like asparagus. Unlike vines, which uses tendrils or suckers to climb, bines grow upward in a helix around a support and need constant human guidance to climb neatly. Bines must be wrapped clockwise, otherwise they'll unroll in the sun.
"In May, when they're really taking off, you can almost watch them grow," Tom said.
Hops are used in two phases of the brewing process - during boiling, when the flowers give off an intense bitter flavor, and in the dry-hopping phase, when a lower temperature releases the aromas, esters and "yummy compounds" of the hops, but not their bitterness, Tim said.
Wisconsin hops are particularly good for this second phase of the brewing process, he added. In the Western U.S., where hops production is concentrated, the soil is irrigated and sandy. Here in Wisconsin, the soil is more complex and gives the hops robust flavor.
"It's a great place to grow hops, but it'll always be at the craft level," Tom said. "We hops farmers need to go after that craft market."
Right now all of Pecatonica's beer is brewed at Minhas. The Quinn brothers have plans to add a small-batch brewing room at the back of their taphouse on Main Street in Warren, Ill. The back wall of the bar would be glass, so visitors could watch Pecatonica beer being made while they drank it.
Brewing with hops they grow themselves is part of Pecatonica's commitment, shared by many craft breweries, to source whatever possible from the local area.
Even harvesting hops is a community effort, and last year the Quinn brothers invited family, friends and curious beer enthusiasts to pitch in. It's labor-intensive and has to move quickly before the hop plants mold. In the 1800s, these long days of harvesting ended in music- and entertainment-filled socials called "hops."
The work that goes into hop farming is intense. "I see why people quit," Tom admits. But, for now, it's worth it for the beer.
"Every month we're selling more."
Monroe Brewing Company (now Minhas Craft Brewery) sourced its barley and hops from Wisconsin back then.
But within about 50 years, a combination of blight, Prohibition and market forces sent the majority of hops production to the Pacific Northwest, where it remains, and shuttered all those little breweries.
As the craft beer market explodes in Wisconsin, local hops production is following suit and even local beer makers are experimenting with growing their own hop plants.
•••
Minhas has a token patch just outside the tour center entrance at its downtown Monroe facility.
Recently, hops harvested from this garden made it into Minhas' Lazy Mutt Wet Hopped IPA, said Gary Olson, president of brewery operations.
New Glarus Brewing Company has a small hop garden along Wis. 69, mostly intended as an educational demo for visitors, said Randy Thiel, assistant brewmaster. Last year the brewery harvested some for its limited-edition Scream Double IPA. It was a hit.
"We got such great feedback that we brought it back year-round," Thiel said.
But brewery-grown hops represent only a fraction of New Glarus' hops needs. The rest come from the Pacific Northwest, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Germany and Gorst Valley Hops, a farm in Sauk County.
Likewise, Wisconsin hop farms alone can't supply the roughly 35 tons of hops that Minhas goes through every year.
•••
We're not likely to see a return of the Wisconsin hops boom of the 1860s, when hops production was so hot that bankers were writing blank checks to farmers, according to one historical account.
Slowly and selectively, however, hop-growing is on the rise in Wisconsin and in Green and Lafayette counties.
Rich Joseph, founder of the small-batch beer company The Hop Garden, grew 15,000 pounds of hops last year at his farm 5 miles south of Belleville in Exeter Township. This year he's planning for 20,000.
Joseph brews with hops only from his own farm. He also sells hops to breweries across Wisconsin and is working with a Madison kombucha company to infuse hops into the fermented, non-alcoholic tea drink.
Bottom line, "We want to showcase our hops," he said. The company's tagline is "From our farm to your glass!"
The Hop Garden Tap Room has its grand opening in Paoli today, May 2, from noon to 7 p.m. It's located on the back side of the Old Mill at 6818 Canal St.
•••
One craft beer company, out of Gratiot, is using its own locally grown hops on a significant scale. Only two years old, the Pecatonica Beer Company already produces 2,500 to 3,000 barrels annually.
About 35 percent of the hops used to make Pecatonica beer come from co-owner Tom Quinn's farm in Gratiot Township. He grows 5 acres in 500-foot rows along Larse Road.
It's an unusual sight. Repurposed telephone poles create the framework for a sparse trellis system with evenly spaced ropes. Full grown, the hop plants climb to 16 feet. The part used in brewing is the flower, which is dried and vacuum-packed as is. It can also be pelletized or distilled into an oil.
"A lot of people drive by slow," Tom said, surveying the budding plants Friday morning with his business partner and twin brother, Tim Quinn.
Hop plants are more work than people think, Tim said.
"If you think you know how much labor it's going to be, multiply it by three. If it still sounds like fun, go for it," he said.
"There's really good money in it," Tom said, "but if you count up your hours, you're not making much."
The hop plant is a bine in the cannabis family. The new shoots can be eaten like asparagus. Unlike vines, which uses tendrils or suckers to climb, bines grow upward in a helix around a support and need constant human guidance to climb neatly. Bines must be wrapped clockwise, otherwise they'll unroll in the sun.
"In May, when they're really taking off, you can almost watch them grow," Tom said.
Hops are used in two phases of the brewing process - during boiling, when the flowers give off an intense bitter flavor, and in the dry-hopping phase, when a lower temperature releases the aromas, esters and "yummy compounds" of the hops, but not their bitterness, Tim said.
Wisconsin hops are particularly good for this second phase of the brewing process, he added. In the Western U.S., where hops production is concentrated, the soil is irrigated and sandy. Here in Wisconsin, the soil is more complex and gives the hops robust flavor.
"It's a great place to grow hops, but it'll always be at the craft level," Tom said. "We hops farmers need to go after that craft market."
Right now all of Pecatonica's beer is brewed at Minhas. The Quinn brothers have plans to add a small-batch brewing room at the back of their taphouse on Main Street in Warren, Ill. The back wall of the bar would be glass, so visitors could watch Pecatonica beer being made while they drank it.
Brewing with hops they grow themselves is part of Pecatonica's commitment, shared by many craft breweries, to source whatever possible from the local area.
Even harvesting hops is a community effort, and last year the Quinn brothers invited family, friends and curious beer enthusiasts to pitch in. It's labor-intensive and has to move quickly before the hop plants mold. In the 1800s, these long days of harvesting ended in music- and entertainment-filled socials called "hops."
The work that goes into hop farming is intense. "I see why people quit," Tom admits. But, for now, it's worth it for the beer.
"Every month we're selling more."