It has been a journey since 2016! From a dream/ idea to a reality in 2019. My wife calls me the dreamer, and for good reason! When the idea was brought up to start a Hops Farm it went over much better than most others. In 2017, we established the hops yard, no plants, but the trellis was put up and we broke ground for the arrival of the plants. Fast forward to the spring of 2018, and the arrival of 420 hops plants!! Nearly all the hops plants survived the summer and we were able to harvest a small crop. In 2019, and year two, we anxiously awaited to see how well the hops would produce….
This summer, Rapids Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, MN contacted us and wanted to do a wet hop beer! Their head brewer, Darin Jenson, visited our farm and checked out the hops! I’m not sure who was more excited at that time! It was at that time we agreed to sell our Saaz Hops plants! We picked and delivered them to Rapids Brewing Co., so they could make our first beer! We are so thankful for this opportunity and the future endeavors!
“Hopping” forward, the beer we helped produce will be available for the public today, September 12, 2019 @ 4:30!! The Hoky Saaz wet hop beer will be available at Rapid Brewing Co.
I have to give a big shout out to the Rapids Brewing Company as they let me name the beer! I named it after my best friend, Shane Holcomb! He has been battling ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease for many years! He and I drank many beers together! I love him like a brother!
So, if you find yourself at Rapids Brewing and having a few Hoky’s, you may find yourself doing the Hoky Shuffle!!!
Craig Pierce
CR Hops Farm