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Posts Tagged“hops”

New York-Grown Beer: Will Brewers Support Farmers… Who Will Then Support Brewers?

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Originally, this post was going to be about locally grown hops, and what Long Island breweries were doing with them. But after talking with a handful of people in the industry — mainly brewers and hop farmers — I was left with more questions than answers. The craft beer industry is growing at a rapid rate, that’s no secret, but can New York farmers keep up with the demand for local ingredients? You may wonder why it matters. If you are a microbrewery it might not at all. Hops and grain will always be available from sources around the world, sources…

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Farm to Pint Provides Local Breweries with Local Ingredients

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Last weekend I realized how lucky I am. I was raised, and live, in a small farming community. The farms and people that call the North Fork of Long Island home are a huge part of my life. My life is actually dependent on it. Most of the food and drink that I consume on a daily basis flies past my window as I drive down route 48 to the farm winery where I’m employed. I owe everything I have to these farms. This realization came after a weekend of visiting the bustling wineries that draw millions of tourists to…

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Hop Harvest Party in Niagara County!

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McCollum Orchards hosted an old-fashioned harvest party this week to enlist the helping hands of their Niagara County neighbors, willing homebrewers in search of “U-Pick” hops, and any folks interested in experiencing the farm’s first commercial hop harvest. As guests helped owners Rich and Bree Woodbridge cut down Cascade bines and pluck hop cones, then sort them and lay them out on drying racks –– all in 90-degree heat –– the community got a taste of the life of a hop farmer. They also got a taste of banana bread, homemade brownies, pie, hot dogs, and a fresh batch of…

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Harvest Update: Cascade and Centennial Hops at McCollum Orchards

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McCollum Orchards, Niagara’s new hops farm and orchard in Lockport, New York, kicked off its first commercial harvest this week with Centennial hops. Bree Bacon Woodbridge, co-owner of the farm with her husband Rich, reports that the crop “looks pretty good, all things considered. We picked several cones that are the size of my thumb.” Woodbridge says the very hot, dry 2012 season brought “more pest pressure than last year. We were back on our heels and then were able to put in irrigation, with inline fertilizer, which helped regulate a lot. We have done a lot of hand-picking of…

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Niagara Gets a Little Hoppier

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor There are some exciting new vines in Niagara County –– well, make that bines. Rich and Bree Woodbridge, a charming and passionate young couple well-equipped for Niagara with a sense of adventure and a lot of heart, took a leap of faith when they moved to Lockport from California (after working in economic development in India) in March of this year to revitalize Rich's family's sixth-generation farmhouse. McCollum Orchards is a hundred-acre farm dating back to the 1820s, and while it's wonderful land for apples and other produce, the Woodbridges have something special in mind…

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