When we founded Dirt Farm Brewing in 2012, we had a vision. A beautiful hop yard at the bottom of the mountain filled with varieties of hops that were going to be used in all of our brews. The hops were planted, the hop bines were starting to climb and everything was looking good!
In 2017 our plants were finally substantial enough to brew a ‘Hop Harvest’ Pale Ale using only our estate Chinook hops! And let me tell you, this beer was delicious. With every sip you could taste the love that was put into the beer, from the love of the land, the love of the plant, and the love of brewing, it was an all around great pale ale. Like all good beers, it came and went. Our customers and staff guzzling it down while it was on tap. We became excited for what the next Hop Harvest pale ale would be like, but only time would tell.
In early 2018 the temperatures warmed and spring came, and boy did it come! We had record breaking amounts of rain that poured down from spring to summer to fall. As farmers, we love a good rain storm, don’t get us wrong, it helps water our fields on hot summer days, but this was too much! We quickly began to see the water flowing down the mountain and resting right in our hop yard. With the ground fully saturated, only a small hand full of hops began to grow, not nearly enough to have a successful harvest. It was looking like we weren’t going to have a 2018 Hop Harvest pale ale after all.
2019 came and we patiently waited to see what our hops would do. That’s the funny thing with farming, sometimes plants come back after total devastation, and sometimes you can give a plant all your love and attention and it doesn’t want to succeed. These poor hops had faced total devastation, and they didn’t pull through.
In 2020 we decided to change our plan and move our hop yard. Now when you’re driving up the mountain if you look to your left, you’ll find four varieties of Hops planted: Chinook, Cluster, Cashmere & Cascade. A year later, our hops are looking great! In July we had our first hop harvest and on August 28 our 2021 Hop Harvest Pale Ale will be going on tap! This years pale ale is brewed with our Estate Chinook Hops, and you’ll be sure to taste the love for the land, the plant and the brewing process in each sip. Cheers!
