Organic Hop Variety Trial: Results from Year Five

Hops production continues to increase throughout the the Northeast. While hops were historically grown in the Northeast, they have not been commercially produced in this region for over a hundred years. With the lack of regional production knowledge, a great need has been identified for region-specific, science-based research on this reemerging crop. The vast majority of hops production in the United States occurs in the arid Pacific Northwest on a very large scale. In the Northeast, the average hop yard is well under 10 acres and the humid climate provides challenges not addressed by the existing hops research. Knowledge is needed on how best to produce hops on a small-scale in our region. With this in mind, in August of 2010, the UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program initiated an organic hops variety evaluation program at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont. Since this time, UVM Extension has been evaluating 22 publicly-available hop varieties. The goals of these efforts are to find hop varieties that demonstrate disease and pest resistance, high yields, and present desirable characteristics to brewers in our region. Hops are a perennial crop – most varieties reach full cone production in year three. The following are the results from the fifth year of production