Hop Harvest on Jordan Family Farms

Yesterday I was on hand to help finish the first-ever hop harvest on Jordan Family Farms, and I am happy I was there. The farm is truly a family operation that mostly sells mandarins, but also has various fruit trees spattered around their property. Scott is the owner and is passionate about his farm, his family and his community - people like this you can't help but hope for the best. Joining us yesterday was Brian from Auburn Alehouse, Steve from Placerville Brewing Co., Brian from River City Brewing, Mike and Mark from Pacific Brew News, members of AAH's Mug Club and a few homebrewers from the region hoping to get some fresh hops of their own to take home. It was a good day.

In all there were 13 varieties of hops pulled off the field yesterday, the most productive plants being the Cascades and Clusters. Several varieties did very poorly in their first year, some looked good but didn't offer much to pick from, but overall the brewers agreed it was a good first year for the farm. One brewer was fresh off his trip up to Yakima for Hop School and was able to offer some very interesting commentary and tips for the volunteers.