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The Importance of the Brewer Grower Relationship
We all know hops are key to every brew, but have you ever thought about where they come from? Not just the country, but the farm itself? While many of us recognise varieties like Citra® from the USA or Fuggle from the UK, there’s more to the story than just that, with loads to explore. British hops have a rich heritage, and we’re here to understand that heritage.
Let’s get to know our British hop growers
British hop growers are key to the nations brewing heritage and one of the driving forces within the industry. Their sense of tradition and dedication to quality, innovation, and sustainability ensures that every hop cone you touch as brewers, or we touch as merchants contributes to beers of brilliant character and flavour.
Every hop has a story, and so does its grower, and as part of our community and innovative values we are keen to connect the two. Hop growing is no easy feat and takes years to master, some say it even takes a lifetime of generations. From the outside, farming seems like a simple occupation, you grow it, you sell it, but the truth is far from it.
Beyond planting and harvesting, each growing year is different. Weather, disease, and ever-changing regulations are a small part of the ongoing difficulties these farmers must face. However, they aren’t just farmers, they are mechanics fixing their 60-year-old hop-picking machines, servicing their tractors and trailers. They are agronomy experts, overcoming every disease and pest Mother Nature throws at them, and they are meticulous quality controllers ensuring every hop is dried perfectly to preserve those powerful flavours and aromas.
But why should brewers care about this connection?
The British hop growing acreage is decreasing, year on year and without British hops, beer and our traditional landscapes will never be the same. By supporting local hop growers and learning their stories, you help sustain a crucial part of Britain’s farming heritage. Don’t just get to know them, share their stories and use them to your advantage, storytelling is a powerful yet underutilised marketing tool. Every hop and every hop grower has a story, use this story to educate your beer drinker about the process, provenance, peculiarities and quality of these local ingredients.
For example, did you know as a daughter of Charles Faram’s Jester® hop it seemed fitting that Harlequin® was used as a name for the new favourite from our Hop Development Programme. It was the new kid on the block leaping and dancing ahead with even more flavour and aroma gusto.
The MD thought the Hop Development team was joking when they put Jester® under his nose to try. From their excitable gestures, while he was on the phone, he thought they had used a New World hop to trick him—it just knocked the ball out of the park with its powerful aromas! With a tradition of court names for varieties in our portfolio, Jester® just made sense.
Our focus is on the things that matter – aroma, oil content, and flavour as shown in our industry leading Charles Faram Hop Development Programme, where new hops are bred and grown to produce exciting new flavours for your beer. British hop breeders are also selecting new varieties that grow well, with increased disease and drought resistances.
So, how do I get involved?
If you want to get to know your hop growers, that’s easy, reach out to us. When you purchase hops from Charles Faram, we will not be only able to tell you about the farm, but the families that work the land too! A walk of the hop yards is a brilliant way to see firsthand the dedication which is devoted to British hops. Events like September’s Charles Faram HopWalk® are designed to do just this. You can even get conversations going about what hops you’d like to try while getting involved in the harvest process. If you want to find out more about what the grower-brewer relationship means to other brewers why not check out the podcast – Spreading Hoppiness – EP 32: Tears and a Tractor: The Grower Brewer Relationship, available on all major platforms.
