Hoyum Hops are a variety of hops native to our area. Harvested from vines in the Battle River Valley. They are somewhat smaller than commercial hops, and because of the terrain in our area, they are rather sparse and hard to find. Often vines will grow up into the tops of trees trying to reach some substantial amount of sunlight. This is also often where the flowers will be found. A vine in a forested area may only produce 6 or 7 flowers. Needless to say the task of harvesting the amount needed to do a batch of beer is rather tedious, and strenuous. So this next summer we intend to transplant some known female rhizomes. In hopes that if we can get the vines to produce more flowers if they are given better conditions to live in.
We are also considering getting some non-native rhizomes from www.freshops.com
We are concerned about maintaining the uniqueness of the Hoyum Hops strain. But as long as the commercial plants are female this shouldn't be an issue. In fact there are so many male Hoyum Hops plants spreading pollen about in the valley, the concern might be in contaminating the commercial strain. But this would only be in the seeds, and maybe would be interesting. A plant that produces more, bigger flowers. But is also adapted to the northern climates.
Just a thought..maybe a future project.
For more information on Hops in general check out www.freshops.com
They have a wealth of information on everything hops. |
