Ocean State Hops

2011 Hops Still Available

2012-02-15T19:51:00.002-05:00

We still have limited amounts of our 2011 hops available! Here's a run-down on what we have left:

Cascade and Chinook: Still have a good amount left but they are going quick!

Newport: Very limited quantities left so act quick if you want to try this unique hop.

Nugget: Sold out! Check back in 2012.

Orders can be placed online or by emailing us at matt@oceanstatehops.com or joel@oceanstatehops.com

Cheers!

Beer, Home and Away

2012-02-01T19:38:00.002-05:00

The Ocean House in Westerly, RI is hosting a weekend full of beer events in February and Ocean State Hops will be there! Check out the Ocean House website for details. Events include a homebrewing class, tour of the Cottrell Brewery, and four-couse dinner paired with local microbrews!

11/11/11

2011-11-10T19:43:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is the debut of Newport Storm's 2011 beer, brewed with Ocean State Hops! Come by the Newport Storm brewery for the celebration tomorrow night or look for it in stores!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=222763914455669

Online Ordering

2011-10-17T19:58:00.005-04:00

We've been having some issues with online ordering on www.oceanstatehops.com. If you're having trouble don't fret, you can visit www.oceanstatehops.blogspot.com. The ordering system seems to be working fine there. And you can always email us at matt@oceanstatehops.com or joel@oceanstatehops.com with any questions. Or if you just want to say hi.

Ordering

2011-09-20T19:14:00.004-04:00

We now have online ordering up and running! Just use the Buy Now link on the right side of the home page to order through PayPal (you don't need an account to do this).

Also, Ocean State Hops are now available at Craft Brews Supplies in Hope Valley, RI. Check out their website at: www.craftbrewssupplies.com.

2011 Hop Pricing and Ordering

2011-09-06T19:45:00.003-04:00

The 2011 crop is ready! We have Cascade, Chinook, and Newport available in 1/2 pound, 1 pound, and 2 pound packages. Here are the details, prices, and availability:

Cascade: $18 per 1/2 pound, $30 per pound

Chinook: $18 per 1/2 pound, $32 per pound

Newport: $18 per 1/2 pound, $32 per pound

We also have Nugget available as wet hops for $1 per ounce this week only. Or, take a whole plant home for $15 and pick the wet hops yourself as you brew and dry whatever is left over! This offer ends on Sunday the 11th.

Brewers (or ambitious homebrewers!), contact us for bulk pricing.

If you're interested in purchasing our hand-picked whole hops, email Matt at matt@oceanstatehops.com. Include the varieties and amounts you'd like in your email.

Happy Brewing!

Ocean State Hops

Still Harvesting

2011-09-01T11:14:00.002-04:00

We'll still be harvesting this weekend! We have plenty of dried hops for sale (Cascade, Chinook, and Newport). We'll have wet Cascades available also as we pick!

Harvest 2011 is here!!

2011-08-24T18:38:00.004-04:00

Hurricane or no hurricane, we'll be harvesting this weekend! We're inviting people to the farm this Saturday the 27th to purchase wet hops right off the vines as we pick. Depending on the weather we may have dried hops ready also. With the storm on Sunday we will only have time to pick our Cascades. The Chinook, Newport, and Nuggets won't be far behind though.

Here are the details:

Prices: Wet hops: $1 per ounce

Dried hops: Cascade: $18 per half pound, $30 per pound

Chinook, Newport, Nugget: $18 per half pound, $32 per pound

Location: Ocean State Hops is located at the intersection of James Place and Route 2, just

south of Schartner Farms in Exeter. We'll have signs on Route 2. Call Matt if you get lost: 401-829-6088.

When: Saturday the 27th, 10:00 a.m. until the hurricane hits. If the hurricane miraculously

misses us on Sunday, we'll be open then too. It's not looking promising though.

Any questions email Matt at matt@oceanstatehops.com. Otherwise we'll see you Saturday!

Almost time

2011-08-14T20:02:00.010-04:00

It's just about harvest time here at Ocean State Hops. We could go on and on about how good everything looks but it's much easier to post some pictures instead. We're about 2 weeks away from harvest, maybe even less. The Cascades and Chinooks should be ready first, followed by Newport, and then Nugget. Don't forget to let us know (matt@oceanstatehops.com) if you're interested in coming by the farm during harvest to pick up some wet hops!

Fresh Hops

2011-07-18T20:14:00.003-04:00

Looking for some fresh hops to do a "wet hop" brew at home? Ocean State Hops is here to help! We're inviting people to come by the farm during the harvest to buy fresh hops, right off the bines, for a wet hop beer. We'll have Cascade, Chinook, Newport, and Nugget varieties available. The harvest should be happening late August/early September. Stay tuned for details on dates, prices, etc.

View from the top

2011-06-26T20:35:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder what it's like to be a 20' hop plant?

Life Is Good

2011-06-20T20:49:00.021-04:00

Life is good. The weather's (finally) warm, summer ales are on tap, and the hops are looking good. This time of year most of our time on the farm is spent training the plants, mowing, weed wacking, and bragging about how awesome our hops are. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta brag.

The side shoots started to form this week so the buds and flowers won't be far behind...

April Update

2011-05-23T20:44:00.018-04:00

Ocean State Hops is moving up in the world, literally. About 4 feet to be exact. The poles in our first 3 rows were pretty tired so we decided to take this opportunity to give our hops some room to stretch out. The new poles stand about 17 feet above ground - 4.5 feet taller than the rest. Aside from Summit and Tupelo rolling in some mud, everything went smoothly.

The new cables were put up last weekend and the plants are well on their way. More pics to follow...

RI Collaboration Beer

2011-04-08T17:44:00.006-04:00

On February 5th all of the professional brewers from Rhode Island got together at the Newport Storm brewery to collaborate on Newport Storm's 2011 annual beer. Brewers from Coddington Brewery, Mohegan Cafe, Union Station Brewery, and Trinity Brewhouse were in attendance and pitched in to help with the brew.

The style of the beer is being kept secret but Ocean State Hops was honored to be in attendance and provide locally grown hops for the collaboration beer. Check out Newport Storm's Facebook page for pictures of the event.

The beer will be unveiled in November. You can also check out the April/May edition of Yankee Brew News for a story on the event.

It's been how long???

2011-01-29T17:22:00.002-05:00

Wow, we are waaay overdue for an update. We knew it had been a while but over 3 months? Wow!

While we haven't been updating the site, a lot has been going on behind the scenes at OSH. Sadly, the 2010 hops sold pretty quick. Mother Nature made it a difficult year on the hops and we are looking forward to a promising 2011. We just need all this snow to melt first...

We're also in the early works of creating some OSH gear so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, enjoy the winter weather and winter lagers!

Harvest Time!

2010-09-14T20:51:00.002-04:00

The 2010 harvest is almost done!! We will be posting an update in the next week or so about the available varieties, prices, and how to order our hand-picked whole hops. Stay tuned...

2010 Early Summer Picture Update

2010-07-10T20:29:00.014-04:00

As promised, summer 2010 pictures! We'll keep it short and sweet and get to the good stuff. The old plants are flowering and some even have a few cones already. The new plants are just starting to take off. A few more weeks of warm weather and they'll be reaching for the top of the trellis.

Tupelo and Summit, the new farm guard dogs, are happy with the progress so far...

The older plants reached the top of the trellis in mid to late June.

Look at those flowers!!

A few Chinooks are starting to form cones already.

A ways to go for the new plants, but they're off to a good start.

Tupelo approves.

Summit says "where are the Summit plants??"

What a way to end the day...

2010 Early Summer Update

2010-07-02T08:26:00.002-04:00

The 2010 growing season is off to a great start. We've been busy building the new trellis, tying up the strings, training the bines, weeding, mowing, weeding, mowing, weeding. You get the point...

The new plants are starting to take off now, and the older plants are already starting to flower. It's always exciting to see the new buds for the first time. We're experimenting with a few different methods of training the bines and pruning this year. There are a lot of different opinions out there as to the "best" way so we're going to see what works best around here.

It's been a while since our last post since we've been so busy at the farm so we'll come back soon with a bunch of pictures to make up for it. The wait will be worth it!

2010 Plantings

2010-04-12T12:30:00.003-04:00

Big weekend at the farm. We planted over 200 new plants, split some of our existing plants, and layed out the location for the new trellis system. Next weekend, the new poles are going up and the last of the new plants are going in.

With assistance from our new friend Ryan (a.k.a. Jr. Sod Cutter), setting up the new rows went pretty quick. And with a little help from a lot of friends, we got a lot done.

We posted a few highlight pictures below - check out the rest of the pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopfarmer/sets/72157623714494169/ or click on the Flickr photostream on the right side of the page.

Spring is in the air...

2010-04-01T12:06:00.002-04:00

The new rhizomes are in, the existing plants are starting to break ground, wood and cable for the new poles are being ordered...ahhh it's finally spring. We've got a lot going on at the farm over the next couple of weeks but we'll be posting pictures soon to show the progress. 2010 should be a big year for Ocean State Hops!

Also, a lot of people have been asking if we have rhizomes for sale. We don't have any available this spring but we should starting in 2011 so mark you calendars!

We're moving!

2010-02-25T11:19:00.003-05:00

But not too far, so don't worry. The Ocean State Hops website will be trimming off a little extra baggage and will become simply www.oceanstatehops.com. Even more official, Joel and Matt can now be reached at joel@oceanstatehops.com and matt@oceanstatehops.com. It's a big day folks - big day.

So update those bookmarks and get ready for the move. We'll see you on the other side.

Free hops giveaway is over!

2010-02-25T11:15:00.002-05:00

Thanks for all those who participated. We gave away a ton of hops (well, maybe not a ton literally) and hopefully everyone was able to make some great beers with our hops.

For those who participated, we'll be sending the questionnaire soon. It should be relatively painless.

Ocean State Hops Interviewed by The Business of Beer

2010-01-11T11:36:00.011-05:00

Ocean State Hops got together with John over at The Business of Beer to talk about the process of starting a hop farm as part of their new series "The Startup Dialogues". Make sure to stop by http://thebusinessofbeer.com/ and check it out (or just click on the picture to go right to the article).

We still have a very limited amount of hops to give away. They won't last much longer so get your requests in ASAP!

Hail to the Small Scale Hop Farmers

2009-12-16T14:12:00.002-05:00

There is an article on small scale hop farmers in the December 2009 issue of Brew Your Own magazine. It touches on the benefits of smaller hop farms and some of the difficulties they face. Glen Fuller of Colorado Organic Hops in Paonia, Colorado and James Altwies of Gorst Valley Hops in Mazomanie, Wisconsin, two of the more well-known small scale hop farmers, were both interviewed for the article.

You can check out the article here. It's worth the read.

Do you know of any other small scale hop farms out there? Let us know! Send an email to oceanstatehops@gmail.com with the farm name and/or contact information.

FREE HOPS

2009-11-30T11:03:00.009-05:00

Yes, you read that right. Ocean State Hops is giving away limited amounts of our 2009 whole leaf hop harvest. And no, we're not crazy.

Ocean State Hops wants your feedback so we have decided to give away our hops. All we ask is that you use the hops to brew, and let us know how the beer came out and what you thought of our hops. Pretty easy, right? Yeah, we thought so too.

So here are the ground rules for the 2009 Hop Harvest Giveaway:

We have a limited supply of hops so they will be given away on a first come, first served basis until supplies run out.
To fulfill your end of the bargain, we will send you an email with a very simple questionnaire to fill out and email back to us after you brew with our hops.
We've already done the hard work and spent enough money on these hops, so shipping costs will be up to you. We will be sending the hops through the Post Office by COD. According to Mike The Post Man, shipping costs should be about $8.50 (including the COD fee). Or, if you're in the Rhode Island area email us to arrange for a pick-up and avoid shipping!

Finally, the good part. Here's how to order your free hops. Send an email to oceanstatehops@gmail.com with the words "Free Hops" in the subject. In the email, include your name and address, and your preference of hop variety in order from most preferred to least preferred. If your top-listed variety is sold out, we will try to get you your second highest variety, and so on. The varieties you have to choose from are: Cascade, Centennial, Nugget, and Chinook. You will receive anywhere from 3 to 8 ounces of our whole leaf hops, while supplies last.

So get emailing, these hops are sure to run out! Once the hops run out, the deal is done. We'll let you know as soon as possible whether or not you responded in time.

Happy brewing!

Got Poop?

2009-11-03T13:25:00.004-05:00

We've been busy prepping for winter the past couple of weeks. The grass got its final cut, the plants have been trimmed, and the twine has been cut. That only left one thing...spreading poop. Cow poop to be specific.

We priced out our different options and decided that undehydrated cow manure by the yard was our best bet. Joel contacted a local farmer and was able to get some fresh manure delivered to the farm. And by fresh I mean still steaming. This stuff was potent (as described by the closest neighbor down wind). After a couple of hours shoveling this stuff around, we had some happy hops that were ready for winter. They'd better be anyway.

NY Times Article

2009-10-22T08:35:00.004-04:00

The NY Times published an article this week on Sodbuster Farms, a hop farm in Salem, Oregon. The article follows the hop harvest from the field and into the wort as fresh hops at Double Mountain Brewery. There's a a great slide show too. Check out the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/dining/21hops.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=fresh%20hop&st=cse

Won't be long before Ocean State Hops will be in articles like this...

End of Season - 2009

2009-10-13T21:19:00.010-04:00

We had a few random second year plants and some first year Cascades left to harvest in early September. The work never stops at Ocean State Hops.

As we said...the fastest hop picker in New England. Kara made short work of the Nuggets.

We had to call in the recruits for the last few first year Cascades that never really took off. Meet Betty - the oldest farmer in Rhode Island (no joke). Watch out though, she doesn't take crap from anyone. And never try to take her picture when she's busy picking.

Just kidding. She's as nice as they come. And apparently she's a natural hop picker.

What a crew...

Peace out!

Cascade Harvest - 8/16/09

2009-10-06T13:34:00.023-04:00

The Cascades were our biggest harvest of the year. We had some second and third year plants that were loaded with cones, and about 50 first year plants that did better than expected. It took most of the day and more beer than anticipated, but we harvested close to 12 pounds on August 16th.

Abe could hardly contain himself. I can't blame him...

Joel and Abe taking down the last few Cascades from the first row.

Mmmmmmmmm.......

The tractor kept a close eye on the crop while it dried.

Nothing like a jump in the pond after a long day of picking hops...

(That's a 14' ladder, in case you were wondering.)

First Harvest of 2009 - 8/8/09

2009-09-23T10:39:00.007-04:00

We had our first harvest of the year in early August. A few Centennial plants bloomed early and we harvested 5 plants on August 8th.

Ahhhhh....the sweet smell of freshly picked hops! We were able to get about 2 pounds from these first few plants.

We built our own custom racks for drying the hops. The racks are about 4' by 4' and can hold up to 3 pounds of dried hops each.

Mid-Summer Update - July 30, 2009

2009-09-15T15:30:00.000-04:00

June and July were two of the wettest months on record in New England (over 10" of rain in July alone!), but the hops didn't seem to mind. Luckily the farm is located on nice glacial outwash deposits so drainage is generally not an issue. And once the sun finally came out at the end of July, the plants really started to take off.

The second and third year plants did fantastic. They reached the top of the trellis and began lateral growth by early July.

Some of the first year plants, Cascade in particular, performed much better than we thought. Others did pretty well, while some really...sucked. This helped us determine which varieties will do well around here though.

Breaking Ground - May 25, 2009

2009-09-04T09:38:00.001-04:00

We broke ground in more ways than one in May of 2009. The new trellis system was just completed, some of the second and third year plants were already 1 to 2 feet high, and the new grass seed was taking off. Little did we know, this would probably the warmest day for the next 2 months.

The Crew

2009-09-02T12:38:00.003-04:00

Joel is the muscle of the operation. He also brings the horitcultural know-how, and discounts on tools, equipment, and fertilizer.

Matt likes to think he brings the general "beer knowledge". In addition to farm work, Matt does a lot of the promoting and advertising. And no, he doesn't golf.

Kara is Joel's sister and Matt's wife, so she keeps everyone in line. She's also the quickest hop picker in New England. And as you can see from the picture, she loves genips.

Abe is the all-purpose guy. He can plant, water, and pick with the best of them. He's also on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Excluding Monday through Friday. And some weekends when he has to work.