Does spring have you dreaming of growing hops? Those lupulin-filled daydreams may be more attainable than you might think. Mighty Axe Hops, Minnesota’s largest commercial hop grower, has made the second edition of their Minnesota Hops Grower’s Guide available to download for free. In April 2015, Mighty Axe released their first edition, which included recommendations for those interested … [ Read more]
Trailblazers 2016: Ben Boo and Eric Sannerud of Mighty Axe Hops
November 30, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Before Mighty Axe Hops announced a massive expansion plan this summer, Minnesota’s hop-growing industry wasn’t much of an industry at all. The state’s overall production was driven primarily by a patchwork of small-scale growers operating on one-acre plots or smaller. While these farms were able to harvest enough hops to sell to their local brewery … [ Read more]
Mighty Axe Hops expansion more than doubles Minnesota’s hop acreage
June 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The Friday before Memorial Day, folks are often packing up the car to head to the cabin, sneaking off from work early or firing up the grill. Not Eric Sannerud and Benjamin Boo. They were in a field, in the cold rain, training tendrils of hop bines up strings of twine 20 feet in the … [ Read more]
More craft beer coming soon to the Red River Valley
January 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Hallock, Minnesota, way up in the northwest corner of the state, recently became a hotspot for craft distilling thanks to Far North Spirits and may soon become a destination for craft beer lovers, too. That’s the hope of the Evenson family. Husband and wife Ryan and Lindsey, along with Ryan’s brother, Josh, and sister-in-law, Ashley, have teamed up to … [ Read more]
Wet-Hopped American Winter: Round Table Hops’ plan for a year-round hydroponic harvest
December 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Seasonal beers are one of the great joys of the craft beer industry. All is right in the world when you can drink a winter warmer on New Year’s Eve and a summer session ale on the Fourth of July. Among hopheads, late August to early September marks the best beer season of all: fresh-hop … [ Read more]
Green acres: investment, innovation, and the future of local hops
August 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Early September brings with it the start of school, the last vacation to the cabin, or even a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair. For hop growers, this time of year means a hectic, labor-intensive, but potentially glorious payoff: harvest. From mid-August through mid-September, hop growers from across Minnesota’s burgeoning hop industry are gathering … [ Read more]
A Family Affair: Minnesota’s Growing Hops Community
June 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Three men walk through even rows of trellises on the outskirts of Owatonna, Minnesota, noting how much fertilizer has affected the color of cascade hop leaves and how the glacier hops seem to grow wide. Amid inside jokes and ideas for their next homebrew, there’s a deep sense that these three men are on the … [ Read more]
Minnesota Hops on the Map
March 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
By Adam Overland Minnesota is changing. The change was subtle at first, and many years from now it will be hard to say or remember exactly when it began. But history books love to mark time with dates, and so when the textbook is written about the history of hops in Minnesota, February 22, 2014 … [ Read more]
