Hoptember! Celebrating the Fall Harvest of Hop Plants aka "Hills" (Partner)

Craft brewers usually start brewing beer in their basements, gathering supplies from their trusted home brewer suppliers. New York is a mecca for craft beer and is soon to be a Napa Valley of Beer. With the farm to table trend, comes the farm to basement trend, or farm to brewer trend, where breweries and craft beer enthusiasts can buy hop plants, aka "hill" straight from the fields.

Enter Dutchess Hops, located on the farm of Eastern View Nursery, the first commercial hop farm in the Hudson Valley. Situated in the heart of Dutchess County’s agricultural region, Dutchess Hops will bring back an industry that the State of New York once flourished in. Spring 2013, Dutchess Hops planted 4000 hills (hop plants) on 4 acres. These will be ready for harvest in fall 2014, which will be celebrated with the second annual festival, Hoptember Harvestfest on September 13, 2014!

Hoptember is also hosted in collaboration with Hudson Valley Hops, which was created in 2013 to act as a cooperative for both Farmers and Brewers. Hudson Valley Hops’ mission is to help build Hop farms, promote the craft beer industry and assist in creating the Freshest, highest quality Hops throughout the Hudson Valley. Hoptember 2013 was able to raise enough money to help further develop 4 additional Hop Farms in 2013, with 4 additional coming online in 2014.

Hoptember showcases Brewer, Distiller, Cider and Wine Artisans from the Hudson Valley, as well as culinary artisans, and is your chance to meet over 20 Brewers and Distillers all from the Hudson Valley. Included in the ticket price are both food and beverage tastings, and all food will have Hops incorporated in it. The Event will run from 1pm-5pm for General Admission ticket holders and run from 11:30am – 5pm for VIP ticket Holders.

• General Admission Tickets: $50 and includes unlimited food and tastings. Admittance begins at 1 p.m.
• VIP Tickets: $75 also in addition to the General admission benefits, there will be a culinary Hop treats along with rare beer tastings, a tour of the Hop Yard, and a commemorative glass and T-shirt. Admittance begins at 11:30 a.m.
• Designated Driver Tickets: Designated Driver ticket is for anyone that won't be drinking but wants to still attend the event 

LOCATION:

Eastern View Farm & Nursery (View)
1167 Noxon Road
Lagrangeville, NY 12540

Click here to learn more about Hoptember  >

Click here to purchase tickets!  >

Plan Bee Farm Brewery - Farm to Bottle Beer

Inspired by the "Barn to Brew" article in the Summer season's issue of edible HUDSON VALLEY, I finally ventured down to Beacon's Farmers' Market to try the beer from Plan Bee Farm Brewery that is mostly all grown and cultivated from one farm: the farm owned and operated by founders and brewers Evan and Emily Watson.

Even more compelling is the component that makes this beer extra special and unique: the Watsons use their own yeast from their farm, using cultures from peaches, apples, and unpasteurized honey from two bee-hives that came with the farm when they bought the property in Fishkill.

The most special thing about cooking, baking or brewing something is using ingredients around you to make the freshest of flavors not easily replicated time and again. Plan Bee Farm Brewery loves this spontaneity of flavor, and embraces and actually seeks out the different flavors their unique yeast method produces. According to Even in the article from edible: "I love the odd and complex flavors you can get from it. These are the backbone of our beers."

Each of their beers have a story which you can read about on their blog. The bottle I tried was their popular Chamomile, developed specifically for and sold at the Cold Spring General Store. Delicious. I took it to a gathering on Mahopac Lake and a friend happily dubbed it a "soft" flavor and immediately texted his parents who were hiking for the day in Cold Spring, to request that they buy a few bottles at the store.

A brew with a notable story behind it is the TechiNiki, which was named after an Indian woman of the Wappingers tribe who picked a peach on a Dutch settler's farm in 1659 and was shot - thus starting the Peach Tree War throughout the entire Hudson Valley. So you're drinking history with these beers, along with flavors and ingredients grown just miles away from you.