Update - Received this via email this morning regarding the inventory at the Hop Yard.
The 2010 hops harvest is almost at an end! We had a small harvest of Centennial this year and most of that went to a few brewers wanting wet hops – it’s gone! We had a GREAT harvest of Cascade – we have 51ounces that is dried and vacuum packed, and more being dried. Same for Chinook and Nugget – about 30 ounces of each already dried and vacuum packed. We are still harvesting and expect to be doing that thru this weekend, so if anyone is interested in wet hops (Chinook and Nugget still on the bines), you can come for a visit and pick some up.
A little over a week ago, I arranged to visit a small, organic hop yard in Gilroy owned and operated by the father and son team of Dennis and Jared, respectively. I received the tip from a fellow BJCP judge and homebrewer via email and immediately followed up. A hop yard? In Gilroy? Consider my interest piqued.

Now, I’m not really one to get all that excited about hops. I’ve been growing hops of my own for the past 3 years so I’m pretty familiar with the plants. Every day when I wake up, I look out the window and this is what I see.

Regardless, as soon as I pull into the driveway of Dennis’ home, I feel goosebumps race down my neck as I see the hop yard in the distance. Part of me is in awe of hops being grown in a much larger scale. Another part is just beaming with pride. San Jose, and south (Santa Clara) county has never been accused of being a craft beer mecca, so to see something so “craft beer” in my neck of the woods is empowering in a way.

Dennis and Jared’s hop yard contains approximately 60 plants made up of Cascade, Chinook, Centennial and Nugget varietals. Dennis gives us the grand tour as his son Jared is up on the tall ladder harvesting Chinook cones. Many of the bines are bare as Dennis and Jared had already harvested many of the hops. The remaining Chinook would be completely harvested in a few more days while the Cascades are still developing. I ask Dennis how he knows when to harvest the hops. Dennis pulls off a few cones that are ready to be harvested and gives them to us for inspection. “Feel how papery they are? That’s when they’re ready,” says Dennis. Jared, having come down from his ladder, shows us a few cones that aren’t yet ready. “See how solid these still feel?” asks Jared. The cones he gives me, by comparison, are denser, more moist and slightly heavier than the cones Dennis showed me.”These should be ready in about a week,” predicts Jared.

The trellis system, researched and designed by Dennis, is comprised of 15 foot tall poles from which airplane wire was strung across. Pullys, attached via electrical ties, were strategically placed every few feet or so to allow the bines to be easily lowered or raised during harvest time. Unfortunately, the ropes derail from the pulley wheel easily. The actual pulleys themselves don’t stay put, the slightest breeze can pull, or push, them along the lines, further complicating the functionality.

“I thought I was the first person to think of using pulleys to raise and lower the bines for harvesting,” explains Dennis. “Then my wife comes home and shows me a photo of someone already using the system.”
Dennis limits a single bine per vertical line. It’s a never ending battle to keep trimming the new growth back as well as de-weeding the immediate area of the hop yard. At home, we use twine as a support for the hop bines to grow on. It’s not really the strongest material to use but our bines don’t grow any taller than about 8 feet before they start to fall back to earth. I am surprised to find Dennis using the same twine, although he’s not exactly thrilled by it. “The weight of the bines, sometimes, is just too much,” explains Dennis. “The twine snaps and the bines fall”.

I pull a hop cone off a nearby bine. Gently pulling it apart, I see the yellow lupulin within the interior of the cone. It is fresh and fragrant; the resin makes my fingertips sticky. Jared does the same only to start only to put the hop cone in his mouth to eat. I am slightly surprised as I have never seen anyone eat a hop cone before. I follow suit and find the raw hop to be as bitter as new, evergreen tips. The aroma and hop flavor are intense. My burps for the rest of the evening smell of hops.

“So why hops?” asks Mrs. BetterBeerBlog. She takes the question right out of my mouth. I notice on the drive to the hop yard that many of the nearby homes have personal vineyards. It seems to be the “in” thing to do for people with a lot of land. “Hunting,” comes the unexpected reply. Both father and son are avid hunters. Growing and selling hops is just a way for them to help finance their out of state hunting trips. “The original idea was to sell hops to the local microbreweries,” says Dennis. “But selling to the homebrewers has been a lot of fun. I think we’re just going to stick to that”.
Surprisingly, neither Dennis or Jared homebrew, at least for the time being. Roger St. Denis, the homebrewer who initially emailed me the information about the Dennis and Jared hop yard, has all but convinced Dennis to take on homebrewing. “I just gotta make some room in the garage,” says Dennis.
I ask Dennis if he dries the hops before selling and he does. There is no sophisticated hop drying machine, just several screens arranged in the sun-facing bedrooms. The finished hops are packed in 1-ounce packages and vacuum sealed before being stored in a freezer. Prices are range from $4.25 - $4.50 $5.10 an ounce dry, plus shipping. If they’re able to completely sell out of their harvest this year, Dennis and Jared will have pocketed a very modest profit. Very modest.

Despite this, Dennis has plans to try and double the size of his hop yard. “Any bigger than that?” I ask. “Nope. We’ll just add in a second trellis system and leave it at that,” replies Dennis. Continually awed by the plants, Dennis hopes to add in Amarillo and Simcoe varietals to his hop yard next season. It’s a move I might duplicate myself.
Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I leave impressed and optimistic. In the span of just 2 years, Dennis and his son Jared have shown that hops can be grown in this area to a large degree of success. While it is a lot of work, I get the feeling the rewards Dennis is reaping go beyond the monetary. I have found the homebrewing community to be friendly, open and welcoming and I think Dennis has too.
Speaking of homebrewing, at the time of our visit a week ago, Dennis said that there is about a 2-3 week window, at the most, where fresh hops will still be available for homebrewers looking to make a wet hop beer. If you’re interested, you can contact Dennis to make arrangements to pick up the hops. I’ve listed their contact information at the end of this post.

Contact Information:
Email: dandjhops[at]gmail[dot]com
Phone: (408) 847 4682