If you have ever thought about growing hops, and you live in New York State, now is not a bad time to start. And you wouldn’t be alone. New York is now fourth in the country for hops production, after Washington (the leader by far), Oregon, and Idaho. That might sound impressive, but New York once led the nation in hop production, so what happened?
A fungus killed the eastern U.S. hop industry in the early 1900s and is still a problem in England and Europe. Prohibition did not help.
Fast forward to the early 1970s, when New York State passed the Farm Winery Act spurring the growth of wine production in New York, and more germane to our love of beer, provided a model for the the legislation behind this hops New York hops renaissance: The Farm Brewery Act.
Passed in 2012, The Farm Brewery Act stipulates that brewers do not have to apply for an additional permit to serve beer by the glass—which is substantially lucrative slice of the sales pie for breweries—IF they abide by certain restrictions. Namely, brewers must use a specified percentage locally grown farm products in order to receive a New York State Farm Brewery license. Currently, the percentage is 20%. That requirement shoots up to 60 percent in 2018, and up to 90 percent in 2024. You can view the legislation here: (Link to our own site – language included in a separate word doc)
At this point, 20 percent is pretty feasible, so brewers are making it happen. As of February 2014, there are 26 licensed farm breweries in New York, with more than a dozen applications in the works. Some brewers are concerned about the 60 percent, and especially the 90 percent requirement. New York hops is considerably more expensive than West Coast hops at this point, so there’s that. But there is the question of whether it will even be possible. New York has a long way to go in that regard, but that bridge can be crossed in four years.
In the meantime, if you want to grow hops, you now have an incentive—not exactly guaranteed buyers, but buyers who themselves have a strong incentive to buy hops grown in New York.
If you need help getting started, you can find some resources on Northeast Hop Alliance’s bare bones, but helpful website: http://nehopalliance.org/category/resources/