One of the things that I really enjoy about homebrewing is the sense of satisfaction that comes from creating something yourself. Sure, there are plenty of fantastic craft brews out there to buy, and I enjoy them, but I’m of the mind that having basic skills that allow you to be somewhat self reliant is a good thing. One ought to know how and be able to change the oil in one’s car. Not that you have to do it yourself each time, but you should do it at least once in your lifetime. One ought to be able to grow a tomato plant and enjoy the anticipation of seeing a tomato grow and think about whether you’d like to eat that tomato on a BLT sandwich, chuck it into a pot of chili, or just eat it raw and see if it tastes better than the one you get from your local mega grocer. Homebrewing offers that same sense of self sufficiency.

As a homebrewer, you may be somewhat limited in how self reliant you can become in obtaining the raw materials for your next brew. Most of us can’t raise acres of barley and malt it ourselves. Most of us aren’t microbiologists who can easily find the right yeast in nature, culture it, and store it for brewing. But here’s some good news…it is super easy to grow your own hops!.You don’t need to have a green thumb to be successful at it either. Hops grow from a perennial vine, they are hardy, and as long as you can get them a lot of sun and keep the roots relatively moist then you’ll be successful.

Below are a couple of pictures of the Cascade hops we grow in our backyard. We let them grow up lengths of twine that we hang on our fence. This allows us to move them around easily and keep them up off the ground, an important step in helping them stay healthy. But you don’t need your own backyard to pull this off. Even if you live in an apartment or condo, if you have a balcony you can plant your hop rhizome in a very large plant pot and string your hops up to the balcony above.
If this has got you at all interested, now’s the time to start learning a little more and doing some basic planning for the hop yard you’ll plant early next spring. Check out some of the great information at
Freshops where you can learn about commercial hop production, home growing hops, and how to order your hop rhizomes. Take it from us, that feeling of satisfaction you get from making, drinking, and sharing beer you crafted with your own hands is only enhanced when you know it was your own hops that you used to create it.

1 oz. home grown Cascade hops