2021 Hops Pre Orders Open!
Hop harvest is officially complete and we’ve opened up preorders for the 2021 hops crop as we get ready to pelletize and package everything!
While this was a challenging growing season due to SO. MUCH. RAIN. we’re thrilled with the Brewer’s quality and oil contents of each of the varieties. I’m floored and grateful for the total oil numbers which show that our growing practices are starting to produce a great (sticky/resinous) trend!
Preorders are filled on a first come, first serve basis and you’re welcome to place your order with Liz via email, telephone or via this Google Form. Click the link for brief descriptions of our 2021 varieties.
Our pricing this year will be the same as last year, $17.99/lb for both whole leaf and T-90 pellets. All hops are sold in 11 lb increments with whole leaf as vacuum-sealed bricks in poly and the pellets nitrogen-flushed in mylar. If you’re interested in WHOLE LEAF HOPS PLEASE PLACE YOUR ORDER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE as we treat these as a special order item for a very limited time after harvest.
We’re also happy to introduce a new variety to our offerings, Triumph. This variety was part of the USDA’s public hop breeding program and we’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Described as an aroma hop with good bittering possibilities and an aromatic profile of apricots/stone fruit coupled with pink bubble gum.
Pelletizing and packaging of whole leaf hops will begin the week of October 4th and we’re hopeful for a quick turn around time for orders (we anticipate a few weeks). Once preorders have been filled, we’ll offer up the remaining hops via our online store.
If you’d like to enhance your 2021 hops order or you’re in a pinch for hops between now and when we’re finished packaging, please check out this listing of 2020 hops varieties we have remaining in cold storage at the farm. They’re of great quality and have been stored cold since last year’s harvest.
Thanks so much for your time,
Liz L’Etoile
Liz@FourStarFarms.com
413-498-2968
Four Star Hops
We’ve been growing hops on our family farm in Western Massachusetts since 2008. With 8 varieties of aromatic and dual purpose hops grown on 17 acres (roughly 17,000 plants), we produce enough hops each season to make ~1-3 million pints of beer.
As a year-round supplier of pellets, and seasonal supplier of wet and whole leaf hops, we get to work with several breweries around New England; be sure to check out the places you can find our hops on tap.
What Makes Our Hops Special?
In a word, terroir. In its simplest definition, terroir is a “taste of place.” Regardless of which hops varieties you grow or where in the world you grow them, the things that happen to those plants in a given growing season (think rain, amount of sunshine, average temperatures, the type of soil you’re growing in, how you care for them, etc.) will all impact the flavor and aroma differently from place to place and from year to year.
Our soil, Hadley Silt Loam (which is just about perfect, thanks prehistoric lake bottom!), and growing conditions contribute so many fruity (citrus, bubble gum, berry) and nuanced flavors and aromas in our hops that can’t be found in their counterparts grown other places – allowing for some old school hops varieties to step into the forefront of new school flavor profiles (read: juicy IPAs). At the farm, Magnum aren’t just for bittering and Nugget is definitely not herbal/earthy but instead packs a citrus punch (so different in fact that instead of calling them Nugget, we have renamed them Pepite).
Analytics Matter
At harvest, we get a comprehensive analytical profile of all the things you want to know about our hops (e.g., alpha, beta, total oil, hop storage and aroma quality) because who wants to buy a new car without kicking the tires and doing their homework? For each growing season you can find the specs by variety in our online store. Want more information than what’s there? Just let us know and we’ll get you the full spec sheet.
Harvest Time
Harvest runs from mid August through mid September, with each variety having a narrow picking window during that time. Interested in wet hops? All of our varieties are available during harvest for your wet hopping enjoyment! Any hops not sold as wet are promptly kiln dried and stored in whole leaf bales until we’re ready to process them into T-90 pellets here at the farm.