05/09/14 Thanks to ideal growing conditions over the summer, Britain's hop harvest is set to be a bumper crop. Picking stopped early yesterday at S
05/09/14 Thanks to ideal growing conditions over the summer, Britain's hop harvest is set to be a bumper crop. Picking stopped early yesterday at Stocks Farm, Worcestershire, as the 'Heath Robinson' style 1962 Bruff hop picking machine was overwhelmed by the volume of hops coming in from the 100 acres of hops the farm grows. The golding hops are the first to picked this year from the bines that are strung up on a total of 550 miles of twine that stretch across the farmland near the Malvern Hills. "That's enough to make 46m pints of craft ale" said farmer and hop expert Ali Capper. The farm grows a variety of hops supplying national brewers including Fullers, Greene King, St Austell and Marston's, and hundreds of craft breweries and brewers in the UK and USA. "We've had perfect growing conditions this year, a lovely warm summer and even rainfall. The whole crop is looking wonderful and the aromas are much better than last year, "It should be a bumper crop - but we can't be sure until it's all in" "The demand from small brewers is rising each year" added Ali "This year we'll be selling 100 gram bags for home brewers too - that's enough to brew at least 20 pints. In 2013 almost half of all British hops were exported to to the USA - and this figure is still rising" she said. All Rights Reserved - F Stop Press. Tel: +44 (0)1335 300098
Size: 5087px × 3391px
Photo credit: © Rod Kirkpatrick / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: beer, brew, breweries, bruff, farm, fsp, harvest, home, hop, hops, press, stocks, stop, suckley
