Beer drinkers are in for a tasty treat after the excellent summer weather has helped this year’s hops to become some of the most fragrant for years.
Beer drinkers are in for a tasty treat after the excellent summer weather has helped this year’s hops to become some of the most fragrant for years. “The great summer weather has increased the sugar levels in the hops, making beautiful aromas that will be reflected in the flavours in beer”, said Ali Capper, who grows 100 acres of hops, and is one of the country’s largest hop growers. “The yield will be slightly less than average because the bines stopped growing at the height of summer, but this helped to concentrate the exceptional flavours”, she added. You’d expect that her family’s farm in Suckley, Worcestershire who grow enough to make a dizzying 46 million pints of beer, would use the latest technology to harvest their hops. But the machine that processes the hops at Stocks Farm, is a staggering 53-years-old. The giant Bruff Hop Picking Machine, built by in the village in 1960, resembles a giant threshing machine that you might see at a vintage machinery fair or on the pages of a history book. Over the five-week harvest the noisy machine separates 80 tons of hop flowers. The hops are separated from the leaves and stalks as they move around an elaborate system of pullies, conveyor belts and open spinning wheels, before being dried and bailed. “It’s all very Heath-Robinson”, said Ali, “But we prefer to use this old machine – it’s really quite gentle on the hops. “Bruff machines, built here in Suckley, were shipped all over the world. They’re still in use today in farms as far a field as New Zealand”, she added. Stocks Farm supply their hops to many large British regional breweries including Marston’s, Fullers and Greene King and also ship to thousands of craft brewers across the country and round the world. All Rights Reserved - F Stop Press +44 (0) 1335 300098
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Keywords: beer, farm, fsp, fstoppress, harvest, hops, press, stocks, stop
