Last week, newbie farmers Kelly and Casey Holzworth set about an ambitious undertaking. On their quarter-acre sliver of leased farm land in Greenfield, Saratoga County, they sowed 300 new hops plants.

For the Holzworths, hops is the ideal amalgamation of their two loves: "We love to farm and we really love good craft brew," said Kelly Holzworth.

The Holzworths, of Kelsey's Quarter Acre Farm, are not alone in their endeavor. Fueled by state support, an exploding state craft beer movement and a love of the brew, more farmers across the state are planting hops in their fields.

Steven Miller, Cornell Cooperative Extension's hops specialist, said he expects the state's hops acreage will likely double this year compared to last. Next year, it could very well double again.

"Four years ago, the state had 15 acres of hops," he said. "By this spring, that's going to increase to about 130 acres."

The trend is one that stretches across the state, from Long Island to Albany, Saratoga and Jefferson counties.

"There are people in almost every county that are putting in hops," said Miller.

Hops, the flowers of an herbaceous climbing plant of the same name, impart upon beer its bitterness as well as its piney, floral essence. Its resurgence in New York is not so much a new phenomenon as it is a case of history repeating itself.

In the 19th century, when New York state also boasted hundreds of breweries, it produced upward of 80 percent of the nation's hops. Eventually, though, the industry fell prey to a combination of blight, Prohibition and competition from the West.

Growing hops is no small undertaking. It is a crop with hefty start-up costs — about $15,000 an acre. The machine to harvest the crop — a necessity for sizeable harvests, as just one plant takes about an hour to pick by hand — costs an extra $30,000 or so. And the plants usually won't produce a full crop for about three years, making it a significant investment with delayed returns.

"It's very scary," said Kelly Holzworth.

In recent years, those considering entering the hops trade have had increased encouragement. In 2012, the nation's craft beer industry saw a 17 percent increase in dollar growth, with New York's breweries ranking among the top for beer sales, according to the Brewers Association. As of December 2012, the U.S. boasted an all-time high of 2,751 breweries, according to the Beer Institute. The economic impact of beer in New York was $14,035,804,800.

"Right now, every brewer locally says we'll buy them from you," said Dietrich Gehring, an avid homebrewer who has grown hops as a hobby for two decades but this year will grow his first commercial crop. Gehring will plant his acre of hops next month at his wife's family farm in Altamont, Indian Ladder Farms.

"Right now everyone wants to make a beer that's as locally sourced as possible," he said.

There has also been government support. In January, the Farm Brewery Law took effect, offering incentives to breweries that use New York-grown ingredients. The 2013 state budget includes $40,000 to help increase the availability of locally grown hops. Last month, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer called for federal aid to help jump-start the establishment of a hops cooperative in Dutchess County.

Brown's Brewing Co. in Troy is among the breweries that also grow hops. At owner Garry Brown's Hoosick home, the brewery grows about three acres — not nearly enough to sustain the brewery, but enough to supply much of the hops for its annual Harvest IPA. The rest of the hops for that particular brew come from other local growers.

The brewery would like to purchase more hops locally, he said, but there just aren't enough growers or the necessary hops processing infrastructure to support even a small craft brewery like Brown's.

"Hops in New York, it's still in its infancy," he said. "There's a hop-growing phase right now, and it just needs to mature out a little bit."

kbrown@timesunion.com • 518-454-5035 • @kristenvbrown