Michigan grows to No. 1 in hops production outside Pacific Northwest

Your next craft beer is more likely than ever to contain Michigan hops: The state's farms expanded rapidly the past few years, making it America's biggest hops producer outside the Pacific Northwest.

Trellises of bines (like vines) growing the small flower, which adds bitterness, aromatics and flavor complexity to beer, expanded by 153% in Michigan in 2015-17 to 810 acres, according to a report last week from Hop Growers of America. That number remains far behind Washington, Oregon and Idaho, which held all but 2% of the 55,786 U.S. hop-farm acres in 2017.

Nonetheless, the Yakima, Wash.-based trade association's executive director, Ann George, said they're seeing "a great deal of progress in Michigan" with production, marketing and more. She said the state's growers have established programs that help make the hops' quality competitive with those from the Northwest.

"It's really great to see the level of effort going into consistent benchmark systems for quality and best practices," she said.

Michigan in 2017 grew to more than double the 400 acres of fifth-ranked New York. The Hop Growers of America report also gave about 24 other states' statistics, with numbers ranging from 1 acre in Arizona and 200 in Colorado.

You won't find Michigan hops in macro-beers such as Budweiser or Miller Lite. The budding of smaller-scale farms has followed the craft beer movement, which now includes more than 320 breweries across Michigan and more than 5,300 across the U.S. With roughly 45 farms now growing hops in Michigan, the state is getting more attention, but it's also unclear how much the growth will continue.

"Most of what's driving our sales are the new and freaky varieties," said Brian Tennis, founder of the Michigan Hop Alliance, where 15 varieties were grown across 50 acres in 2017 on Leelanau Peninsula. "People are always looking out for the next big hop."

The growth in farms has aligned with an increase in craft brewing. The boom in microbreweries climbed to a peak in 2014 at 632, but fewer new ones opened in the following couple years, according to the Brewers Association craft-brewery trade organization. Now, farmers and experts predict the days of rapid hops-acreage growth are likely to subside.

"It's hard to grow everything at the same rate," George said. "We'll probably see some pullback of acreage expansion in the United States, and probably worldwide, until the beer industry can catch up, volume-wise."

She said there's about a two-year lag between growth in breweries and growth in hop farms and that "we've probably overshot the mark."

The 45th parallel north

Environmental factors such as climate and soil affect the characteristics of hops. This is known as terroir, and it's a major selling point for wine.

"Michigan Chinook (hop variety) is really, really nice as compared to the Pacific Northwest," Tennis said, adding that flavors are more like pineapple here, while the same variety in the Pacific Northwest has more of a gin or pine flavor. "It's very different."

Sean Trowbridge, co-owner of Top Hops Farms in Goodrich, southeast of Flint, said the same thing. He added that the Michigan Chinook "still has some pine, but that's more in the backseat."

The reasons for Michigan's hop success are largely geographic.

"Anywhere there are world-class grapes, you can grow hops," Tennis said. "We're on the 45th parallel, and the 45th parallel has historically been the sweet spot for growing hops."

Michigan's vineyards have doubled in size the past 10 years, to 13,700 acres — making it the fourth-largest grape growing state, according to the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council. It reports the state has 138 commercial wineries and is fifth in wine production.

The 45th parallel north includes hop-friendly parts of the Pacific Northwest, Michigan and Germany, among others, in the Northern Hemisphere. And results are similar on Earth's 45th parallel south, where hops are farmed in parts of Australia and New Zealand.

"We've got the right day-lengths and heat units," Tennis said. "You can't really grow hops in Texas, Oklahoma or Florida. It just doesn't work."

George said terroir is widely understood to make a difference with hops, and brewers frequently show a preference for hops by certain regions. But it's just one factor of many that people might consider when buying beer.

Brewers love them

Local brewers rave about the quality they're getting from local farms — especially Top Hops, a family-run farm.

"Of everybody growing hops in Michigan right now, (Top Hops has) been able to do things that I think are an aspiration for everybody in the hop world," said Stephen Roginson, co-founder of Batch Brewing Co. in Detroit. He said they're putting the "dedication to care that craft brewers put into their beer," and the "ingredients shine."

Adam Beratta, head brewer with Axle Brewing Co. of Ferndale, said he's "overwhelmed by the quality" of what he's getting from Top Hops.

Both name Top Hops Farms on recent beer menus: Batch with 12 Hour Day IPA (7% ABV) using "a metric s***load of Top Hops Chinook and Centennial" and Axle with Lone Tahoma (4.4%) extra pale ale using Tahoma hops.

Trowbridge said he and his father oversee the entire process on about 17 acres, and 2018 is their sixth year in business.

"No one will take as good of care of your product as you will," he said.

Beratta said he goes out to farms to examine the hops. And he uses Michigan sources for most if not all of the hops he uses — including ones from outside the state. Farmers such as Michigan Hop Alliance not only produce their own hops but also import varieties from foreign countries such as Germany and Australia.

But Beratta said he also finds Michigan-grown hops to regularly be fresh. He also likes the idea of helping the state's economy.

Roginson said that as a craft brewer, delicious liquid is top priority.

"After that, being able to tell a story about your beer is really important," he said. Local hops can be a conversation-starter.

Hops in Michigan are also getting noticed outside the state: For the first time, a Michigan farmer was ranked in a national competition for top producer of Cascade hops, through a panel of craft brewers' blind comparison of hop aroma, appearance and quality.

"While there is only one Cascade Cup winner each year, the 2017 Cascade Cup competition could very well be remembered as the year Michigan splashed onto the national hop scene as Hop Head Farms (of Hickory Corners) beat out 26 other hop producers across the U.S. to claim fourth place," wrote Rob Sirrine with Michigan State University Extension in a Feb. 7 article on the American Hop Convention in Palm Springs, Calif.

Tennis said Michigan Hop Alliance has never been busier.

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Shorts Brewing Co. of Bellaire was the first brewery to use its hops, for Kind Ale (7.7% ABV), a harvest ale (a beer style made in the fall season with hops freshly-picked from the field; for virtually every other style, hops are instead dried to prevent spoilage). And if you had Machu Beechu (8% ABV), a collaboration fruit IPA released recently from Short's and Rare Bird Brewpub, all those hops — Vic Secret, El Dorado and Mandarina — were brokered through Tennis' farm.

He said he also has sold to Bell's Brewery in the Kalamazoo area, Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids and New Holland Brewing in Holland. January was the best month yet for Michigan Hop Alliance.

"We paid a lot of idiot tax when we first started," Tennis said of his 10-year-old farm. "Hopefully we learned our lessons and we're headed in the right direction."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that Michigan Hop Alliance provided hops for Short's Brewing Co.'s Machu Beechu as a broker, because the varieties were grown outside Michigan.

Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen covers craft alcohol for the Free Press. Contact him: rallen@freepress.com or on Untappd, raDetroit; Twitter @rallenMI, and Facebook robertallen.news.