With the city of Charlotte now ranked among the top 10 beer cities in America, it’s no surprise that local breweries are looking for locally sourced ingredients.
One farmer in York County now plans on meeting that demand with the help of over hop 1,200 plants planted at ‘Persimmon Hill Hops Farm’.
Larry Feller was initially inspired by the massive hop farms around Seattle and Portland, where he used to work as a chemical manufacturer for agrochemical company Syngenta. After moving to York County, he spent the past couple years converting some raw pasture land into a thriving city of hop plants. His first year yielded him about 90 pounds, and this year he’s expecting significantly larger yields as many of his vines continue to grow toward maturity.
Hops are one of the main basic ingredients in beer, along with yeast, grain and water (many brewers in Charlotte add additional flavors such as coffee, vanilla, fruit, and even hot peppers). Charlotte’s numerous craft breweries also demand a higher amount of hops since they tend to lean toward darker beers and pale ales (which both have more bitter ‘hoppy’ tastes).
The farm now sells Cascade hops and Nugget hops to both consumers (for home brewing) and to local breweries throughout the Charlotte region.