In Search of a Homegrown Beer

Comments

• shirley wrote on December 10, 2008, 09:00PM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

  Sounds like a smart business venture to me. Best of luck to him with his hop farm and brewery.

• Katy Nicholson wrote on December 11, 2008, 11:43AM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

  For its 10th Anniversary 2 weeks ago, Ithaca Beer unveiled alpHalpHa, a beer brewed with New York hops and New York honey. I consumed a portion of it at my favorite local bar in Ithaca, NY!

• Liam wrote on December 17, 2008, 09:38PM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

  If Mr. Carmichael should have had a more in depth conversation with Mr. Smack he might have gotten his facts right. Yeast provides the alcohol in beer not the carbonation. Beer is carbonated the same way as soda/pop, with compressed CO2. The exception being rare bottle conditioned brew the accounts for 1 or 2 % of the craft brew market.
  And hops were a central part of the economy in the area of New York near Cooperstown into the last century. They grow wild in the area to this day.

• Ben Carmichael wrote on December 18, 2008, 04:23PM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

  Thanks for your comment, Liam. You are right, of course – the role of yeast was mischaracterized. But I think you’ll find neither of us framed it quite right.

  The role of yeast is more complicated than simply providing alcohol or carbonation. In reality, it does both.

  In the instance your refer to, yeast itself doesn’t provide the alcohol. Rather, it facilitates the fermentation of beer. Yeast takes the sugars extracted from the grain -- barley in most instances -- and metabolizes them, producing both alcohol and carbon dioxide in the process.

  You’ll have to forgive the mistake – I’ve been living in England for a while now, where we drink our beer flat and at a carefully regulated basement temperature.

  As to hops – you’re quite right that New York was once home to a bustling hops production. You’ll see I mention that above. I haven’t tried it, but I do know that, as my friend Katy Nicholson mentions in her comment, that there are some breweries in NY using locally grown hops. There is -- or, at least, there was, from what I’ve heard -- a group at Cornell working on this.

• Eesha Williams wrote on January 31, 2009, 01:16PM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

  I heard that the hops in Wolaver's Organic beer (made in Vermont) are from China.

• Ben Jervey wrote on February 10, 2009, 09:04AM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

  Eesha--
  While I can't say for sure about the entirety of the Wolaver's line, they have a new "All-American Ale" with hops grown in Oregon.
  http://www.ottercreekbrewing.com/wolavers/beers/Pat_Leavys_All_American....

  Still across the continent, but getting better. And last time up in Vermont, I heard about one grower's plans to start planting hops up around the Champlain Valley. I'd expect by next summer to see how this experiment goes.

• Rachel Ahern wrote on February 12, 2009, 07:47PM : Flag this comment as inappropriate

  Does anyone know how much space is needed to grow barley?