All our brewers took some time out of our very busy brewing schedule recently to go on the annual ‘Hop Walk’ hosted by our hop supplier Charles Faram. The event was held at Stocks Farm, Suckley, Worcestershire, a 200-year-old hop farm run by Richard and Ali Capper.
Ben, Przemyslaw, Jack and Rob went along to get some insight into the UK hop market and to get better understanding of the hop growing and harvesting process. And they certainly got that. There were reports from worldwide hop suppliers via video links, and Ali Capper from Stocks Farm spoke about the importance of supporting UK grown hops and how the pandemic and pub closures impacted UK hop growers. Our team also got a chance to meet up with other suppliers, and enjoy a good lunch and then got a tour of the farm.
“I really enjoyed the tour of the farm and getting to see the Bruff hop picking machine at work,” said development brewer Rob after the visit, “I found it very interesting learning about UK hop varieties and the potential some of the varieties could have on new beers here at Saltaire.”
At Stocks Farm they produce seven tall varieties: Pilgrim, Target, Phoenix, Goldings, Jester, Olicana® and GP75. They also produce Endeavour, which is a hedgerow variety, and are working closely with The British Hop Association and Wye Hops on several trial varieties.
Charles Faram supplies pretty much all of the Hops we use here at Saltaire. For a UK hop example, the Olicana® hop in Breadwinner, and a worldwide example is the bohemian Saaz in Blonde.