Michigan Hop Alliance Had Best Harvest In 12 Years (And You Can Taste The Results In Stormcloud’s Just-Released Harvest Tripel)
Brian Tennis, who founded Michigan Hop Alliance along with his wife Amy Tennis by planting their landmark first acre of hops in Omena in 2008, just experienced what he calls “the best harvest in our 12-year history.” Yields were up 74 percent, he tells the Leelanau Ticker.
“That was due to our hopyard being fully planted and the maturity of the plants, as well as our increase in efficiency,” Tennis says.
The efficiency is credited in part to a merger three years ago, when Commerce Township-based Streetcar Partners Management purchased a controlling interest in Michigan Hop Alliance. It allowed for such immense growth in hop processing, production and brokering for Michigan Hop Alliance that it became the largest independent hop supplier in the Midwest almost overnight.
Looking back at the recent harvest, Tennis says, “it was one of the few bright spots of the year for an otherwise temporary downturn in our industry. I’m extremely confident that 2021 will be another banner year for the Michigan hop industry and Leelanau hop farmers will be leading the charge.”
During hop harvest, brewers in the region often take advantage of the availability and proximity of wet hops to make harvest ales. “We pick hops perfectly ripe and take the cones — when they are wet — right to the brewery, which we can only do for a week or two,” explains Tennis. “But it wasn’t a [big] year for wet hopped beers because of COVID-19. A lot of our breweries rely on walk in traffic and they decided to forgo the wet hop beers because they are usually served exclusively on tap. We did, however, make our seasonal wet hopped beers with Stormcloud, Short’s, and Land Grant in Ohio.”
At Stormcloud Brewing Company in Frankfort, Head Brewer and Co-Owner Brian Confer crafts a seasonal release of the brewery’s Harvest Tripel, where blends the traditional Belgian Tripel beer style with freshly harvested hops grown in northern Michigan. Released annually, using a different hop variety every year, the 2020 Harvest Tripel is brewed exclusively with Michigan Saaz hops grown by Michigan Hop Alliance in Omena.
Confer explains when using fresh, whole cone hops in brewing, that it is imperative to use the freshly harvested hops as soon as possible to ensure maximum aroma and flavorn of the brew. This year’s Harvest Tripel was brewed within 24 hours of the hops being harvested.
“I personally delivered the hops to Stormcloud this year,” says Tennis (pictured above). “It’s satisfying to see our hops go from field to brew kettle in less than a day, and it’s rewarding to have our product become an essential ingredient in such a distinctive beer. Stormcloud is the only brewery I’m aware of crafting a fresh-hopped Harvest Tripel.”
In the past, Stormcloud has brewed a series of Harvest Ales with fresh hops. But the brewery has scaled back its wet hopped offerings to focus entirely on brewing the Harvest Tripel.
Confer says the Stormcloud brewing team also used Leelanau-grown Pilsner malt from Empire Malting Company.
“Vibrant. That’s how our brewers describe this special beer and I agree,” says Amy Martin, Stormcloud Membership Coordinator and member of the American Homebrewers Association Governing Committee. “The beer flavor is bursting with ripe hop essence that delicately permeates the beer. You can’t get that from using hop pellets, oils or even whole leaf hops.”
The Harvest Tripel made with Omena-grown, Michigan Saaz hops is available on tap in both Stormcloud’s pub and taproom in Frankfort, likely through December, says Confer.
Images courtesy Stormcloud Brewing Company