Coleman Hop Farm

For those of you don't know, my dad's sister, my aunt, married a Coleman. For those of you don't know, the Coleman family is huge in St. Paul, Oregon. Why? Because they grow hops that make beer of course! Last weekend Matt and I were able to get a tour of the farm and had such a wonderful time hearing the process of harvesting hops. This weekend we are brewing beer with Willamete hops from the Coleman farm! Here are some photos...

On the hop picking truck.

View of the rows that have already been picked and the rows that had yet to be picked.

Once we collect the vines, we take them to here to get the hops taken off the vine (what a process!)

Inspecting the hops - John (my uncle: The farmer) shows us various damage from wind and mites. That is my aunt Liz in the photo with me.

Once the hops are clean, they are taken here to dry for possibly 7 hours. They dry from underneath. The hops cannot be dried too much or too little. It is a precise timing when to stop drying the hops - thus it is left up to John to decide when the process is done. For him, he can just feel the hop and know when it is ready. Neat, huh?

Thousands of pounds of drying hops. In Matt's words, "This is just beautiful"

A video of the truck picking the hops (it is all done by machine with a little guided help from the workers).

Who wants some beer?