Quenching the Thirst
Chapter One: The Farmers
Jeff and Bonnie Steinman (pictured above) are betting their farm on Michigan’s craft brewing industry. The Barry County, Michigan couple spent several years experimenting before launching Hop Head Farms LLC in the summer of 2012. They are growing hops that brewers need on a 40-acre lot with 15-acres of new plants.
They also have a small test yard that the Steinmans started in 2009.
This is perfect for these two. Jeff and Bonnie are just what they say they are and you can feel their enthusiasm for their craft even in a conference call phone interview. I spoke with them on the patio of a Starbucks near Kalamazoo, Mich. while they took a break from their farming operation on a hot summer day
You have to believe her when Bonne says that she and Jeff are “plant people” who are always looking for new crops to grow. Perhaps more importantly, they don’t just like beer. They love beer. Bonnie said they are “beer enthusiasts, especially (for) Michigan-brewed beers.”
How could there be any business more perfect for this couple?
They are targeting craft and home brewers who Jeff said are having a hard time getting the hops they need, especially locally grown hops. Large hop farms are locked into long-term contracts with the macro-brewers, the giants of the industry. “So we are trying to reopen the market to some of the smaller guys,” he said. “Very few have large barrel capacity in any one state. The small breweries have a hard time. We would like to work with larger breweries but would like to help the smaller breweries with supply issues.”
The smaller breweries are really a victim of their own success, or better said, they are a victim of their own recipes. They have supply issues because the micro- and craft-brewers use a lot more hops to make barrels of beer than do macro-brewers, according to Jeff. “Even though is a small percentage, the craft brewers have really impacted the supply of hops.”
Jeff and Bonnie got down and dirty when it came time to ignite their passion. With a business model in the works for several years , Jeff said that close to 15,000 plants were hand-planted in hand-crafted hop hills augmented with local compost and covered in organic weed control paper over a period of three and a half weeks. Five varieties of hops were planted of which three were in short supply for the 2012 season already when I spoke with the Jeff and Bonnie.
More than 20 volunteers came from as far away as the Chicago and Detroit areas to assist the Steinmans in the planting of the hops. They converted a corn field located in downtown Hickory Corners to a hop farm of nearly 15,000 plants grown on a trellis system reaching over 20 feet high in merely four months.
“The farm and facilities were developed with the assistance of several different contractors contributing their expertise to the project including a trellis contractor, well drillers, irrigation contractor, and Morton Buildings and their subcontractors as well,” Jeff said. Nearly all materials and work are from Michigan businesses including treated pine poles, wire, compost, and starter plants.”
He also said they planned to receive additional assistance with the work still ahead of them through University of Illinois interns, paid seasonal employees and continual volunteer assistance that has proven invaluable.
~RTR~
Quenching The Thirst and the other ebooks in this series are available through Amazon.
