I love me some craft beer, especially from the kick ass microbreweries right here on Long Island. While many of us enjoy the idea that our beer was brewed within a 50 mile radius, we tend to overlook the distance our beers' ingredients travelled prior to brewing. John Cadzella of Cadzella Hops, a farm that grows hops in Wading River, is trying to change this and he needs our help!
The University of Vermont shared in a study on hops feasibility that in 1990, New York was the largest producer of American hops in the country, producing 49% of the entire U.S. yield. Unfortunately, the Prohibition slowed our stroll while the west coast continues as the nation's largest producer. Cadzella's family has been farming on his land for 4 generations. Inspired by the boom in craft beer popularity, he started producing hops and harvested his first crop last year. Many of the local breweries on Long Island are taking advantage of the availability of local hops, including Long Ireland and Port Jeff Brewing Company. However, it takes 45 minutes to harvest just one plant by hand.
As his farm expands and more breweries are eager to get his gods, John is in a pickle. He needs a hop harvester that will potentially increase his processing yield to 1,500 bine, (the sprout of the hop plant that is used in brewing), per hour. The problem is, those suckers are BIG and EXPENSIVE! John's got his eye on one from Germany, much like many vine makers import their wine presses from Europe. Cadzella needs our support to back his project on kickstarter.com to reach his ultimate fundraising goal and bring the hop harvester to Long Island. Not only will it provide a huge advantage to local breweries, but John also plans on forming a co-op in which all hop growers on Long Island can use his hop harvesting machine. Let's raise our glasses, extend our hands, and show some support to our dedicated neighbor so he can spread the hoppiness and joy of Long Island.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1498739112/condzella-hops-unites-li-farmers-and-local-breweri?ref=card
- Cristina Cosentino
- I'm just a curious eater looking to get back to when all food was clean and green. Follow me as I visit farms, talk to chefs, forage with experts, and eat my way closer to the answers to how our food system became so broken. I'm not searching for the trendiest bunch of kale or fanciest mushroom, but rather solutions for those of us who want responsible and sustainable sustenance.
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