Ripples

At Echoview Farm in Weaverville, hop bines curl upward toward the sun. Hops helps bring out the particular flavors in different styles of beer, owner Julie Jensen explains. And while Western North Carolina’s moist climate is not ideal for large-scale hops production, certain specialty varieties are being cultivated at Echoview, Hop’n Blueberry Farm and through […]

Hop-along Saturday

These weekend, visitors came out for not one, but two whole festivals dedicated to the art of growing hops. Thousands of lime green cones stretched along steel cables at Echoview Farm in Weaverville and the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River on Saturday. Each tiny cone is a hop, a key […]

Get your hop on

Feeling hoppy? On Saturday, July 16, from 9 to 11 a.m., visit the "hop yard" at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in Mills River. The aim is to provide useful information to local brewers, Western North Carolina hops growers, those interested in becoming hops growers and folks just plain interested in hops. Researchers will […]