Aroostook Hops is a small family farm that started growing hops in Westfield, Maine in 2009. Our mission is to produce excellent quality whole hops for brewing and rhizomes for propagation using organic farming methods.
We are surrounded by beautiful rural views of Mars Hill Mountain (with its 28 wind turbines) to the east, Aroostook State Park's Quaggy Jo Mountain to the northwesr, and a mix of rolling farm fields and woods all around.
We established two varieties in the first year (Nugget and Cascade), and had great success overwintering them. In spring 2010, we expanded with two more varieties (Centennial and Willamette), and increased our hop yard to just under an acre of plantings. We now have over 600 crowns growing, with plans to expand further in spring 2012 and add a couple more varieties.
This past fall 2011 was the first year that our three-year old plants are at full production... what a busy picking time! Dreams of a hops harvester filled our heads through the hours of hand-picking. 2012 will surely hold new challenges and lots of labor as we expand, but we are excited to continue to "grow", in more ways than one.
