Thank you to everyone who came out to join us in celebrating American Craft Beer Week.  The team from SingleSpeed did an awesome job of coordinating the bike ride from their Cedar Falls taproom to the farm. How far?  Just 5 Miles. 

Hmm, only 5 Mile?  What a great name for a beer made with local hops from a farm only five miles away!  

Available exclusively from the SingleSpeed taproom in Cedar Falls:
American Pale Ale
"5 Miles is an excitingly short distance when you think about new friends. That’s just what we’re doing when we think about how awesome and close Cedar Falls Hops Co. is. Made with delicious Cascade and Columbia hops, grown locally in our own back yard this collaborative pale ale is  an excitingly short distance from your taste buds. "

And yes, we're totally biased, but its delicious!

Celebrate American Craft Beer Week with SingleSpeed Brewing Co and Cedar Falls Hops Co! As you embark on your journey to taste and celebrate Independent Craft Beer during American Craft Beer Week, learn about the local industry developing to grow hops in Iowa. 

Participants can visit Cedar Falls Hops Co. from 9:00AM until 2:00PM to see the spring time hops fields and have the opportunity to help plant hops on this expanding farm. An optional bicycle ride leaving from the SingleSpeed Cedar Falls Tap Room to the hop fields will begin at 10:15 am. 

Beginning at 12:00PM on Saturday, the Cedar Falls SingleSpeed Brewing taproom will feature an American Pale Ale made with Cascade and Columbia hops grown at Cedar Falls Hops Co. Be one of the first to enjoy this Iowa grown and brewed beer!
Find more details on Facebook HERE. ​

After a very late winter, we are happy to be back working in the hops field again! 

On April 18th we received 4" of snow!  While it didn't last long, it is definitely later than normal for us to be getting started.  The photo below shows the same field with photos taken about six hours apart. 

Now is the time when we start "stringing hops". Stringing hops is the process of going through the field and adding strings to where each plant will soon be growing. Our trellis system is such that each plant will have a "V" of strings, so two strings per plant. For our original four acres this is roughly 8,500 strings! 

Hops plants grow on a coconut coir string. This is kind of like a very rough and tough baling twine. It is all natural, but yet it stands up to the harsh conditions of almost six months of plants growing.  Each of the strings is precut in 20' lengths, so there is plenty of extra for both tying and pinning. 

We use what is known as a Cow Hitch Knot to secure the string to the top wire.  After the first few hundred it is easy to do!  I will admit, we tie them one by one. 

Want to see the professionals?  This video on YouTube shows a master. No joke. Skip ahead to the 2:05 mark in the video and watch him tie two at once, one in each hand. Its unbelievable!

The most difficult part of growing hops, in my opinion, it takes the right conditions with very little wind to get this done efficiently. In our area, these days are hard to find in the spring. 

We are very fortunate to have a hardworking group of college students and friends who help make this daunting task possible.