CANYON COUNTY, Idaho — The next time you crack open a beer, the hops inside it may have started their journey right here in southwestern Idaho.
Hop harvest is wrapping up across the region, with growers now moving from long days in the fields to preparing their equipment and fields for next year’s crop.
At Gooding Farms near Parma, Wednesday marked the final day of this year’s harvest.
The farm has been growing hops in southwestern Idaho since 1945. Today, Diane Gooding runs the operation with her two sisters, continuing a family tradition that has lasted for generations.
“It’s a real honor to carry the legacy of the hop tradition here in southwestern Idaho,” Gooding said.
Once hops are harvested, the work continues.
Machines strip the vines, separating the hop cones from leaves, sticks, twine and other material. The cones are then dried to about 10% moisture, conditioned and eventually baled or pressed.
Hops play an important role in the flavor of beer, adding everything from citrus and spice to bitterness.
“They call hops the spice of beer,” Gooding said. “Some will be citrusy, some will be peppery, some will just provide bittering to offset the sweetness of the malt characters.”
While Gooding Farms was finishing its harvest, Schroeder Hops had already wrapped up for the season.
The family planted its first hop fields in 2014, and this year marked its 13th harvest.
Oliver Schroeder said different hop varieties mature at different times, meaning harvest can stretch across several weeks.
“We plant many different varieties that have different day length of growth period and so that they harvest at different times in the fall,” Schroeder said.
Even after the last hops leave the fields, the work continues. Crews at Schroeder Hops begin taking apart and inspecting the machinery, preparing it for another harvest season.
For many growers, the journey doesn’t end at the farm.
Hops from growers in the area can make their way to Mill 95 in Wilder, where they are processed into pellets and prepared for shipment.
The facility uses nitrogen during packaging to push oxygen out of the package, helping protect the hops’ flavor and aroma.
Once packaged, the hop pellets can be placed into cold storage before being shipped to breweries and other companies around the world.
That means a crop grown in southwestern Idaho can eventually travel thousands of miles before becoming part of a beer or other hop-based product, including products made right here at home.
For growers like Gooding and Schroeder, being part of Idaho’s tight-knit hop community is an important part of the industry.
And while this year’s harvest is ending, preparations for the next one are already beginning.
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