The 2026 Wildfire season across the Pacific Northwest has brought air quality to the top of everyone's mind. For growers and commercial brewers, heavy wildfire smoke brings a fair question: how does smoke exposure during harvest affect hop quality, and what is being done to protect the crop?
Distributors are already raising prices on 2025-crop Tettnang, Mittelfrüh, and Magnum, with complete shortages of varieties like Perle on spot sheets. North American distributors are signaling that spot availability will tighten, especially in late 2027, and are urging brewers to contract early.
Congratulations! Your plants will hit full maturity this year! It took some time, care and attention but it’s about to all pay off. What does reaching maturity mean for a hop plant? All the good stuff - robust growth and more cones, packed with full strength acids and oils! So, let's get growing!
Welcome back! You’ve made it through your first year of growing, so what's next? Now it’s time to get excited because this year your established plants are about to show significant growth and cone production. For Part 2 of this series, we have also enlisted friend and customer, David Aiken of Checkerhead Brewing in Shirley, BC who has also been cultivating his own backyard hops for the last few years. We hope you’ll find his insights and videos on growing hops at home helpful. Now, let’s get growing!
Are you a home brewer wanting to grow your own beer hops? Maybe a farmer, looking to experiment with a new crop? No matter what your inspiration is, here is a quick guide for the first year and helpful hints to get you started on your hop growing adventure.
One Brewery’s very Canadian call for unity.
In a country roiling in both economic and political turmoil, right now it can be hard to see a a safe path for the future. Every industry is facing concerns over new supply chains, sourcing new markets and how to support our own economy, locally and nationally. It can feel daunting, but one Ontario Brewery sees it as an opportunity to bring people together.
Topp's Hops joins Longwood Brewery's Telegraph Project
On December 31st 2024 the tiny coastal village of Telegraph Cove, BC suffered a devastating fire. Home of the world famous Whale Interpretive Centre and Telegraph Cove Resort & Campground, the area has long been a tourist haven on the north Island.
