Trust has high hopes for hops as a new farm crop

SHARON — The Connecticut Farmland Trust hosts an outdoor picnic and fundraising event every summer, often with a notable chef or celebrity in attendance, usually at a site that’s distant from the Northwest Corner.

This year was a happy exception, with the party held on Sunday, Aug. 7, at a new type of farm, on 175 acres of prime farmland on East Street. James Shepherd, who is an M.D. and a specialist in infectious disease, purchased the property about two years ago with his wife, Shrevie. They had just returned from nearly a decade abroad; Shepherd had been consulting with the governments of Botswana and then India on controlling the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis. 

The family is settled in Connecticut now, with the youngest of their three sons preparing to attend a local high school this fall. Shepherd has returned to Yale University, where he is an associate professor in the School of Medicine.

Although his expertise in the spread of disease wasn’t the reason he chose to grow hops, it’s actually ended up being helpful. Hops were once a popular crop in Connecticut and the Hudson Valley and were used for making most of the beer brewed in America. 

“The Hudson Valley was the major hops-growing region of the United States,” Shepherd said, giving a tour of his 667 plants on 9 acres before the fundraiser began on Sunday. 

All the hops crops in the region fell prey to downy mildew in the early 1900s.

“By the time they were ready to replant, Prohibition had begun,” Shepherd said. 

And by the time the breweries were back in business, U.S. hops production had moved to the drier Pacific Northwest, which continues to supply all the major American brewers.

But craft beers made in small batches are becoming increasingly popular, around the world and here in the Tri-state region. For Sunday’s party, the beers were provided by Two Roads Brewing Co. in Stratford (one of the largest in the state) and by the Kent Falls Brewing Company (probably the smallest, with hops grown on a little more than an acre).

Shepherd doesn’t plan to brew his own beers but is hoping that craft brewers from the area will want to use hops grown in the state. He has also spoken to Michael Harney of the Harney & Sons Tea Co. about a type of hop called Teamaker, which doesn’t have the bittering acids used for making beer, just the essential hops aroma.

Teamaker is one of nine types of hops that Shepherd planted last year. So far, he said, four types have been growing vigorously, three are on the edge and two are probably not going to make it. 

There has already been a bit of downy mildew creeping into the hops fields, Shepherd said, but he’s treating it as he would an infectious disease: with preventive spraying. 

“It is quite analogous to public health,” he agreed. 

It isn’t a complete surprise that most of the hops are thriving on the East Street property, at what Shepherd has named Smokedown Farm. The plants are native to the road, he said. There are wild hops growing around the foundation of the farmhouse that used to be the center of the family farm that stretched all along the road many years ago. 

The soil and the climate are better suited to hops than to growing grapes for wine, Shepherd noted. 

When he and his wife bought the farm, they hadn’t originally planned to become a major hops producer, he said. But a little research pointed them in that direction, and he has high hopes that the hops will soon turn a profit for the farm. 

And of course they will provide a tangible benefit: beer. An Englishman, Shepherd said that he finds many American craft beers (such as the popular India Pale Ales) to be too strong.

Two Roads provided a beer for the party that he particularly liked, called Lil’ Heaven.

“It’s like an English pub beer,” he said, indicating his approval. “Some of the craft beers have 6 to 8 percent alcohol. This one is more like 4 percent. It’s more of a social lubricant than a heavy alcoholic beverage.”

Nick Moore, a former board president of the Farmland Trust, was at the party not only to support the organization but also because he and his wife, Leslie, live nearby.

“It’s a great farm, this is a great cause and he’s a great neighbor,” Moore said. 

The Farmland Trust’s goal is, as its name suggests, to protect  farmland in the state, primarily through easements. Moore said there are currently 10 properties that are in the process of being protected, and three or four where the deals are likely to be finalized this year.

One project the trust is particularly happy about is the protection of what is now known as the Cooley Preserve in Cornwall. Another local and recent preservation success was the Wike Brothers Farm in Sharon.

To learn more about the trust and its projects, go to www.ctfarmland.org.