Rope Swing Hops, a NJ based hop farm

Newtown: There’s a new hop farm on the rise in Sussex County and they need our help. I spoke to Colin from Rope Swing Hops and a NJCB Member about his hop farm project. Here is what we know and how you can help using Kickstarter.

We’re a growing family of farmers, craftsman, and home brewers. In 1982, the Ludwig family established Edgewood Farms, a 50 acre plot of land in Newton, NJ (Sussex County). Throughout the years, the family has raised sheep and cows, run a chicken coop so the family can enjoy fresh eggs, and grown its own fruit and vegetables.

As many family members brewed their own beer, we’ve experimented with growing a small amount of hops in the gardens (just a few vines) and have had great success. Typically, craft and home brewers use “pelletized” hops – little green pellets of dried compressed hops that won’t spoil for many months. It’s the backbone of the craft beer industry. Yet, the experience of tasting our own fresh, off-the-vine, “wet” hops in our home brew has been very satisfying and personal – we’ve taken the same care and attention given to the farm and brought it to the beer we drink.

We’re raising funds through Kickstarter to expand. The plan is to triple the number hop plants (up to 1000) so that we can provide fresh hops to more craft brewers in the area. This includes building an irrigation system to provide water for all the plants, hardware to install new poles and expand the number of rows of vines, and additional rhizomes.

Help us provide to brewmasters a quality, fresh, local ingredient that they can be proud of, found here in Northern New Jersey. Thank You, from all of us at Rope Swing Hops.

I asked Colin why, in one sentence, he wanted to grow hops. Watch this video and then scroll down to find out why. Then back them on Kickstarter because there’s always more room for hops in New Jersey. You may recall that our friends Oast House used Kickstarter a few years ago. Beau from Oast House has helped Rope Swing and as you’ll see, we are all in this together!

We’re growing hops because we love beer and we want the best, locally-sourced ingredients in the beer we drink.