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Since the idea of a Brixton Beer Company came to us in the autumn, we have been making plans, finding supporters and tasting lots of local ales (all in the name of research!). We’re now at a point where we can start to make things happen, so we want to share some more information about the project.
So what’s it all about? We want to grow hops across a network of individual and community gardens, get local breweries to make beer out of them and drink the result. Simple!
We need people to get involved by planting some hops. You don’t need much space as it’s a vertical plant – a patch of ground next to a tall fence (dwarf varieties grow up to 6ft tall) would be ideal, or you can simply put a spike in the ground. Growing hops is quite easy and we’ll be creating a series of instructional videos and an FAQ to get you going.
We have a number of growing experts on board, as well as people with hops and beer knowledge and some supportive local breweries who are keen to use our hops in their brews! Hops are a perennial plant (they grow back every year) and they reach full maturity in three years. You’ll get usable hops in year one and two, just not as many as when the plant is fully grown. One plant can produce up to 1kg of hops each year, and as an added bonus you can eat the delicious shoot trimmings in spring – they are known as poor man’s asparagus and taste incredible fried in butter!
We’ll be creating a starter pack that will include a hops rhizome, the growing medium, organic fertilizer, training string and instructions. We are still working up the costs but its likely to be £20. You’ll need to prepare the ground (we’ll show you how) a week before the planned big plant on the 17th March, when we’ll be distributing the hops from a stall at the Stockwell Green Fair. When the hops are ready each year we will organize a place for pick up, then we’ll take them to a local, independent brewery to get made into beer! Naturally, we’ll need to sample the fruits of our labour…
If you want to take part in this project please get in touch with us using the contact form below, stating how many plants you’d like to order and we’ll take it from there!
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[...] putting together a starter pack and organising a planting event for the 17th March. Sign up on their website if you want to get [...]
[...] putting together a starter pack and organising a planting event for the 17th March. Sign up on their website if you want to get [...]
[...] about it, and it has been time well spent, which I want to share with you here. The idea came in a post on the City Farmers website, entitled ‘Brixton Beer’. The idea is a simple one: rather than breweries in London buying [...]
[...] [...]
[...] about it, and it has been time well spent, which I want to share with you here. The idea came in a post on the City Farmers website, entitled ‘Brixton Beer’. The idea is a simple one: rather than breweries in London [...]
[...] putting together a starter pack and organising a planting event for the 17th March. Sign up on their website if you want to get [...]
[...] about it, and it has been time well spent, which I want to share with you here. The idea came in a post on the City Farmers website, entitled ‘Brixton Beer’. The idea is a simple one: rather than breweries in London buying [...]