Ontario Hop Growers' Association The OHGA is a not-for-profit association of hop growers, families and enthusiasts who are interested in supporting the growth of the hop industry in Ontario.
OGHA 2015 Hop Benchmark Project
(Done in conjunction with Niagara College)
OHGA is looking for hop growers interested in participating in the first-ever Ontario Hops bench marking project.
The purpose of the project is to help identify peak harvest times for hops grown in Ontario by having participants send in samples of their hops three time during the growing season, early, peak harvest and late – with the goal of identifying when the selected varieties are when alpha a beta levels are at their peak.
Testing is FREE, growers just need to pay for postage to submit samples to Niagara College. Results to individual tests should be back within 7 days, the full report sometime in November.
Objective: Benchmark alpha/beta acids and HSI’s of a variety of different Ontario grown Hops grown in different geographical regions (south west, central and eastern Ontario) using early/mid and late hop harvests evaluations to help establish correct harvesting in Ontario.
Requirements: Two farms are needed to each of the 10 selected hop varieties, and these two farms should have a marked degree of physical separation. This could represent up to 20 different farms depending on participant interest.
Criteria for Hop farm participants:
Growing at least one of the following hops:
- Cascade
- Hallertau
- Nugget
- Centennial
- Chinook
- Sorachi Ace
- Mount Hood
- Willamette
- Saaz or Sterling
- Bertwell
Requirements:
- The hops need to be in at least their 3rd year of growth.
- The required format can be leaf or pellet and dried to 8-10% moisture
- Three samples of 50-100gm must be harvested two weeks before expected harvest time, another at harvest time, and two weeks after harvest was done. (Sampling technique will be sent to the selected farms)
- The samples need to be shipped/delivered to Niagara College in a timely fashion for testing.
- Results will be made available to all members by November 2015 (as per Niagara College)
For the purposes
If you wish to take part in this project please respond via email to info@ohga.ca asap, stating which geographical region the farm is situated in and which varieties the farm is willing to send samples for. Participants will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis.
OHGA members will get first dibs, but the project will open to non members if we can’t find enough growers from within to meet the requirements.
Once Participants have been selected and confirmed, they will be notified and provided with a package with complete details and labels.
We expect to send out notifications to the selected farms by August 21, 2015 at the latest.
Cheers,
OHGA
