• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

Grow your own hops year-round with this new hop-specific hydroponic greenhouse

October 23, 2017Chris Crowell

hydroponic hop greenhouse

For as abundant as hops are (and there’s possibly too many of them now) they sure are a fickle, expensive undertaking for growers. Plus, we have to wait for harvest time every year to get that fresh hop goodness. I, for one, demand that nature bend more to my will and allow for more efficient, localized hop growing. Rough Brothers Inc. (RBI) has launched a new concept that might do just that, changing everything we know about hop growing.

The idea is HopsHouse, a single-solution greenhouse designed to optimize yields through integrated systems and precision farming. It is the first single-solution hydroponic greenhouse for year-round hops growth and harvests, anywhere from two to five times a year. RBI says HopsHouse will provide growers and breweries a competitive advantage, supplying a fresher and more local product — straight from the bine to the brewery.

“The craft beer industry is growing. We saw an opportunity, and we are running with it,” said Tom Vezdos, RBI vice president and divisional manager of commercial greenhouses. “The introduction of HopsHouse allows breweries and growers to be more independent. No longer will breweries and growers be at the mercy of big beer conglomerates or inclement weather.”

Hops are a relative of cannabis and grow similarly to hydroponic tomato vines. RBI has worked in both industries for a number of years. A team of crop scientists, engineers, growers and beer enthusiasts from RBI took what they know about the two plants and successfully designed a controlled environment that allowed hops to grow and flower after three months. The team grew give different hops rhizome varieties and tested different nutrient and lighting combinations to ensure the best rate of growth.

Are IPAs giving you man boobs? How do phytoestrogens in hops affect humans?

The HopsHouse is offered in two different sizes: 30 foot x 60 foot, starting at $119,495 and 30 foot x 180 foot starting at $149,495. Pricing includes necessary systems and equipment. Options to customize are available.

The overall beer market is a $107.6 billion industry, according to the Brewers Association, with small and craft breweries contributing $67.8 billion to the U.S. economy. With Anheuser-Bush’s acquisition of SAB Miller International, which includes SAB Hop Farms located in South Africa, craft breweries have seen their supply completely cut off. The introduction of HopsHouse will allow breweries and growers to be more independent. A study by Hop Growers of America reported that nearly 90 million pounds of hops were harvested in 2016.

CascadeCupatBillyGoatHopFarm_2023
Colorado hop farm wins Hop Quality Group’s 2023 Cascade Cup
HPA
Hop crop update from Hop Products Australia
Mckenzie-hop
Meet McKenzie: Sustainable hop that’s like ‘Centennial on steroids’ via Haas
HAAS_FLEX_Landing_Page_Hero
Wiseacre Brewing explains the virtues of HAAS bittering hop product FLEX

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. HopsHouse says

    October 24, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    Thanks for sharing!

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Caius Farm Brewery opens in Branford, Conn.
  • Colorado’s Resolute Brewing shares its 2022 year in review (rebrands and invests in local malt)
  • 4 steps to understanding the filtration process in craft beer
  • Beyond beer: Examples of craft breweries exploring canned cocktails

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • 4 steps to understanding the filtration process in craft beer
    March 20, 2023
  • newbelgium_2023_wildnectar-shopping-basket_family_IMG_2Beyond beer: Examples of craft breweries exploring canned cocktails
    March 16, 2023
  • brooklyn 35 featureBrooklyn Lager turns 35 and more beers to know this week
    March 14, 2023
  • Backwoods Brewing to open a 19-acre resort called Party Acres in the Columbia River gorge this May
    March 13, 2023
  • Distribution update: NYC’s Alewife Brewing now sells in eastern Pennsylvania + news from Maui, Urban South and more
    March 13, 2023
  • Years in planning: Flix Brewhouse will open a nine-screen luxury theater and brewery in Mansfield, Texas, this fall
    March 9, 2023

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2023 · CBB Media LLC