Hindsight is 20/20

Nicholas Schaut

Harvest

Wet

Brewer Direct

Dry/Condition

Sort/Grade

Test/Analysis

Bale

Cold Storage

Pelletize

Package

Market Cold

Storage

Whole Leaf

Package

Market Cold

Storage

Custom Bale

Picker/Sort

Lot #

In Ontario, mid August thru mid September

Determined by moisture (approx. 80%) and ripeness of lupulin

Colour, texture/sound, viscosity, varietal (early, mid, late maturing)

http://www.uvm.edu/extension/agriculture/engineering/?Page=hopscalc.html

Harvest Methods

Hand Cutting – laborious, heavy work requiring 3-4 people in the field – scalable

Side arm puller with wagon (German) $15,000 ++ used

Sophisticated hydraulic requirements

One operator followed by ground sweeper

Requires barbed wire grow lines

Top Cutter – expensive piece of equipment $16,000US Requires 90hp tractor for stability

Second tractor or truck with wagon

Hand Picked – limited to very small scale operations or part of an event associated with harvest.

Mobile Harvester – there are a number of designs currently available, most are suitable for less then five acres.

Stationary – typically Wolf harvester ten plus acres.

Field Harvester – units remove side arms and clusters for sorting off-field

Small Scale Harvesters

$10,000 - $25,000

Requires a separate power source i.e. spare tractor 30+hp, three-phase electricity or generator

Some units are hydraulically powered – potential contamination due to hose break

Generally can strip less then 100 bines/hour with extra cleaning required.

Starter unit for under 5 acres

Can be shared

Resale value - unknown

Typically a German Wolf WHE 140, 170, 220, 280 and up Cost with shipping before retrofit $32,000 + for older systems New generation Wolf harvester $310,000 (comes with a leather

jacket) Three phase or standard electrics (best to convert to North American)

Stationary - best situated in a clean food-grade ready building Can be mounted on a trailer to share (not recommended) Efficient and adjustable can be modified Older models of quality are becoming difficult to source Resale value – up to 15% above installation value Scale - 140 up to 12 acres

170 up to 16 acres 220 up to 24 acres

Must be timed with the peak harvest period of the cultivar chosen and brewing process.

Shipped immediately after picking.

Best shipped in a breathable bin in refrigerated vehicle.

Highest value for the grower – least amount of processing.

Typical ratio range for brewing 4-6(wet) :1 (dry) sometimes as high as 10:1

Shelf dryer one acre or less – under $1,000 Small quantity - hobby

Bulk container dryer - $5,000 - $8,000 600 – 800 lbs. capacity 10-12 hour dry time

Tobacco Kiln - $3,000++ used

Three floor Wolf dryer $20,000++ used, approx. 20 acres 1,000 – 2,000 lbs. depending on floor size

8 hour dry time

Small footprint

Bulk bin dryer - $20,000++ scalable Generally one heater per bin

Hops must be raked during drying

8 – 10 hours dry time

Some form of mechanical floor required to move the hops

Hop kilning or drying is part science/part art.

Hops are dried to 8–10% and must be conditioned to stabilize and balance the moisture level around 10-11%

Conditioning control is critical in our very humid harvest period.

Drying temperature Commercial bulk dryers 62°-82°C (143°-179°F) @

36”depth Air velocity is critical with high heat, moisture

evaporation from the hops cools the bed MAT (modified airflow and temperature)

Start 82°C (179°F) @ 0.3m/s (60 ft./min.) for 2+ hours Finish 70°C (158°F) @ 0.1m/s (20 ft./min.) Temperature can be adjusted to scale or volume of system.

Part Science/Part Art

Before hops can be baled or transformed into pellets, they must be moisture stabilized at between 10-11%

In the northeast hop cooling requires a controlled environment.

By blending or racking the particular lot, you can ensure a more stable and consistent moisture.

Two bale electric $8,000+ used.

120 – 200 pound capacity.

Relatively easy to have built.

Preserves the hops by reducing exposure to oxygen.

Wrapped in burlap or woven polypropylene bags.

Same considerations for small bale though Mylar bags are used.

Care must be taken to not over press the hops.

Wide range of pressure depending on next stage of processing requirements 85 kg/m3 – 145 kg/m3 or 5.3 lbs./ft3 – 9 lbs./ft3

Testing should be done on all finished hops

Growers should randomly select and test pre and post-pelleting to ensure quality through transformation.

Do not underestimate the appearance of the dry whole leaf or pelleted hop.

Extraneous materials (leaf, bine etc.) should be kept at a minimum.

Testing costs start at $40 sample

Brewers require at least the following:

AAU (α), Beta (β), and H.S.I. (hop storage index)

Requests for total oils may be required.

Immediate cold storage after baling and pelleting.

-4°C - 0°C (24°F – 32°F) Relative humidity 70-80%

Reduces the degradation of alpha acids and hop oils which in turn maintains a lower HSI (hop storage index)

Monitoring is still required especially if humidity is not controlled.

On farm bale storage allows the grower to hold the hops till pellet processing is available.

Walk in cooler/freezer $3,000+ used

Uniform particle size so as to not clog brewing equipment.

Allows for efficient isomerization of hop oils.

More accurate recipe development

Stability and longer storage.

Less space required.

Ease of use.

Blending

T-90

Industry standard

10% loss of original material

Equivalent to whole cone on analysis

Homogenous

Stabilizes the hop properties

Requires advanced screening equipment.

Up to 55% removal of original material

Concentrates α and β acids

Standardizes α acid percentages

Not required in most of the brewing market

T-45

Bale Breaker

Hammer Mill

Silo or blending silo

Pellet Mill Flat Die - roller on top or Ring Die - roller within the

ring

Cooling Chamber

Conveyor to packaging line

Pellet and hammer mills can generate high temperatures

Most are converted bio mass systems with hop specific flat or ring dies.

Better homogenous particulate when hammer milled

Whole leaf can be pelleted without grinding but is variety specific

More turn key systems available each year

Several companies developing and evolving systems

You get what you pay for.

Small Mills (less then 10hp generally flat die)

$10,000 - $25,000

Low through-put

May be applicable for a small group with less then 10 acres combined

Temperature at the mill will be a concern

Generally un-pressed whole leaf only or small bale 10lbs

Simple electrical requirements

High labour requirements

Medium Mills (10hp-40hp flat and ring die)

$85,000 - $200,000

Greater through-put based on hp. of the two mills

Can be used for a large acreage group of farms

Flexibility to add other components i.e.. blending silos, gear box cooling

Output from 100lbs. 1000+lbs./hour based on variety and heat

Whole leaf to commercial size bales

Requires commercial grade electrical support (3 phase or large generator)

Low labour requirements based on through-put

Large Mills

Millions and billions and world hop domination

Should be installed in a food grade building

Small Scale (approx. $4,000)

Scale (finely calibrated)

Vacuum Packer with nitrogen or Co2 flush capabilities adjustable for soft or hard packing

Foil bags (Mylar type)

4 – 5.5 mils in thickness

Oxygen and UV barrier

5, 10 kg. commercial or smaller for home brewers

Medium Scale (approx.$25,000)

Hopper scale dispenser with conveyors

Multi nozzle inert gas flushing vacuum packer adjustable for hard or soft packing

Foil bags (Mylar type) 4 – 5.5 mils in thickness

Oxygen and UV barrier

5, 10, and 20 kg. commercial smaller for home brewers

Labels should provide the following details: Farm name Variety Harvest year AAU %, Beta%, H.S.I. as a minimum Lot #

Example CAS-02-15-P-O (cascade-harvest 2-year-pellet-organic)

Lot # should refer to your field records, input/spray and pelleting records

If hops are purchased off farm, an additional marker should be placed and referenced in your recording system

Weight

Quality Control

Every stage of transformation is monitored and recorded whether by analysis, record keeping, visual observations, and sensorial activities

Facilities are appropriate for the activity where intermingling of foreign materials are controlled

Maintenance/cleaning records including staffing are kept

Detailed and efficient, specific to your operations

Intake protocol for off-site hops

Quality Assurance

Availability of records for review

Analysis certificates

Evolving transformation activities with QC in mind

Lot# assignment to monitor hops movement

Harvest

Wet

Brewer Direct

Dry/Condition

Sort/Grade

Test/Analysis

Bale

Cold Storage

Pelletize

Package

Market Cold

Storage

Whole Leaf

Package

Market Cold

Storage

Custom Bale

Picker/Sort

Lot #

Small Scale

Equipment $36,000 - $60,000

Lower depending on your ability to build/fabricate etc.

Hand harvest only.

Up to a maximum of 5 acres before harvester upgrade

Equipment$195,000-$300,000 Ingenuity can reduce some of these

costs

Hand harvest to mechanical

Bottlenecks in the flow create the potential for increased negative impacts on quality

10 acres and up

Medium Scale

If a grower produces 1lb.dry hops/plant with 900 plants/acre @15.00/lb. $13,500/acre

At 5 acres $67,500 gross sales. Many assumptions.

5 acres

Operational Costs

Field Equipment

costs

Hop Yard Installation & $75,000

Harvest/Processing $36,000 - $60,000

“Sales” $67,500

Shared Processing/Storage

Facility

Farm 1 acre

Farm 2 acres

Farm 5 acres

Regional Processing Facilities or shared on farm processing

for your time and interest.