Summit Land Conservancy Executive Director Cheryl Fox hopes it’s a lucky harvest on Friday, Sept. 13. The wild hops that grow on protected open space are a bit behind schedule due to a cold spring, but Fox says she’s looking forward to meeting up at the Wasatch Brew Pub and heading out to hunt for hops.
"We're going to gather up at 9 a.m., and we’ll divide up, and we’ll head out into the hills and find these wild hops, and we harvest them," Fox said. "That's the fast part that takes usually around an hour. Then, we bring them all back to, again, the back of the Wasatch Brew Pub, and we sit around and we pull the cones off of the bines."
Fox says separating the cones from the rest of the plant takes much longer than going out and looking for the hops. In the past, Fox says volunteers have collected between 42 and 75 pounds of hops.
"When we're done, the brewer takes them right into the Brew Pub and puts them right into the vats, so it is actually fresh hops beer that they brew, and then the Wasatch Brew Pub is very nice and provides all of our volunteers with a lunch," Fox said. "And in three or four weeks, then we will have the Hoppy Hour party, where we get to drink the fruits of our labor."
The beer, named “Clothing Hoptional,” will be served on tap at the Brew Pub at Summit Land Conservancy’s Hoppy Hour on Oct. 12. To sign up to volunteer for hops hunting and picking on Sept. 13, visit wesaveland.org.
