It’s a match made right here in Northwest Indiana — a local farmer growing hops used by local craft breweries to make signature beer.
It’s also the fulfillment of a dream for both the farmer and the brew masters.
Steve Howe, who grew up in Highland and spent his summers working on a farm in Terre Haute, grows six varieties of hops at Howe Farms in Winfield on two acres he first tilled in 2013.
“There are hundreds of different varieties of hops used in brewing," Howe said. "They’re used for bittering, aromatics and flavor. Our varieties cover all the basics — fruity, lemony, spicy, bitter.”
Howe started planting hops as the craft beer market blossomed.
“It’s one of the fun things for a family to do. There’s nothing more important than family,” said Howe, who is teaching his young children how crops are grown.
The craft beer scene embodies “creativity and artistry. There are no boundaries,” said Howe, who sells to Four Fathers Brewery, in Valparaiso, and Route 2 Brewery, in Lowell. He also sells hops to home brewers.
Midwest farmers began growing hops a decade ago, he said, though it didn't come to Indiana until 2012. Until then, the hops used in brewing operations here came primarily from the Pacific Northwest.
“It’s an exciting thing for the state,” Howe said.
He is one of the local farmers who signed on to the Indiana Grown movement, an effort to promote local purchasing of farmers’ crops.
Developed by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, the statewide initiative was recently launched and promotes Indiana-produced agricultural products. The new program is led by Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann, ISDA and a 12-member Indiana Grown Commission. It will connect businesses that use or sell agricultural products such as restaurants, grocers, wholesalers, processors and farmers’ markets with Indiana-based producers of meat, milk, cheese, fruit, vegetables, wine, beer and forest products.
According to the ISDA, Hoosiers spend $16 billion a year on food, more than 90 percent of which comes from outside Indiana.
“The Indiana Grown Initiative will be an incredibly useful and economically impactful tool for consumers and producers alike,” said Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann during the July 7 launch of the program.
“I applaud the collaborative work of the Indiana Grown Commission over the last year to thoughtfully develop a program to identify and promote Hoosier products and facilitate moving them from the farm to the table,” she said.
Even before joining the Indiana Grown initiative, Howe pursued connections with local breweries.
Last September, the two brewers/owners of Four Fathers Brewery first tested Howe’s small crop of three different hops to make an American Pale Ale.
“It made five gallons and went quickly. Customers really liked it,” said Jason Lacny, who partners with fellow brewmaster Colin Oswald at the Valparaiso brewery that opened in 2014. Their wives, Beth Lacny and Kimberly Oswald, are the other two partners.
One of the brewery’s signature American Pale Ales, called Dr. Terminus, used a hop blend from out of state that’s no longer available, which led to a new business relationship with Howe, said Jason Lacny.
The new blend of hops from Howe Farms “are 100 percent locally sourced Indiana brand,” he said. “This will be a Four Fathers blend.”
Howe said the Indiana Grown program is a plus for Hoosier residents and farmers.
“This is good for consumers because they know where the crops are grown,” he said. “The more dollars we can keep in the state the better.”