DAN’S PAPERS
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August 9, 2013 Page 71 WINERIES
NORTH FORK EVENTS
Drink in the whole North Fork!
So much to see and do this weekend!
Farmer Hops at Chance to Localize Craft Beer
T
he East End’s passion for locally produced wine is now long established—it’s a love affair that’s inextricable from the peaceful vistas provided by the vineyards that dot the North and South Forks. What could be a prettier sight then fields of ripening grapes that will eventually produce world-class wine? How about fields of ripening hops? That’s right, hops, one of the crucial ingredients in that other great thirst-quencher known as beer. (According to standard definitions, beer must contain water, malted barley or wheat and hops.) A number of craft breweries have sprung up across Long Island in the past few years, and they’re making some very decent beer. This is locally produced beer, but locavore sticklers would point out that so far, mostly only the water has been truly local. But that’s changing. Which brings us to Condzella Farms in Wading River, a family farm where John Condzella has started Condzella Hops. An avid homebrewer and craft beer enthusiast, Condzella saw an opportunity to provide local breweries with a local source of a key ingredient. “We provide fresh dried hops directly to the breweries, which allows them to use the hops at their peak,” explains Condzella. “If they get their dried hops from distant sources, they might not be as fresh, which means their flavor might have weakened.” And what is the flavor of hops? That depends somewhat on the particular variety—Condzella
to Condzella, the machine can cleanly grows Cascade and Mt. Hood hops— strip the hops from 170 hop plants per but, in general, hops are what give hour, while a human worker requires beer its bite. The bitterness and other a full hour to strip a single plant. complex flavors and aromas imparted With 1,000 plants to strip, yielding an by the hops serve to balance out the anticipated 1,500 pounds of hops, it’s bready sweetness of the malted barley. pretty clear why Condzella needed the In recent years, American craft brewers hop harvester! have taken to “hopping” their beers Condzella Farms has been in the much more heavily than in the past, family for over 100 years, and has gone and have also experimented with “wet through various changes: it started hopping”—that is, adding undried, justas a dairy operation, then became a harvested hops, which is only possible potato farm, and now is a truck farm if you have a local hop farm. growing asparagus, raspberries and “Last year, I partnered with Port strawberries. Condzella’s father works Jeff Brewing Company to provide wet the land as well, and is naturally an hops for their Wet Hop Ale, and we’re Hops farmer John Condzella enthusiastic supporter of Condzella Hops. going to do that again this year,” says All around the Condzellas are former farms that have Condzella. “That’s another niche we can fill.” Right now, Condzella has 1,000 hop plants, but he been turned into housing developments and strip is in the process of expanding the acreage devoted malls, which serve as a reminder of how difficult it is to hops. The tall rows of hop plants, waving in the to keep farming in the face of development. Certainly, beyond the fact that the local wine is breeze, must make for an unaccustomed sight for the motorists passing on 25A. Imagine their curiosity quite good, the East End’s support of our local wine if they were to catch a glimpse of Condzella’s most is partially tied to our awareness that the vineyards recent acquisition: that is, the German-made hop are helping to preserve an agricultural heritage and harvester, a construction of Rube Goldberg-level a rural character that is threatened by encroaching intricacy that is especially designed to strip the development. Wouldn’t it be great if the same were true of local beer? Condzella Hops is one of two hops ripened hops from the hop plants. “We’ve dubbed it ‘Beer Loves Company + Hops,’” growers in Suffolk County. Now all we need is for says Condzella of the fascinating machine, adding, someone to start growing barley! “We had a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to buy For more info, visit condzellasfarm.com. it, and the top donor got naming rights.” According Daniel Bowen Dermont
By dan koontz
H à { T Ç Ç â tÄ DINNER IN THE VINES tà The Lenz Winery GUEST CHEFS
ERIK ORLOWSKI & JOHN URBINATI, THE FIFTH SEASON 34 East Broadway, Port Jefferson
8.24.13
5-course wine dinner prepared & served in the vineyard Produce donated by
R & M ANDREWS FAMILY FARM 1038 Sound Avenue, Wading River
General Public: $175 Lenz Subscribers: $125
RSVP: 631 734 6010 28395