For Josh Grazul ’13, there is more to hops farming than just the taste of beer. The draw is in the intricate growing process and the hard work that goes into building a business from the soil up. Over a century ago, New York State was a significant producer of hops, which is used to flavor and stabilize beer. But after blight and an aphid infestation destroyed many of the crops in New York and then Prohibition took effect, the once thriving industry all but disappeared.

Now Grazul and others like him who have a passion for growing hops are revitalizing the business with blight-resistant plants.

“We’re looking to provide hops to local breweries, either this year or next year.”

“It’s an old crop that’s finally coming back,” Grazul said. “We’re looking to provide hops to local breweries, either this year or next year.”

Right now, most of Grazul’s hops are sold to American Hydroponics and Ithaca Coffee, which sell hops to home brewers. Since more of his crop is coming into maturity, which takes about three years, Grazul plans to maximize his harvesting capabilities and sell to local breweries.

This fall he partnered with the Bandwagon Brewpub to create a harvest ale, which uses hops that are harvested and brewed within a 24-hour period. This process makes the beer more crisp and flavorful, rather than bitter. Grazul’s interest in hops was borne out of a beverage tasting class he took as a student at Tompkins Cortland Community College. He briefly considered starting a vineyard but found that idea cost prohibitive.

Since the hops plant is a rhizome, meaning that you can use the offshoots of one plant to create another, the need to purchase additional plants is reduced. Hops grow in rows, wrapping themselves in helixlike formations, called bines, up a trellis placed nearby for that purpose. The part that’s harvested is a pinecone-shaped bud that is pulled off the plant by hand and processed using a machine called a pelletizer.

"IC’s business school helped a lot. I learned how to write a business plan, handle finances, manage people, and market a business.”

Grazul had been planning to start a hops farm when he came to the School of Business at Ithaca College. He said the skills he cultivated there helped to bring his ideas together and make them a reality.

"I really think IC’s business school helped a lot,” Grazul said. “I learned how to write a business plan, handle finances, manage people, and market a business.”

Grazul’s family has also been very supportive in his venture. His parents own the farm property and field where he grows his hops, 13 miles from Ithaca. His dad even helped him come up with the farm’s name: Rhizome Republic.

“My father has been the one helping me make the barn into a hops barn, and he’s been helping me out in the field as well,” Grazul said.

In 2012, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo created a farm brewery license to promote the growth of local ingredients for breweries. As the number of New York microbreweries increases, so will the demand for local hops. And Grazul is hoping to help meet that demand.