We cordially invite you to join us on

Thursday 8th September 2016Meet from 11.00am for registration and trade exhibition

Buffet lunch served at 12.30pmPresentations start at 2pm • Finish approx 5pmCourtesy of the Powell-Tuck family

Pridewood Farm, Ashperton, Herefordshire HR8 2SF We sincerely hope you can join us.

Please fill in and return the attached form if you are able to attend.Pre-booking is the only way to ensure your 2 complimentary spaces.

Guests arriving on the day without pre-booking will be charged at the full rate.

Hop Harvest Open Day

Events on the day will include:

• A full explanation of hop growing and harvesting• Tours through the hop growing and harvesting areas• Information on the current hop market and reports

from the harvests around the globe• An update from Peter Darby about the current

developments at Wye Hops Ltd• An update on the Charles Faram Hop Development Programme

(new varieties) and beers brewed with these new experimental hops• Well hopped, distinctive beers available to compare varieties• A chance to ask questions, meet other like minded brewers to exchange

views and enjoy a beautiful part of the Herefordshire countryside• Our supplier partners will be in attendance to further the

information available to you on the day including malt, yeast, brewing aids, closures and hop products

Pridewood has been run by Martin and Julia Powell-Tuck since 1996 when they took over from Julia’s parents, John and Barbara Morris, who had been there since Spring 1986. They had purchased it from the Anderson family who had run it for 18 months before realising that hop growing really wasn’t that easy! Prior to this it was owned by Mr Vernon for two seasons and before that Mr Rimell who had been there for a very long time. No-one seems to know exactly how long hops have been grown there but it is thought that

it began in the late 19th century. Work on the farm is mainly done by Martin, his brother Robert and a full-time employee from Romania, Michael. Casual staff are employed locally and from overseas to help with the stringing, tying and harvesting of hops.

Varieties grown are Goldings (17 acres), Fuggles (6 acres), WGV (12 acres), Progress (6 acres), Target (6 acres), Bramling Cross (2 acres), Keyworth (approximately 1.5 acres), Chinook (2 acres) and our latest developmental

hop ‘Ernest’ (0Z97A).As well as hops, the farm

grows oilseed rape, wheat and standard and bush cider fruit which goes to Weston’s at Much Marcle and Bulmer’s in Hereford. A few sheep graze the standard cider orchards with lambing in February/March.

Pridewood’s spacious grounds include bed-and-breakfast rooms, a well-stocked coarse fishing lake with Carp, Roach and Tench, a walled garden and beautiful lawns stretching out towards the open countryside beyond.

PRIDEWOOD FARMPridewood Farm is situated on the A417, six miles north west of Ledbury.

CF HOP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (Notes from Peter Glendinning)

n Please complete the relevant section on the reply form if you would like to take home hop bines on the day. The cost is £15 per bine (each approx 6 ft long) and this is payable directly to the farm on collection.

The programme continues to expand with increased plantings of Jester, Archer, Minstrel and now Olicana, and we have welcomed more hop growers into the

group. In searching for more new varieties, we now have over 200 plots out on farm, testing new hop selections. Farm plots are essential for developing new varieties; for demonstrating growing habits and tolerance to pests and diseases at different sites, and especially their suitability for machine picking. They are large enough to give us commercial brewing samples of 10kg to 50kg, and then should a selection be chosen for expansion, there is adequate plant material for rapid propagation.

Every year our growers plant out about three dozen new selections in farm plots - a considerable challenge on a commercial hop farm. Planting, growing, harvesting and then grubbing plots, may appear to invite a degree of wasted effort. Some plots can be very short-lived, but they are crucial for showing us problems not

evident in the single parent plant. They are an integral part of the selection process in the search for new varieties, which can only be as

strong as the ones that fail to make the grade.The programme supports growers

wishing to take a risk planting a larger plot of a more hopeful selection. But

it is a risk. We also consider it useful to have ‘sleeper’ varieties

in the ground ready and waiting, so that growers can respond quickly if a market opportunity suddenly

presents itself. Selections are developed into varieties at differing speeds depending more on results from brewing trials than their suitability for growing. Brewer involvement and brewing trials remain a key driver

in this programme, so thank you for continued involvement and support.

PLANNING A FRESH (GREEN) HOP HARVEST BEER?GET YOUR FRESH HOPS AT THE 2016 HOP WALK!Fresh Hop Harvest Beer – brewed with fresh Pridewood Hops.

HOP BINES FOR DECORATIVE PURPOSES

Cones at harvest have moisture of nearly 80% before they are dried down to below 12% for packing. Therefore we suggest that you increase the addition rate by five to eight times more than you would normally use. We also suggest just using them at the end of the boil or in a conditioning tank for aroma only and we recommend using them

within 24 hours of picking. Alpha analysis will not be available this early after picking so your normal bittering hops should be used at the start of the boil. We will be able to provide fresh hops on the day and if you bring your camera along, it may even make a nice news story for your local press! If you would like to take some fresh hops home with you,

please complete the relevant section on the reply form so that we can prepare packing for the quantities needed on the day.

If you are looking to decorate the brewery sample room, local pub or even your kitchen we will have hop bines available to collect on the day. These will not have been dried and so will need positioning very soon after you get home. They will then dry in-situ giving a splendid hop display to admire throughout the year.

Paul Corbett and Chris Lane from Charles Faram accept the ISO 9001 : 2015 certificate from Andrew Graham of ISO Audit Services

Andrew Hoad wins for Sussex hop British Hops awards

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?CHARLES FARAM EXCELS IN CEMENTING THEIR COMMITMENT TO QUALITY!Quality has always been the most important factor to the team at Charles Faram from product through to service, and in May our efforts received the stamp of compliance in the presentation of our ISO 9001 : 2015 certificate.

Andrew Graham from ISO Audit Services said, “Genuinely, Charles Faram is an excellent example of commitment to implementing ISO 9001 :

2015 in a practical manner!” Chris Lane, who joined us

in February this year as Quality Manager was present for the presentation along with Paul Corbett, MD. “We are proud to receive our certificate as it reassures our customers that we are committed to our quality mantra. Everyone at Faram’s works hard to achieve a high work ethic and a company that we can be proud of.”

Back in January this year we were delighted to host the presentation of the IBD Hop Awards at our offices in Newland. The judging took place last November in our hop showroom and judging was carried out by a panel of Master Brewers who placed A H Hoad & Son as the overall winner with the Sussex variety.

Andrew and his son Tom were clearly surprised at the awards ceremony and said, “It’s an honour to win and quite

unexpected, especially as this is a new variety. It’s only the 2nd year of growing it. We hope this award will help to promote it and that it will be received well by the brewers”.

Miles Jenner, Head Brewer at Harvey’s and Master of the Brewers’ Company in London stated, “As a Sussex Brewer I could not be more delighted that a Sussex hop, let alone the Sussex hop, should be celebrating this ultimate victory.”

IBD HOP AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

ADNAMS SUPPLIER AWARDS 2016We are pleased to announce that we were voted Winner of the Adnams ‘Always Evolving Award’ in recognition of its work with new varieties to the British Hop industry. Will Rogers was delighted to accept the award at a presentation at the University of East Anglia from Adnams Finance Director, Stephen Pugh. Will said “we are absolutely delighted to win as it shows the commitment we are making to help the long term success of the British hop industry”.

STAFF CHANGESOur warehouse staffing levels continue to increase to keep up with your demand for our hops! Richard Luckham joined us in June 2016 as a Warehouse Operative and Nicolae Popescu and Silviu Chadovenu joined us in February as Production Operatives keeping the pelleting plant in action. Justin Walters has been made Deputy Warehouse Supervisor to help organise the ever-growing team.

Chris Lane also joined us back in February as our Quality Manager. With an ever-growing volume of hops being processed, it is important to have key systems and operations documented to adhere to the high standards demanded by our customers. Since achieving the ISO9001:2015 standard, Chris has now taken on the health and safety role within the company.

HopCycle day 13. Arriving in Land’s End

THE HOPCYCLE TEAM HAVE COMPLETED THEIR JOGLE MISSION!

Anyone following the HopCycle blog on the Charles Faram website will have seen tears, tantrums and rain storms on this health awareness trip.

After months of preparation and training, the five guys, Paul Corbett, Andrew Whalley and Richard Capper from Worcestershire and Roger Ryman and Gary Ringrose from Cornwall raised over 16.5k for their respective charities as well as encouraging men to think more about their health.

They returned to work looking tanned and somewhat relieved that tomorrow is not another day for

pedalling up hills in terrible weather.James Beeby, Director of

Fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “It was fantastic when we received news that Paul had decided to take part in the HopCycle to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK. By doing this he is joining Men United and helping to make a real difference in furthering the fight against prostate cancer.

“Whatever you do together, big or small, you’ll be helping us push for real change, from more effective testing to better treatments. We

thank Paul and congratulate him on completing his challenge”.

Paul said: “I decided to jump in on Andrew’s idea of the HopCycle and complete the journey for Prostate Cancer UK because it seems to be an issue that men avoid until it’s too late. Personal friends and colleagues within the brewing industry have suffered with this disease and it’s always a similar story. Men need to act quickly.”

You can find the blog, photo gallery and information on the charities supported at www.charlesfaram.co.uk/hopcycle.

CF is pleased to announce new investment in its Freshpak lines with two new leaf-hop automatic packing machines. The new machines will mean that freshly harvested leaf hops will be vacuum sealed and placed in cold storage in half the time taken in previous years. Chris Lane, quality manager, said “I am delighted

with the investment in the new lines. It will mean hops are packed much more quickly and health and safety issues with the old lines will be overcome.” Will Rogers, sales director, commented “This is a clear statement of Charles Faram & Co Ltd’s commitment to quality and will be a big step forward for our whole

hop handling system. The change in backflushing with nitrogen and CO2 last year gave a huge reduction in blown packs and this new development now takes us onto an even higher quality level.”

The new lines will be fully operational before the 2016 northern hemisphere harvest commences.

WANT TO ATTEND?Complete the attached form if you wish to attend this years Hop Walk. You will need Adobe Acrobat to complete the form. Once you’ve filled in all the requested details email the completed form to debbiereynolds@charlesfaram.co.uk or post to Debbie Reynolds, Charles Faram & Co Ltd, The Hop Store, Monksfield Lane, Newland, Malvern WR13 5BB

BIG HOP FORWARD IN FRESHPAK LINES

On Saturday 18th June 2016 The HopCycle team finally completed their mission riding from John O’Groats to Land’s End covering 1,030 miles in 13 days!