If you’ve driven down US Highway 550 south of Montrose in the spring or summer you may have noticed green plants dangling from thousands of wires anchored by hundreds of huge poles near the highway between Montrose and Ridgway.
“We have 32 acres of hops,” said, Audrey Gehlhausen co-owner of Billy Goat Hop Farm who operates the farm with partner Chris DellaBianca.
“So, we are looking at about 23 hundred poles, sometimes we joke and say that we grow telephone poles here,” joked Gehlhausen dressed well worn work attire.
The elaborate pole and wire system makes it possible for the largest hop farm in the Southwestern United States to produce nine varieties of public hops every season including Cascade, Chinook, Crystal, Nugget, Columbus, Magnum, Comet, Michigan Cooper and Multihead.
With a short growing season from roughly April to early August, work at the farm becomes very labor intensive during the short harvest season where the farm employs roughly eight to twelve extra employees.
“We’ll have close to two million pounds on that system when the plants are in full growth,” said Gehlhausen.
Despite being a small farm compared to the mega hop farms in the Pacific Northwest, Billy Goat Hop Farm grabbed the ‘hop growing world’ by the bud, by winning the prestigious Cascade Cup in 2023.
“It’s put on by the Hop Quality Group. It’s a nationwide group of nerdy brewers, the folks that really dive into not just those acids and oils, different terpins and properties and how they work in the boils….you know just like it says, ‘quality hops,’" noted the proud hop grower.
Following the big harvest rush, Billy Goat Hop Farm hosts a fun-filled festival to celebrate the end of the growing season as well as showcase Colorado breweries.
"We've done it for two years now. Have a festival on the farm called the Southwest Fresh Fest and it has been a ton of fun so far," said Gehlhausen
This year the ‘fresh fest’ will take place September 21st. Last year there were 13 different Colorado Breweries at the event as well as several local food vendors.
To help supplement the hop farm, Audrey says they’re adding ‘ag tourism’ to the menu while continuing to produce hops for Colorado Breweries.
"We recently got a permit to have a small campground and be able to sell beer and wine and have up to twenty small events a year," said Gehlhausen.
Note: Billy Goat Hop Farm will be featured in an upcoming Local Motion.
