Mighty Axe Hops

Mighty Axe Hops is a dream manifested by homebrewer Eric Sannerud and Ben Boo that was built from a class project. Within less than a decade they have grown from a 5 acres plot to over 80 acres of farm land. A midwestern powerhouse of hop production, their team picks, dries, pelletizes, and packages all of their Minnesotan grown hops with state-of-the-art equipment. 

Their environmentally friendly methods of protecting water resources, utilizing cover cropping techniques, and preserving natural habitats also sets them apart from many other hop farms. Local Minnesota breweries select hops from them to deliver high quality and sustainably produced hops straight to your pints.

Terroir

Growing hops isn’t the only focus for this team of hopheads. Their ambitions center around pinpointing the exact science behind terroir and its relationship with hops. Terroir is the idea that the location of where something grows affects how it tastes. Every piece of land has its own unique terroir. Two hops from the same variety, from the same farm, harvested and even dried at the same time can taste different just because they were grown two miles from each other. Hop Farmers know terroir affects the quality of hops, but how exactly does it do that? 

After carving their own path away from traditional hop growing methods, Mighty Axe hops discovered that lengthening the time before harvesting and drying well below industry standards truly affects the character of the hops. Combining these new processing techniques with the unique terroir that Minnesota provides, basically transformed their hops into an entirely different hop variety. As the biggest hop farm in the Midwest, they’re partnering up with the University of Minnesota’s Sensory Center and St. Croix Sensory to discover the answer to this question.

Keep Moving Forward

With a mission that goes beyond just growing hops, Mighty Axe Hops is primed to become more than just the largest producer of hops in the Midwest. They may turn into the lead authority on best practices when it comes to growing and harvesting hops. With an eye steady on research driven results and a dream of expanding to over 150 acres we have high hopes for Mighty Axe Hops. 

If you’re interested in supporting this team of hop enthusiasts, we’ve curated a select assortment of Mighty Axe hop pellets and if you’d like to tour their establishment or tell them about a beer you brewed with their hops you can contact Eric directly at eric@mightyaxehops.com.