Discovery of Wild Hops Brews New Possibilities at This Virginia Farm

September 13, 2024 By Molly Mitchell, mitchellm@darden.virginia.edu Molly Mitchell, mitchellm@darden.virginia.edu

The mother of Virginia hops grows on the family farm of a University of Virginia professor, right in the heart of Albemarle County.

“Greenmont Mother” is the name of a variety of hops discovered growing wild on the grounds of Greenmont Farms. Darden School of Business professor of practice Meghan Murray and her father, former UVA Rector James B. Murray Jr., co-own and operate the farm.

The hops, with a mild flavor profile of peach and citrus, is going into local lagers, ales and lighter beers.

“From a business perspective, it’s good to propagate it because more people drink light beer than anything else,” Meghan Murray said.

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The discovery of the wild hops came just after the Murrays planted a hops garden in a diversification effort at Greenmont Farms. The farm has been in their family for more than 100 years, and Meghan currently lives there with her husband and children. The farm was originally a cattle farm, but nowadays hay is its primary product.

Hopyards in Virginia are few and far between – there are fewer than 20 in the state. Greenmont Hopworks is the largest, with about 8 acres of hops, and also boasts the only processing facility in the state.

Virginia is a challenging climate to grow hops, due to hot, humid summers that promote mildew and fungi. But the serendipitous discovery of wild hops on Greenmont Farms – hops naturally adapted to the local climate – may change everything.

The Discovery

Originating in Germany, hops are typically grown in the U.S. in regions situated on a similar latitude as their European counterpart, like the Pacific Northwest or certain areas in Michigan. The Murrays decided to give hops a chance as the craft beer market boomed and brewers and beer fans were eager for local ingredients and unique flavors.

Meghan Murray, Darden School of Business professor of practice, walks down the rows of hops growing on her family’s farm.
Meghan Murray, Darden School of Business professor of practice, walks down the rows of hops growing on her family’s farm. The Murrays have crossed the wild hops they found with another Virginia varietal to create a hybrid Greenmont Mother hop. (Photo by Andrew Shurtleff Photography)

In 2018, just weeks after the team harvested the first, small crop of hops, Jim Murray was crossing a stream on his motorcycle in a remote area of the farm when he had a hoppy accident: He noticed some vines that looked remarkably like the hops he had just seen harvested, growing out of the streambed and into the trees above.

“I mean, we had gone to all the trouble to import hops from Oregon, and here they looked just like hops. So I took out my pocketknife, cut a couple of pieces of them, crushed them, and they smelled like hops,” he said.

Tests showed the wild plants were indeed hops.

Though hop-growing was never widespread in Virginia, some growers did import the crop to Virginia between 1750 and 1800, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison among them. Genetic testing showed the find was a 100% American hop variety.

Greenmont Mother is Born

The hop variety, which the Murrays crossed with another Virginia hop and trademarked the hybrid as “Greenmont Mother,” has ostensibly been growing wild since around that time and, over centuries, adapted to Virginia’s climate.

Once the Murrays dug up the roots and started cultivating the hop, the difference became clear. In comparison to the modern hops they still grow, including Chinook, Newport and Cascade, Greenmont Mother matures faster, but later, and grows taller and more easily than modern hybrid varieties.

A close view of a hop still on the plant

Greenmont Mother is proving to be resistant to mildew and fungi, most likely because it has likely adapted to Virginia’s climate over two centuries. (Photo by Andrew Shurtleff Photography)

It is also naturally resistant to pests and resilient to local mildew and fungus from Virginia’s summer heat and humidity, decreasing the need for irrigation, pesticides and fungicides.

Agriculturist Davi Bowen uses biological fungicides and pesticides rather than chemical versions when possible, and underground drip irrigation lines deliver fertilizer and water to avoid spraying.

“They are 10 times more resistant than the other varieties,” Bowen said.

It’s a big win for Greenmont Farms’ sustainability goals, too. Two solar arrays currently generate enough energy to power farm operations and the main farmhouse. 

“What’s really important to (my wife’s) family, and now important to me because I’ve lived there for 50 years, is the land itself,” Jim Murray said. “We have deep roots there. We care deeply about it, and we designed the farming operation to make it a sustainable farm that hopefully could be passed on to another generation.”

“It’s the house that my mother grew up in, which was once just cinder block,” Meghan Murray said. “And then I grew up in this house and now I have kids who are living in this house.”

Virginia Flavor

With a unique hop variety, the Murrays set about obtaining an agricultural patent, which can take about seven years. That patent could be approved in the next year or two.

A hand painted "Greenmont" sign n one of the posts outside of the hop farm
Greenmont Farms grows a variety of hops, including their own Greenmont Mother. The local hops have a mild flavor profile of peach and citrus and work well in lagers, ales and lighter beers. (Photo by Andrew Shurtleff Photography)

In the meantime, the hopyard has reached production capacity and local brewers are buying and brewing with Greenmont Mother.

While the future of hop cultivation in Virginia remains to be seen, Greenmont Mother has opened possibilities the Murrays couldn’t have anticipated when they started out.

“We hope to have a product that’s unlike anything else that anyone else has in the world,” Jim Murray said. “The jury is still out on whether hops will ever be a good business in Virginia. I think if it is, it’s going to be with a hops variety like this that takes less expense and less manpower to grow.”

Media Contact

Molly Mitchell

Associate Director of Content Marketing and Social Media Darden School of Business