London has its first permanent hop farm in more than a century, and it’s in Greenwich.
Ever-inventive craft brewers Meantime have turned a construction site next to the Thames on Greenwich Peninsula into a picturesque hop garden.
Hops from the site, on the Meridian Line and near the O2, will be harvested in September and used to make a beer that reflects the true flavour of the capital.
Landscape gardener Kate Lonegran and her team designed the garden, planting 48 hop roots into 12 hand-crafted wooden planters alongside colourful marigolds, wood-chip flooring, hay-bale seating and empty beer kegs.
Street artist Xenz has been commissioned to transform the planters into beer-themed art.
It is hoped the beer will be ready to drink in the autumn.
Following on from its True Brew of London campaign last year – where hops grown by different people from across London were used to make a crowd-sourced beer – Meantime hopes the farm will get more people interested in London’s brewing heritage and modern industry that is thriving across the city.
Seven years ago, only three brewers made beer in London. Now there are more than 60 brewing on various scales.
Meantime’s marketing director Rich Myers said: “London is an exciting place to be a brewer right now.
“The variety of ingredients at our disposal is huge and it allows us to pack flavour into our beer. I hope that our hop farm – the first in London in over 100 years - will make more of the public aware of that fact.”
Go to facebook.com/meantimebrewing or, if you are interested in sponsoring a hop, e-mail hops@meantimebrewing.com
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