These guys at The Bronx Brewery are always doing good things.....

According to a press release that came our way yesterday:

(New York, NY) The Bronx Brewery, the latest craft brewery to come out of New York City, announces a new partnership with The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), a number of Bronx-based community gardens, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension on an Urban Hop Project, bringing hop growing and an Urban Hop beer to New York City. 

The project was founded by The Bronx Brewery, in collaboration with The New York Botanical Garden, to bring together local gardeners and a local brewery to grow local hops to be used for a local beer. A diverse group of Bronx community gardens, including several community gardens in NYBG's Bronx Green-up program and a Catholic parish, have planted 125 Cascade hop plants this spring to be grown and harvested for a special Urban Hop beer to be brewed and released by The Bronx Brewery later this year.

Few New Yorkers realize their state was once the largest hop producing state in the country, providing nearly 90 percent of the hops back in the 1880s. Reviving that industry and bringing renewed interest in local sourcing for one of beer's most important raw materials has been the mission of Steve Miller, a hop expert from the Cornell Cooperative Extension, who put on a hop growing and harvesting workshop for the gardeners...

Says Miller...

"When Damian and Chris [Gallant, General Manager of The Bronx Brewery] asked me to be involved I said yes right away. What a great idea to capture the flavor of New York City. The gardeners are all excited because hops are such an unusual crop. We have a new industry starting up all over the state, bringing endless nuances of flavor to New York beers and now we even have hops in the Big Apple. I can't wait to try the end product!" 

"I'm very excited to work with these community gardeners and develop a beer that spotlights the local character of these hops," says Head Brewer Damian Brown.

All proceeds from the sale of the Urban Hop beer will be donated to the Bronx Green-Up program to support continued growth of community gardening in the Bronx.