FARMINGTON, N.M.—A New Mexico State University researcher is studying the feasibility of raising hops in the Four Corners region in response to a thriving microbrewery industry in the San Juan River Valley of northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado.
The researcher at Farmington’s Agricultural Science Center, Kevin Lombard, is conducting a multiyear variety trial of hops, a primary ingredient of most beers and ales.
He began the study in 2008, after learning that high prices and crop shortfalls were affecting the region’s five microbreweries.
Farmington and in Durango, Colo., brewmasters agreed it would be interesting to see what flavors would come from hops grown in their region, since soil and climate affect hops flavor.
Lombard has already discovered hops will grow in the Four Corners region with drip irrigation.
