VANCOUVER'S LAST HOP VINE?

http://www.camravancouver.ca/
In 1905 the neighbourhood of Mt Pleasant was a logged off area with only a few structures off Main or Broadway. One of them was a Vancouver Breweries building at the corner of what is now 280 E 6^th Ave. at Scotia. The brick and stone building is a heritage one now and is an artist's live work studio complex.

The brewery was sited there because of the creek that flowed there and the water turned the grist mill and of course provided water for the beer. Brewery Creek still flows but it's underground now. It flows as it almost always has down to False Creek flats at E.1^st Ave and Scotia. In fact the Artech building has pumps underground to keep the parkade from flooding. Across the street from Artech there's a large hop vine growing wild in the blackberry brambles. I can't prove it but it's reasonable to suppose that spent hops and grains dumped outside the brewery found their way via stream or wind or birds downstream to where what now could be Vancouver's last hop vine's current location.

False Creek was filled in to eliminate Mt. Pleasant's waterfront and Brewery Creek long since sent underground but the hops are still here...barely.

Recently, a City of Vancouver “Greenway” project has a bicycle path planned that will bulldoze the vine's location on the boulevard. Currently, the two pronged approach of the path has brought the east end from Main st. to within a few yards of the vine. The westerly extension is at Great Northern Way and Brunswick, also within a half a block of the vine. I'm surprised there's been a mature crop this year. I figured the machines would have sent the vine to oblivion weeks ago.

As the nights cool in the dying days of summer 2008 the last crop this old vine will produce has reached its prime.

I've brewed with these hops, sold them on Ebay and given them away over the years. This is the last hurrah.

I've taken samples of the hops to Derrick at Dix and he has said that he's interested in brewing a fresh hopped beer but he will not be able to fit it into his schedule until the 3^rd week in September. The hops MIGHT still be there but annailation is imminent.

The vine's located on the north side of 336 E. 1.st Ave. opposite the little park. Anyone interested in taking rhisome cuttings or hops will need pruners and gloves to clip away the blackberry brambles.

The vine is large so it will be possible to harvest a bunch big enough to brew anything from a basic 5 gallon homebrew on up to craft brew sizes.

Cheers,

JulianOnePlanet Publications copyright 2008

“relax, have a homebrew” Charlie Papazian