This Saturday at 4:45 PM at the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest I’m hosting a video & roundtable discussion. Putting together this session has been a lot of fun.  I met some new farmers, connected with more brewers and get to work with a bunch of people that I respect. But the coolest part is that I took the opportunity to revisit some of the source material from the film and dig into the Video Compost Pile, too. The result is the new video short that will be shown exclusively at the event on Saturday.

The discussion will spring from 3 interrelated topics: Minnesota culture, growth of brewing and other businesses, and hops.  Panelists were chosen to represent these aspects. Melinda Hedberg and myself can speak to the MN culture and communities. Amy Johnson and Paul Johnston provide the brewing perspective. Russ Henry and Ben Boo represent businesses that have been positively impacted by the growth of local craft beer in their neighborhood.

The video compresses 20 more voices from across the state and around the corner into the spring board for the panel to bring us up to date with their stories. The emphasis is on local culture, neighborhoods and economies because that is where we can have the most significant impact.  That brings us to hops. Local hops.  This is where a push will help.  That’s why we’re featuring Ben and his partners at Mighty Axe Hops. Minnesota brewers need more Minnesota hops.

If this session can raise one tiny ripple I hope it will be a call to answer the demand and grow hops like we’ve been growing breweries.

Hops are a big part of my video archives from Crafted to Last. From Community Hops Garden to the collaboration between Lift Bridge and Hippity Hops Farm.