About Us

MI Local Hops is dedicated to being a part of the movement to re-vitalize the rich heritage of Michigan grown hops. In joint venture with Empire Hop Farms, which specializes in custom farming and trellis installations, MI Local Hops broke ground on its 200 acre hop farm located in Williamsburg, MI in May of 2015. The land had been an unused golf course that sat vacant for close to 7 years. It’s located a mile down M-72 from Grand Traverse Resort and Lake Michigan and is 6 miles away from downtown Traverse City.

The farm has full processing, pelletizing, blending, and cold storage capabilities. In November of 2015 MI Local hops broke ground on its 30,000 square foot harvesting facility. This facility is currently capable of processing over 350,000 pounds of hops in a harvest season and is home to a WOLF 1000 hop picking machine as well as state of the art driers and conditioning systems.

Adjacent to the harvest facility is the 15,000 square foot cold storage and pelletizing facility. The pelletizing and packaging process line has been engineered to produce optimum quality product and the cold storage facility is specifically designed for baled and pelletized hops. In the off-season local businesses will be able to use the cold storage for their food products.

The first harvest season for MI Local Hops began on August 22nd and will run through the third week in September, encompassing approximately 200 acres. MI Local Hops, along with Empire Hop Farm, plans to manage and harvest 350 acres of Michigan grown hops in 2017.

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