It's the time when a homebrewer's fancy turns to something other than brewing.
Spring brings warm weather and for many the season when brewing ends.
Sadly, supplies of home brew dwindle into a shrunken shadow of the imposing stockpile produced during the winter. In the next installment we'll investigate techniques to thwart the evil warmth of summer, but for now let's talk about another brewing related activity while the timing's right. Cultivating hops is part of our heritage. Back when the colonial women watched the brewpot they also secured supplies of hops. Early in the colonies hop plants grew wild in the North American woods, but as the population grew the natural supply was quickly exhausted.