A hop farm springs up in the North Valley

The Albuquerque metro area is now home to 30-plus breweries.

And, finally, one hop farm.

Red Hat Hops is looking to keep things even more local in terms of beer ingredients. Located at the edge of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, off Rio Grande north of the overpass above Montano, this new operation occupies 4.5 acres. Tom Brewer and Tim Arnold are the men in charge.

“Well, the obvious answer is we have, what, over 60 breweries in New Mexico now, and no commercial hop yards,” Tom said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t people growing hops, people just want to keep it secret for some reason.”

Tom previously served in the Air Force and then worked at Intel for many years before he was laid off. His desire to start a hop farm was born out of two passions.

“I love growing things and I love beer, so they kind of go together,” he said.

So far only one acre has been set up for the hops. A combination of planting too late and

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