Resembling little green pinecones, the flowers of the hops plant have long been prized by beer makers for the bitter, tangy flavor and balance they impart to their brews.

Historically, when local brews were all that was served in taverns and pubs, much of the hops used were grown locally in fields called hopyards.

“In the past there were a lot of hopyards in New England,” Katja Maurer, a post-doctoral research scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, said in a phone interview Friday.

In southeastern Connecticut, talk of hopyards might conjure musings about Devil’s Hopyard State Park in East Haddam, a favorite spot for hikers, picnickers and fishermen. Maurer couldn’t say whether the park’s unique moniker originated with some locally notorious long-ago farmer of hops. Still, the possibility raises an intriguing line of inquiry for local history buffs.

At the experiment station’s Valley Lab farm in Windsor, Maurer has been growing about a half-acre of hops for the past year, in an effort to learn about the best varieties and methods for Connecticut growers interested in starting their own hopyards. An event last August at the farm, she said, attracted a lot of interest, even generating talk of starting a Connecticut hop growers’ alliance. Already there are several Connecticut farms raising hops, but the potential is far from exhausted.

“It’s super exciting,” Maurer said.

On March 12, Maurer will share what she has learned during a program at the New London County Extension Center in Norwich. The program is a response to the growing popularity of microbrews and brewpubs, along with the demand for locally grown crops.

“Now, with so many microbreweries, the demand is there for local hops,” Maurer said.

But growing hops can be challenging, she said. The crop is highly susceptible to pests and diseases like downy mildew, needs regular irrigation and grows best if trained onto trellises rather than on the ground.

“You have to have a really good pest and disease management program,” she said.

Maurer said she started the field from rhizomes rather than from seed. Starting out by planting healthy, virus-free stems is “the most important step,” she said.

The cones are harvested from mid-August through September, but usually only a few the first couple of years until the plants are fully established.

“By the third year, you can have a full harvest,” said Maurer, who earned her doctorate in molecular bioscience and biotechnology at the Technical University in Graz, Austria, in cooperation with the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture in Germany.

After harvest, hops can be used fresh, but more often, brewers dry them in ovens and grind them into pellets before using them, she said.

Maurer’s class will cover cultivation, propagation, trellising, harvesting and drying.

Registration is required. 

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy

What: Hops growing class

Where: New London County Extension Center, 562 New London Turnpike, Norwich

When: 10 a.m. to noon March 12

Registration deadline: March 4

Cost: $50

Information: Susan Munger, UConn master gardener coordinator, (860) 885-2823 or susan.munger@uconn.edu