Black Locust Hops Farm Brewery

Black Locust Hops is a hop farm and farm brewery in Freeland. Its founders began with a stovetop homebrew kit and were brewing regular five-gallon batches in their barn by 2002. In spring 2006 they planted 40 hop rhizomes on Black Locust poles to grow their own ingredients, which gave the farm its name. In 2007 they sold hand-picked hops to DuClaw Brewing for Black Locust Venom Ale, which the farm calls the region’s first farm-to-bottle beer. As demand for local hops kept growing, the farm planted more and reached about 24 acres. Commercial harvesting equipment was built for much larger farms, so they assembled their own picker. The farm says it was the region’s first hop operation, and it has supplied Maryland breweries since 2006. Its taproom pours beer brewed on the farm. No pets are allowed, and the farm hosts events and tours.