CSU Extension-Clear Creek County

CSU Extension-Clear Creek County Informal Education for Adults and Youth: 4H, Master Garden and Home Energy

A Heartfelt Farewell from Chris Crouse: After nine years as the solo CSU Extension Director/4-H Agent/Horticulture Agent...
11/03/2021

A Heartfelt Farewell from Chris Crouse: After nine years as the solo CSU Extension Director/4-H Agent/Horticulture Agent/Energy Agent, I have resigned from my County CSU Extension position. It’s been an amazing opportunity — starting this office from scratch, serving the Clear Creek community and working with so many incredible kids, families, 4-H and Master Gardener volunteers, CSUE colleagues and partner organizations has been extremely rewarding.

Over the years, my informal youth and adult programming has ranged from Archery to Zombie Apocalypse Survival skills and everything in-between — cookie decorating, STEM experiments and robotics, outdoor adventure, Mountain to Metro and Discover Clear Creek summer camps, school and summer camp gardens, Earth Day activities, renewable energy/energy efficiency, sustainable living, Master Gardener program, gardening presentations and workshops — including Heritage Hops, creating our Native Plant Demonstration Garden and Native Plant Sale, numerous hi-altitude hort/natural resources/food inquiries, participation in countless community events, and more.

I’m staying in the Clear Creek community — I have accepted a position with the CCC Library District, cccld.org, and will stay on as the County’s COVID Public Information Officer through the end of the year. I’m also a part of the Community Connectors volunteer program.

Please be well & keep in touch!

Chris

The students at Georgetown Community School had a SMASHING good time yesterday at the mini Pumpkin Smash! Coordinated by...
11/03/2021

The students at Georgetown Community School had a SMASHING good time yesterday at the mini Pumpkin Smash! Coordinated by Scraps-to-Soil, the event is a fun way to learn about the importance of composting, and is one of the many local activities CSU Extension in CCC has been a part of over the years.

Have a pumpkin to compost? Learn more about composting
Scraps-to-Soil, Neighborhood Compost Club
Institute for Local Self Reliance: ilsr.org
National Waste & Recycling Association: beginwiththebin.org
EPA: epa.gov/epawaste
US Composting Council: compostingcouncil.org
Organic Lesson: organiclesson.com

Thank you for following along with our Heritage Hops social media week to learn more about hops. Go out and explore your...
10/29/2021

Thank you for following along with our Heritage Hops social media week to learn more about hops. Go out and explore your local breweries in Clear Creek County. We've had a blast in past years with Tommyknocker Brewery, Gunaella Pass Brewery, and Cabin Creek Brewing. We hope we provided you some insights about hops and the brewing process. Your local brewers can certainly go into much more detail if you're interested in learning more about hops and other ingredients. Cheers!

It's our final day of our Heritage Hops social media theme, to celebrate the hops growing next to our Georgetown Demo Ga...
10/29/2021

It's our final day of our Heritage Hops social media theme, to celebrate the hops growing next to our Georgetown Demo Garden.

Some people say, "I don't like hops" which they're usually meaning they're not fans of the bitterness. In fact all beers have hops, but some beers have a less bitter hops profile.

There is a measurement called the International Bitterness Unit scale, aka IBU's.

It is the standard for measuring the amount of hops in beer. A hoppy beer like an IPA will have a very high IBU rating around 75. A malty beer like a stout will usually have a low IBU rating around 30

Continuing our Heritage Hops week of posts, let's talk about the art of beer tasting! Yesterday we shared a bit about ho...
10/28/2021

Continuing our Heritage Hops week of posts, let's talk about the art of beer tasting! Yesterday we shared a bit about how the varieties of hops have varying characteristics. Learning how to taste a beer teaches you to recognize the different qualities of a beer. Here's the step by step tasting process recommended by the Brewer's Association:

1. LOOK
Raise the beer in front of you with a white napkin/paper behind it to evaluate the true color. Pay attention to the color, what the carbonation looks like, and the overall consistency.

2. SMELL - Part I
90% of what you taste, you first experience through smell. Without agitating or swirling the beer, bring the glass to your nose and breathe in with your mouth closed.

3. SMELL - Part II
Now agitate the beer by gently swirling the glass to pull out aromas and stimulate the carbonation. Pay attention to the aroma now, compared to before agitating. Breathe in with your mouth closed, then again with your mouth open; take note of the subtle differences.

4. TASTE
Sip the beer but do not swallow. Hold the beer on your palate, moving it around from side to side. Note the body consistency, and breathe out through your nose with the beer still on your palate. Pay attention to how the beer starts on your palate and where it hits in the middle. Swallow and notice the lasting effects of the beer.

5. REST & RESET
Do not sip water right away. Let the fading flavors of the beer linger. Take note of the finish – the last flavor profile, and your palate senses. How long does the finish last? Is it clean, bitter, sweet, sour, weak, strong? Once you have rested your palate, reset with a cracker or sip of water.

Just as there are mine tailings around Clear Creek county, showing where miners worked along hillsides, if you look arou...
10/28/2021

Just as there are mine tailings around Clear Creek county, showing where miners worked along hillsides, if you look around, you can find wild, native, and feral hops all around Georgetown, Clear Creek & Gilpin Counties, left over from Clear Creek's mining and beer history.

According to a Colorado Sun article on the early history of Beer in Colorado, "Rocky Mountain Brewing became the first brewery when it opened in Denver in 1859 and soon dozens more began to make beer in mining towns like Silver Plume, Idaho Springs and Empire. One historical record suggests as many as 129 breweries — most of them short lived — opened in Colorado in the late 19th century and early 20th century." Read the full article on ColoradoSun.com.

The beer followed the miners, who followed the gold & silver of the Colorado Gold Rush in 1859. Many of which ended up in Clear Creek County.

Water, yeast, malt, and hops! These are the four basic ingredients to brew beer. The Reinheitsgebot is a series of regul...
10/27/2021

Water, yeast, malt, and hops! These are the four basic ingredients to brew beer. The Reinheitsgebot is a series of regulations from 1516, known as the German purity laws, limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany to water, hops, barley, and yeast.

Despite the same base ingredients, flavor profiles can vary based on the type of malt, yeast, and hops, in order to make the different styles of beer.

As we celebrate our Heritage Hops, learn about the different profiles that different varieties of hops have. Learning the different bittering hops and aromatic hops can help you learn the different beer styles and hops you enjoy.

Infographic Source: "Based on John Palmer's Hop Wheel - Redesigned and Updated by Tim Kreitz"

If you're feeling inspired to grow some hops for brewing, or just for the ambiance of your patio, we have some tips for ...
10/27/2021

If you're feeling inspired to grow some hops for brewing, or just for the ambiance of your patio, we have some tips for you.

First off, try a hop variety that is suggested for high-elevation, such as Cascade, Chinook, Crystal, or Nugget varieties.

Tips for growing hops
1 - You can start a plant by seed or rhizomes. Growing from seed can take a long time so you may prefer to try planting a Rhizome.
2 - Plant your hops in the sunniest spot, provide protection from wind, plant in well-drained soil, and make sure you have vertical space to allow themm to grow.
3 - Train the early shoots to climb up the strings/twine/cord.
4 - Fertilize during the growing season - use nitrogen in May and a bloom booster in June and July
5 - They will need consistent watering. During the hottest months and peak growing season they will need a gallon a day. Mulch the garden bed where they are growing.
6 - Pick the strongest shoots to grow upward on the string and prune the others back to ground level.
7 - After your hops harvest, prune the plant back to the ground where it will die off for the winter months, and produce new shoots in the spring.

10/27/2021

More SLIME from Saturday’s STEM activities booth! Thanks to all who stopped by end enjoyed the Halloween themed fun!

We found hops growing across from our Native Plant Demo Garden in Georgetown a few years ago. After discovering the hops...
10/26/2021

We found hops growing across from our Native Plant Demo Garden in Georgetown a few years ago. After discovering the hops growing on the ground, we built a trellis system for the bines to grow upward and off of the ground. And that is the story of the "Heritage Hops." They're harvested and dying back in the fall but you can find them growing on their trellis during the summer months. The Native Plant Demo Garden is in Georgetown Colorado at 509 Taos Street next to the Georgetown Heritage Center.

We're putting a different spin on our annual Heritage Hops celebration in 2021. This week, follow along on our Facebook ...
10/26/2021

We're putting a different spin on our annual Heritage Hops celebration in 2021. This week, follow along on our Facebook and Instagram to learn all about hops, their role in beer brewing, growing them, and the beer heritage in Clear Creek County.

Have you attended a Heritage Hops celebration in the past? Whether you're experienced with beer pairings and hops or are unfamiliar with either, we hope you enjoy this week's theme and are maybe inspired to grow your own hops or make a special flight or pairing to celebrate!

In 2018 and 2020 we had our Heritage Hops ale, brewed by TommyKnocker Brewery paired with with a sharp cheddar cheese... mmm!

Kids of all ages had a great time making their own slime concoctions at the 4-H/Library activity booth on Saturday at th...
10/26/2021

Kids of all ages had a great time making their own slime concoctions at the 4-H/Library activity booth on Saturday at the Idaho Springs Ball Fields! It was all part of the community’s 21st Century STEM Learning Grant. Thanks to the amazing Clear Creek Rec District for organizing the event!

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Georgetown, CO
80444

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