The University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center will host a hops information seminar, open house and yard tour Sept. 12 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

The event will be in the hops yard at the Panhandle Center, where eight varieties are being evaluated for potential use by craft beer brewers and hobbyists. Visitors should park in the south parking lot, adjacent to the hops yard.

Stacy Adams, UNL associate professor of practice in horticulture specialty crops, will give an overview of the project, followed by a tour of the hops yard and varieties being grown. The event is open to the public and those interested in growing hops. There is no charge.

Scottsbluff is one of five sites in the Hops Cultivar and Production Evaluation for Nebraska, which is evaluating eight selected hop varieties that have desirable qualities for plant health, productivity, quality and annual consistency. Funding comes from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and Specialty Crop Block Grant Project (SCBGP). The project has a website at http://agronomy.unl.edu/nebraska-hops.

Nebraska has more than 30 commercial craft breweries, which are sourcing a majority of their hops from out of state. These projects will evaluate the potential for commercial hops production by specialty crop growers in Nebraska.