After talking about the booming craft brewing industry over a beer, Alistair and Cass Tippett decided to try something new and give growing hops a go.

Part of the appeal for the couple was the opportunity to provide a local product to Ballarat-area craft breweries to enhance their beer's connection to the region.

Mr Tippett said he thought that would help add another layer to the story behind each of the beers to use their hops.

"The most interesting thing is, I think, is how creative brewers are. They are just so creative, they love experimenting and they're really supportive. They love having that local origin in what they're trying to do," he said.

"When I started drinking beer at pubs, there were only two taps - Carlton Draught and Cascade Light. Now, you go into any pub and there's a minimum of five taps and some of the big ones have 50 taps.

"You actually look at the bottle or the can you drink in the beer out of now, it's actually more than just having a beer, it's the story behind the beer. I think we're very well positioned to help the local breweries add a bit of that to their brews."

Ms Tippett said the industry was also an enjoyable one to be part of.

"The craft beer industry is a fun industry too. They're fun people to be around and work with," she said.

An agronomist by trade, Mr Tippett said he has always been interested in how crops grow which only added to the appeal of growing hops.

Hops grow on a vine-like structure called a bine, which is tied to a six-metre-tall trellis in order for them to grow vertically.

IN OTHER NEWS:

While they are dormant in winter, the bines can grow at up to 30 centimetres a day in their peak growing season around Christmas.

"We'll cut down the whole lot and they'll be dormant up until about October and then they'll wake up and just go bang," he said.

"You couldn't stop him wanting to grow that," Ms Tippett added.

With their interest piqued, the couple quickly went from a planned 100 plants to sowing 700 plants across seven rows.

"To be honest, the first hop plant I'd ever seen or hop yard that I walked in was my own. I'd never seen a hop plant in my life before these ones," Mr Tippett said.

With AC Hops currently providing wet and dry whole hops to craft breweries in Ballarat and around Melbourne, the next step for the business is expanding into palletised hops which are preferred by most brewers.

Mr Tippett said there were more than 50 breweries within an 80-kilometre radius and AC Hops has connected with about 20 of them.

"We've reached out to a lot of breweries just by email and phone calls and we've actually got a lot of interest, but the brewers are actually very interested in palletised hops because when they come off the hop bine, we were drying that last year and it's okay as a one-off type brew but it blocks their kettles and their brewing gear up because it's so course," he said.

"What we've actually got is a hop palletiser leaving America today to get here so when we finish this year's harvest, we're gonna palletise them so when the brewers use the pallets, they actually dissolve into the brew and it's really user friendly."

"Once we get them in pallets, it'll be a Victoria-wide type thing. We've got a lot of interest but we've got to get them into that form first."