Asahi UK has announced it will help fund two research projects looking into the development of sustainable solutions to protect British beer hops, as hop production in the UK has halved in size over the last decade.
Today there are currently only 45 hop growers and approximately 800 hectares of hops in the UK, an enormous decline from the 1800s when there were almost 3,000 hop growers and more than 31,000ha across the country.
Asahi UK is the brewer of British beer brands including Fuller’s, Dark Star and Meantime.
Recent research found that the content of alpha acid is likely to fall by up to 30% by 2050 under the current climate projections of hotter weather and more frequent droughts. UK hop growers have also struggled with increasing incidence of fungal pathogens in the soil, particularly a disease called Verticillium wilt which can significantly reduce yields.
The two PhD studies are expected to each take around three years and are being jointly funded by Asahi, the RAU, and the Brewers’ Research and Education Fund.
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