Category: Hops
Hops types and varieties
News Hop Acreage Down 18% in 2024
Remember the dire days eight years ago when demand for hops outdid supply and many craft brewers were struggling to acquire the hops they needed? Not so today, as beer sales have flattened and hop growers are responding by planting fewer vines in the fields due to an expected oversupply of hops.
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News Germany Surpasses US in Hop Production
Germany has again surpassed the US as the world’s top hop producing country, a title it lost nine years ago. Even though hop production fell in Germany last year, the decline in hop production was far greater in the US in 2023 versus the previous year.
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Expert Topic New Year, New Hops, New Flavors
A new year means another opportunity to get excited about newly named hops hitting the marketplace as well as a slew of innovations in the hop industry. There are nearly a dozen newly named hop varieties available this year and a push into oils that can play a big role in the hotly emerging category of hop water.
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Expert Topic Hops and Climate Change
Climate change has long been on the minds of folks in and around the beer industry. Whether relating to water use, recapturing carbon dioxide, managing spent grains, or even dealing with the fallout from storms, floods, and fires, the beer industry has soberly viewed weather related issues as challenges to be addressed. Access to quality raw ingredients is just another in a long line of climate based concerns.
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News 2023 Hop Report Released – Production Up 2% From Last Year but Value Down 9%
Hop production for Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in 2023 totaled 104 million pounds, up 2% from the 2022 crop of 102 million pounds. Despite production being up, the total number of acres of harvested hops actually decreased by 10%. Although total acreage was down, growers had a better yield this year at 1,915 pounds per acre, up 221 pounds from a year ago.
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Expert Topic Sustainability and Hops, Protecting Waterways and Preserving Beer
The Pacific Northwest is home to America’s most important hop producing region, one that locals work every day to promote and protect. Changes to the climate and concern over preserving the future viability of the storied agricultural land is leading farmers, brewers, and conservationists to team up to better inform drinkers of the importance of shielding its water sources.
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News High Country Hop Festival to Celebrate Australian 2023 Hop Harvest
High Country Hop, the annual celebration of the Australian hop harvest is returning in its ninth year with Firestone Walker brewmaster Matt Brynildson joining some of Australia’s top craft brewers. Brynildson will be the keynote speaker at the event’s technical symposium ahead of the festival.
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Expert Topic Phantasm: The Magical Mystery of Thiols Explained
It’s not unusual for brewers to trade information about new hop varieties and text or email one another about how to best use experimental varieties. The products usually involve a big hop company that has heavily invested in a years long research project, sending the new varieties out for testing to a few select breweries. But some ingredients fly even further under the radar.
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Expert Topic ‘Tis the Season – Zach Beckwith Talks About How to Best Serve Fresh Hop IPA’s
There is a certain love that comes with a fresh pint of fresh hopped IPA that gets beer fans of all stripes a sense of wonder and delight. While some will think that these beers should be consumed within hours of being brewed or packaged there are some brewers who believe giving these beers a little bit of time is beneficial to everyone.
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Expert Topic Yakima Brewer Kevin Quinn on a Changing Climate and Hop Farming
Climate change is on the mind of every farmer and grower in the Pacific Northwest these days. From the average temperature rising over two degrees over the last several decades, to wildfires, and unusual rain patterns, there is a lot to be thinking about and acting upon not to mitigate problems in the future.
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News BA to Hold Hopsource in Yakima for Its Fifth Year
Brewers Association (BA) staff will conduct the Hopsource hop sensory assessment in Yakima, Washington again in 2022. Brewers and industry members visiting Yakima for hop selection will have the opportunity to evaluate over 20 varieties of hops that are being considered for advancement in the BA-funded United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Public Hop Breeding Program.
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News 2022 Hop Yield May Be Down by 20% in Germany – Average Yield Expected in US
The global hop company BarthHaas has said in its August report that its German hop crop is estimated to be down by as much as 20% vs. 2021. The early maturing varieties such as Hallertau Mittelfrüh, Northern Brewer, Traditional and Perle) have been affected the most.
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