Hop To It!

When I grow up I want to flavour a beer

You would have to agree - plants are pretty amazing things. Their presence enhances our lives in so many ways, without them we'd be far worse off. For millennia plants have and continue to benefit the human world greatly - providing us all with the tools to feed ourselves, build, invent and improve our physical and mental health.

I have been thinking about a series of blogs looking at some of the plants that have made a difference to society. The first is a plant that gives many of us pleasure, helps bring us together by socialising and has become increasingly popular in recent times. 

The fact that I like to enjoy the fruits of this plants labour, coupled with it's importance in my home state of Tasmania has made the humble hops the first subject in what I hope to be an educational look into some of the world's most important plants.

Hops, or Humulus lupulus, have been used as a preservative in beer for centuries. It is the cone shaped flowers of the female hop plant that are used in the brewing process. It is only the female flower cones used in the brewing process.

Hops are also used as the 'herbs and spice' to give beer its aroma and flavour. They can can either add a bitterness to compensate the sweetness from the addition of malt during beer production or they can add a variety of tastes & smells to the beer - including pine, mango, citrus, passionfruit, earth and grass.

The hop plant is a climbing bine, yep you read that correctly, I said bine. Now a bine is a slightly different form of climbing plant, the stems of the vine wrap around it's support in a 'helix' not relying on tendrils to attach to what it's climbing upon. Hops are grown and trained on wire or rope trellis'.

The ties that bine

Humulus grow extremely quick - up to 8 metres a year! This is the main reason they were declared a weed in England during the 15th century when hops were first introduced to the country. Hops are cut almost back to the base of the plant after harvest, as the best flowers are produced on the newest growth, plus it makes harvesting easier the following year.

We are 'hopping' a little ahead here, lets take a look back at the origins of the humble Humulus lupulus.... Hops originate in China but it was in Northern Europe the first documented hop cultivation occurred, it was 736 in the Hallertau region of present day Germany. The first mention of hops being used in brewing was also in Germany in 1036.

Prior to the use of a hops, a mixture know as gruit was used - the mixture contained things such as Ground Ivy (Glechoma), Horehound (Marrubium) and Yarrow (Achillea). But brewers also used things such as aniseed, cinnamon and ginger to giver their batches a certain something.

Germany is still the undisputed king of hop production and if you've ever visited the country you know they sure do love their beer! The Germans even have a beer purity law! That's right, they are strict on what goes into their beer. The Reinheitsgebot was first adopted in Munich in 1487. The best know adoption of the law came in 1516 in Bavaria - this law only allowed the use of Water, Barley & Hops to be used in the brewing of beer. It also set out to created uniform prices for the sale of beer.

Hops only grow in certain latitudes globally, the optimal range is between 35 and 55 degrees North. For example, the two largest hop growing regions in the world - Hallertau, Germany & Yakima, USA are located at 48 and 46 degrees North respectively.

Hop Up - hops growing on purpose built trellis

Today there are over 120 varieties of hops grown in over 20 countries. In Australia we grow approximately 12 varieties. The main growing regions in Australia are Victoria and Tasmania but southern areas of Western Australia and Bilpin in New South Wales are also being trialed as potential regions for hop production.

After several failed attempts to import live plants into Australia the first successful plantings of hops were produced from seed in 1803 in New South Wales, but due to poor site selection the crop was deemed to be a failure.

A former convict by the name of James Squires did however successfully produce the first crop of hops in 1806 from carefully selecting seed and taking cuttings from the 'strongest' of the original 1803 plantings. James was also credited with establishing Australia's first brewey at Kissing Point in Sydney. Today, Mr Squire has been immortalised by the Malt and Shovel brewery that caries his name on their beers.

Now here comes my proud Tasmanian heritage gloat: 60% of the total hops produced in Australia come from the Apple Isle! What else does Tassie do at 60% of national figures??? Tasmania's  geographical position is ideal for hop production.

The cold winters provide enough 'chill' days to break the hop plants winter dormancy. The temperate, cooler spring weather aids in steady and uniform growth. Coupled with it's clean air and water, the Apple Isle suits Humulus lupulus just fine, plus it's Tasmania - god's country.

Tassie's sixty percent of national hop production equates to approximately 1.8 million kilograms - so chances are even if you're not drinking a Tasmania beer, the flavours and aroma's probably come from Tasmanian hops! 2017 marked the 152nd hop harvest in Tassie.

Then....

... and now - how times have changed!

It was way back in 1804 when the first hop plants were planted in Tasmania in the Port of Dalrymple. It was then in 1864 when a man by the name of Ebenezer Shoobridge established a hop plantation at Bushy Park in the Derwent Valley, 55km north of Hobart. Today, the Bushy Park hop plantation is the largest hop plantation in Australia at 230 hectares.

Today's global craft beer market is experiencing a surge in popularity, even if overall beer consumption is falling worldwide. This interest has driven research and development into breeding new varieties to create a wave of flavours and aromas. It is some of Australia's R & D work that is making the world market sit up and take notice.

It seems nowadays when you shop for beer at the local bottle shop you are faced with many choices, it seems each week there is something new to try but I urge you take the plunge and try something different, there is some really good stuff out there away from the 'normal' - so here's some of my favorite local breweries:

Young Henry's Newtown, Sydney NSW
Batch Brewing Company Marrickville, Sydney NSW
Wayward Brewing Co. Camperdown, Sydney NSW
4 Pines Brewing Brookvale, New South Wales
Stone and Wood Byron Bay, New South Wales
Pirate Life Hindmarsh, Adelaide South Australia
Balter Currumbin, Queensland
Moo Brew Bridgewater, Tasmania

So when you are enjoying one of the above beers, or something else that takes your fancy, think of the humble hop plant - an amazing botanical wonder that has given the world much joy over countless centuries. Raise your glass, cheers to hops!