SCOTLAND must produce its own hops to fuel the growing craft beer industry in case of European shortages, say scientists.
The fear of drought hitting this year’s harvest in Germany, the world’s top exporter, has revived the dream of Scotland producing its own.
Experts at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee, a centre for environmental research into crops, soils and land use, believe it could take a few years for Scotland to launch its own production line.
But they said that a Scottish product could attract international interest.
Professor Derek Stewart, of the institute’s Environmental and Biochemical Sciences Department, said: “I think we need to set up our own industry here.
“We have the potential to work with farmers and craft brewers to set up a decent production system in Scotland ourselves.”
There has been an explosion of interest in specialist beers, with up to 90 craft breweries from the Hebrides to the Borders.
Jamie Delap, managing director of Fyne Ales and a board member of the Brewers Association of Scotland, representative body for the craft beer sector, said that the big industrial lager brewers, such as Carlsberg and Heineken, would be hit first by any problems in Germany.
But it could also impact on the craft industry, he said.
“These are the people who use the high alpha hops (from Germany) for bitterness in their beers,” he said.
“In the craft beer world we are much more interested in aroma hops.
“So our problem might be that the big industrial brewers will start buying aroma hops in place of the alpha hops.
“We had hoped this would be the first year when there were enough aroma hops, but there could be another shortage.”
Mr Delap said his own business at the head of Loch Fyne near Inveraray, Argyll, which produces around three million pints a year, would not be immediately affected because he agrees supply contracts several years in advance, mostly in North America.
But he said some of the smaller businesses who buy hops on the spot market each year could be hit as any shortage would see prices rise.
Scientists at the James Hutton Institute harvested a full batch of hops in 2015. Some of this was shared with St Andrews Brewing Company, which produced a wholly Scottish beer. Mr Stewart said: “Hops are being trialled by a couple of people in Scotland this year, and the initial reports coming back are that they are very good.
“What we want to start doing now is much more centralised analysis so we can compare what we have got to what is being sold on the market at the moment to see what depth of quality we will be able to provide in Scotland. Are we the ones who could actually provide the high end hops?
“If we start producing something unique, I think there could be international demand. Everybody is looking for something different.”
Mr Delap said the development of Scottish hop production was a dream worth pursuing. “But when you visit Washington State and see the size of the industry and investment there, it gives you an idea the challenge we face in Scotland,” he added.
Factfile:
HOPS are the flowers of the hop plant, or Humulus lupulus.
In the first century AD, they were described as a salad plant believed to originate in Egypt.
They grow best in a rich, moist soil with a lot of sun and are not keen on frost – so it is perhaps not surprising that Scotland has not been seen as an ideal modern location to date.
Scotland does have a tradition of making ales and beers dating back to ancient times, just not with hops.
Hops were only cultivated in the Low Countries (modern Belgium and Holland) from the 13th century.
According to the British Hop Association they were probably introduced from Flanders to England, in the Maidstone area of Kent, at the end of the 15th century.
“Our national drink until then had been ale, unhopped and sometimes flavoured with herbs such as wormwood,” the association said.
“In those early days, the sole reason for using hops was to preserve the beer in good condition: the bittering effect was reluctantly accepted by Englishmen.”
The 19th century was the golden age of the hop industry in Britain, with a huge rise in production.
Hop acreage continued to increase until 1878 when it reached its peak with 77,000 acres.
Tastes changed and a decline in the demand for porter and a surging demand for a lighter beer such as pale ale, became fashionable.
Today there are just over 50 British farmers growing hops.
The south-east counties of Kent, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex are where hops were first grown in the UK.
They were shortly followed by the West Midlands, including the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Today about half of the British hop production is still grown by West Midlands-based farmers and half in the south-east.
Many families used to earn money on hop-picking holidays but they are a thing of the past as machines took over the work.
There are now 27 commercially grown British aroma hop varieties. They include notes such as tangerine, citrus, grass, grapefruit, chocolate, blackcurrant, spice, pepper, apricot, marmalade, mint, honey, floral and molasses.
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