Hops... In The News
Greetings,
After a morning visit to the www stalking brewpubs I can present the following items offering some “good news/bad news” and that’s the way it is…
HOPS IN THE NEWS
“The shortage of hops - that crucial flower that gives beer its spice - has made for tense times at smaller craft brewers. Reconfirming its roots as a craft brewer, the Boston Beer Co. recently freed up a portion of its hop supplies and offered them to brewers in danger of not finding - or not being able to afford - enough of their own.”
“A lottery determined the lucky recipients, including Denver's Bull & Bush. The Cherry Creek brewpub gets two 88-pound boxes of Tettnang Tettnanger hops - enough to go into a year's worth of its pilsner - at Boston Beer's cost, $5.42 a pound. Erik Peterson, Bull & Bush's minister of progress (aka brewery and restaurant manager), recently returned from a trade show in San Diego where the same hops were selling for $29 a pound.”
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/06/dedrick-secrets-out-on-brew/
Global warming hitting hops hard
By Matt Ford | Published: May 07, 2008 - 08:58AM CT
“Hops are one of the key ingredients in beers—along with yeast, water, and some sort of grain, they are used to produce the world's oldest alcoholic beverage. For those who love the best type of beer—India Pale Ale, which has a strong, hoppy taste—times may be getting tough. In a Nature news article this week, Nature staff writer Rex Dalton reports on how the warming climate in Northern Europe is adversely affecting the hop crop. According to Peter Darby, a hop grower in the UK, the warm springs and mild winters have caused the hop vines to sprout early, stagnate, and produce little. On Monday a group of plant scientists met at a hop conference at the Hop Museum in Wolnzach, Germany to discuss ways to combat the impact of higher temperatures.”
http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2008/05/07/global-warming-hitting-hops-hard
Global warming may soon spoil the party for beer lovers
“LONDON: If reports are to be believed, global warming has threatened the production of hop plants, which are used in breweries for making beer.
Hops initially served as a flavouring agent, and then a preservative in unrefrigerated kegs of beer that European colonial powers shipped abroad on sailing vessels.
The weedy plant is grown in lines up trestles, and a fruit-like cone is harvested to make hops for brewing. The plants currently grown in northern climates require moist soil, a hard-winter freeze and a hot summer.
But, according to a report in Nature New”
Finally, the following was found on Red Orbit this morning… essentially positing that hops could have a major part in cancer research. It’s not reading for the novice but there are sections that make fascinating reading.
EST Analysis of Hop Glandular Trichomes Identifies an O- Methyltransferase That Catalyzes the Biosynthesis of Xanthohumol(W)(OA)
“The female inflorescences (cones) of hop are rich in terpenoid essential oils and terpenophenolic resins. In addition to the terpenophenolic acylphloroglucinols (e.g., humulone) that give beer its characteristic bitter flavor, hop cones also contain;1%of xanthohumol, a prenylchalcone with potent cancer preventive properties (Stevens and Page, 2004). Xanthohumol has been shown to exert cytoprotective effects through the induction of phase 2 proteins that function to detoxify carcinogens and metabolize oxidative radicals and also shows antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties (Miranda et al., 2000a, 2000b).”
Cheers!
Peter LaFrance
