Hops tested in protected open-sided greenhouse structure

Hops (Humulus lupulus) is a perennial, herbaceous crop cultivated for its strobiles, or cones, which contain a resinous compound used for flavoring and aroma in food, tea, and beer. The United States is the second largest global producer of hops with greater than 15,000 ha in production. Increased demand for hop products has recently resulted in production of hops in nontraditional production areas (non-Pacific northwest U.S. region).

To examine cultivation potential of hops within the southeastern United States, 60 hop rhizomes consisting of four varieties were transplanted into native, deep sand soil (Candler and Tavares-Millhopper soil series) within a protected, open-sided greenhouse and evaluated for growth, strobile yield, and brewing values for a period of 2 years.

Plant bine length was recorded weekly for 20 weeks throughout year 1 with mean bine lengths of 609, 498, 229, and 221 cm at harvest for ‘Chinook’, ‘Columbus’, ‘Amalia’ and ‘Neo1’, respectively. Mean harvested strobile dry weight recorded for year 1 was 21.2, 17.9, 9.0, and 8.2 g/plant for ‘Columbus’, ‘Chinook’, ‘Neo1’ and ‘Amalia’, respectively. With the exception of ‘Neo1’, mean strobile mass was lower for all cultivars during year 2 with 16.6, 10.3, 25.8, and 2.6 g/plant for ‘Columbus’, ‘Chinook’, ‘Neo1’ and ‘Amalia’, respectively.

Alpha acid concentrations by percentage strobile mass for year 1 were 6.8%, 9.7%, 3.8%, and 4.3% for ‘Columbus’, ‘Chinook’, ‘Amalia’, and ‘Neo1’, respectively. Alpha acids varied year 2 with concentrations of 4.8%, 10.4%, and 5.6% for ‘Columbus’, ‘Chinook’, and ‘Neo1’, respectively. Findings support viability of hop production in the southeastern United States and establish the benchmark for future varietal trialing investigations.

Acess the full study at HortScience.