Today, the hop harvest began in Abegondo (A Coruña, Galicia) with the help of partners from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC). In France, HOPEN partners began last Monday at the Lot-et-Garonne hop pilot project (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), while at the Cubillos del Sil hop pilot project (Castile and León), also run by the USC, harvesting is scheduled for this Friday.
When are hops harvested?
When the flower cones reach their maximum size and have a moisture content of 70-75%, this is when the highest amount of alpha acids is reached. After monitoring the moisture content of the flower cones in the various pilot projects in France and Spain, the time has come to harvest.
Did you know that hop plants can have more than 6,000 floral cones each?
Flower cones are the key raw material for brewing beer and, basically, they provide the bitterness and various aromas, depending on the varieties used. In Spain, the variety studied is Nugget, while in France the study focuses on the Cascade variety.
What is hop ‘stripping’?
Stripping is the separation of the flower cones from the stem of the plant. Traditionally, this was done manually, a task that brought families together: grandparents, parents and children, which ensured the transmission of knowledge and strengthened family ties. Nowadays, ‘peeling’ machines are used to mechanically separate the stems, leaves and flower cones, similar to the cereal ‘threshers’ that were used in villages.
To ensure the traceability of the samples, flower cones from plants irrigated with reclaimed water or water from wells/canals, the USC team manually peels the plants to monitor each irrigation treatment. In addition, a tradition of joint and collaborative work is maintained, which helps to preserve ethnographic resources that are no longer in use, albeit on an ad hoc and small scale.
