Hop breeding

Hop breeding aims to satisfy both the brewer, who wants hops rich in resin and essential oil that do not deteriorate rapidly, and the grower, who wants varieties resistant to disease. In addition the grower wants hops that will ripen at different times during the harvest season and which will not shatter during machine picking. In Britain, hop breeding started... 

By using selected lines and varieties for hop breeding, it is now possible to combine high cone yield and high alpha acids content, modify the alpha and beta acids content and proportions, combine high alpha acids content with superior storage stability, create an array of varieties with cohumulone content from <20% to >65%,... 

Chapter 1 mentions hop breeding and the search for ever new hop varieties. This is an area of activity closely related to the question "What is a good-quality hop ". The aim and goals of this research should be controlled by the chemical insight gathered about what happens chemically to the hops in the brewery and about organoleptic evaluation of these developments. 

Breed, W. G., 1976, Effect of environment on ovarian activity of wild hopping mice (Notomys alexis), J. Reprbd. Fert., 47 395. 

Seedless hops command a higher price than those with seeds but it will no doubt be some time before all other English hop-growing areas only produce seedless hops. An alternative approach to the production of seedless hops is the breeding of triploid varieties which are sterile and thus do not produce seed even in the presence of male hops. In America most hops are grown seedless but in Oregon they are fertilized. 

It will be seen from the foregoing that farmers have to use a wide range of powerful agents (Fig. 12.11) to produce high yields of good quality, undamaged hops. Brewers are worried that residues from these chemicals may persist on the hops at harvest and so find their way into the beer. (The detection of such residues is a difficult analytical problem.) Hop varieties selected for resistance to disease, which require minimal chemical treatment, would be preferred but the breeding of a variety resistant to all the pests and diseases which can attack hops is unlikely. 

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