Miami, (EFE) UF) who have managed to harvest hops twice a year using artificial LED lighting.
Florida’s craft beer makers are currently stirring up the foam of success with a large offer and variety of styles, especially IPAs, beers where hops take center stage and are highly appreciated by their enthusiastic consumers.
In the field of hop cultivation, the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) plays an important role after eight years of trial and error using LED lighting and study of the hot and humid climate of Florida.
In a single year, with the scientific work of crop physiologists, the UF/IFAS program recorded 1,600 pounds (726 kilograms) of hops per acre, an amount that approaches yields in the Pacific Northwest, where hops enjoy of more daylight hours than in Florida.
Fresh hops twice a year for beer
“Unlike any other hop-producing region, our warm climate and LED lighting allow for two hop-growing seasons a year,” Álvaro Bautista Flores, a specialist in plant physiology at GCREC, located near the city of Tampa, on the west coast of Florida.
This means, explains the researcher, that local craft breweries “have access to fresh hops twice a year, in June and October,” which allows them to “plan their beer batches and try different flavor profiles depending on the season.” .
Hops require about 15 hours of light before flowering. For this reason, hops generally do best in the Pacific Northwest.
A situation that could now change thanks to ongoing research.
How is the culture for beer?
Hops grown in an 18-foot-tall (5.50-meter) rack structure “add characteristic acidity and aroma profiles to the beer thanks to the specific climate, soil, and farming practices,” says Bautista.
In its 2.2-acre orchard, the team of experts at the center uses the Cascade plant variety, whose ripe flowers of fresh hops, delivered to local brewers, yield a “unique beer aroma” with notes of melon. , mango, pineapple and ripe citrus.
So far, this research facility has delivered hops to 18 Florida breweries for free.
An emerging crop for local production
For Bautista, the growth forecast for craft beer in Florida is unbeatable: “It has the potential to expand further due to the rapid increase in population and still a low number of craft breweries,” he says.
The reality is that hops (Humulus lupulus) are today one of the emerging crops in Florida.
Newer craft brewers like Lucas Frank, owner of Hiatus Brewing in Ocala, North Florida, are not hesitant to be open about their enthusiasm for Florida-grown hops and UF/IFAS investigations.
In 2021, Frank began brewing his first batch of beer with GCREC’s Cascade hops and released a new brand, “Pine Tar” last May, which is only made from that grain.
Impact on the economy
According to the Florida Brewers Guild, the impact of small craft brewers exceeded $4 billion in 2021, with production of 1.2 million barrels per year and an increase since 2011 in new craft beer companies in the state.
Less than 25% of the companies that manufacture craft beer in Florida are in the hands of the alcoholic beverage industry, this union points out on its website, where it proudly defends “innovation” as a hallmark of brewers and a beer that speaks of its area, of its land.
Emilio J. Lopez