Almudena Alvarez | Palencia (EFE).- Craft beer seeks to differentiate itself in each drink, but it also wants to champion sustainable, circular and profitable production, with “zero kilometer” raw materials.
Now, a study carried out in Palencia shows that the cultivation of hops, one of its four basic ingredients, has great potential in Spain.
In Spain, approximately 588 hectares of hops are cultivated, 97% in the province of León. However, in Castilla y León alone there are close to 5,000 hectares suitable for this crop, as the MALUBA project has shown, which underlines the great potential of hops as a local crop for use in the brewing industry, but also in bakeries.
Technological development
It has been developed by the ITAGRA and CETECE technology centers in Palencia, with funding from ICE, in collaboration with the cereal storekeeper Canseco de Guardo (Palencia) and the craft brewery company Yesta de Torquemada (Palencia).
As the head of R+D+i at ITAGRA, Susana Luis, explained to EFE, the project sought new agro-industrial approaches for the raw materials and by-products of the beer industry (malt, hops and bagasse), with the aim of to “optimize these products and incorporate them into bakery products and in the development of new beers based on market trends”.
On the one hand, they wanted to evaluate the suitability of the Palencia soils for the cultivation of hops and cereals such as barley, rye, wheat, teff and quinoa for the production of beer and “all have given good results except the quinoa that has not been used due to the difficulty in peeling the cereal”, explained Susana Luis.
From Palencia
But in addition, the tests carried out on plots in Torquemada and Fresno del Río, in the province of Palencia, and the data from the soil maps carried out with GIS systems and other computer tools have confirmed the great potential of hops in Castilla y Lion.
“Currently, hops are a crop that is very close to a specific area, the Órbigo Valley in León,” explains the head of R+D+i at ITAGRA. However, the MALUBA project has concluded that 4,928 hectares of land are suitable for growing hops in Castilla y León and there are some 5,121 hectares that present some “savable” restriction for its cultivation.
This is of great importance if one takes into account that in Spain approximately 588 hectares are cultivated, -compared to the 20,705 in Germany, the 5,236 in the Czech Republic or the 1,757 in Poland or the 21,700 in the United States-, 97% in the province of León and the rest in small areas of Catalonia, Navarra, La Rioja and Galicia.
And it shows that hops, an essential ingredient in brewing, is a future crop with great growth potential, as well as representing an opportunity for small breweries, generally located in rural environments whose philosophy is use of local ingredients to differentiate itself in the market taken over by the large breweries, argues the researcher.
extrapolated
“A crop that, on the other hand, would adapt well to climate change”, has advanced the winemaker and ITAGRA biologist, once confirmed that depending on the edaphoclimatic conditions (climate and soil), the hop crop has adapted one hundred percent to the ground and it is absolutely viable.
“A crop that, on the other hand, would adapt well to climate change”, has advanced the winemaker and ITAGRA biologist, once confirmed that depending on the edaphoclimatic conditions (climate and soil), the hop crop has adapted one hundred percent to the ground and it is absolutely viable.
Now it is necessary to limit the most resistant varieties to each area, as the researcher points out. Different hop varieties have been tested in test plots (Cascade, Centinial, Challenger, Chinnock, Columbus, Nugget, Perle, Saaz, Sorachi Ace, Tettnanger). But in addition, once harvested, its performance in the production of essential oils and hydrosols was also evaluated, as well as the antioxidant activity and the aromatic characterization of three of the cultivated varieties (Columbus, Nugget and Perle).
A beer with more body
And although the first productions have been small, the “plus” that it represents for brewed beers has been demonstrated, which is “denser on the palate, with more structure and body, with more alcoholic strength.” And above all, the savings in production costs that small breweries can bring to have their own hop and malting barley plantation next door.
“The costs of hops are very expensive, so producing hops close to the brewery makes production more sustainable and profitable,” concludes the researcher. Without forgetting the tourist attraction of visiting the brewery and the crops, something that fits perfectly with the needs of rural areas.
In parallel, the Technological Center for Cereals, CETECE, has worked to incorporate the use of hops into bakery products and also to take advantage of beer bagasse, the residue produced during production, and determine the interest of this by-product in bakery due to its high nutrient content.
In addition, to characterize the hops, hydrodistillation by steam dragging has been carried out and essential oil and hydrosols have been obtained which, once characterized, have yielded results very similar to those of other production areas such as the Valle del Órbigo de León and therefore with great potential for use in cosmetics and perfumery. EFE