The nature of things Hops

A‘HOP garden’ or ‘hop yard’, set out in neat rows, somewhat resembles a vineyard, albeit one with unfeasibly tall vines, since the plants twine up their supports to 15ft or more. Their wiry stems (bines) climb rapidly, aided by stiff, down-turned hairs that give them purchase and stability. Only female plants produce the ‘cone’ crops for the early-autumn harvest.

Hops grow wild in some areas, but it was the Flemish weavers, settling in the loamy Wealden soils of Kent and Sussex in Tudor times, who imported commercial hop-growing and brewing techniques, along with Continental selections well suited to making beer. Daniel Defoe declared the Kentish Weald the ‘Mother of all Hop grounds’ in the 1720s and its vernacular architecture is liberally sprinkled with distinctive oast-houses: often round buildings, with tall, conical roofs that were the kilns for drying bines. In the 1870s, more than 70,000 acres were devoted to the crop, with a significant Midlands harvest added to those in the South-east.

Tall hops reigned for centuries, but shorter ‘hedgerow’ varieties grown on a trellis system are popular now and easily harvested mechanically. Present acreage is below 5,000, but the breeding of new, flavourful cultivars has increased interest. Today’s aromas and tasting notes are complex, including tangerine, grass, lychee, chocolate, blackcurrant, cedar, sage, apricot, marmalade, mint, honey and molasses. A pint of lychee and pine, anyone? Cheers. KBH