Thursday, August 5, 2010

Beer Making Plants - Hop

Hop is a vine grown for its papery, yellowish-green flowers, which are used in brewing beer. The flowers, also called hops, grow in cone-like clusters that measure 1 to 4 inches in length. The petals have tiny glands that contain various oils and resins. These materials prevent growth of bacteria in beer and give the beverage its bitter taste.

Hop vines may grow as long as 25 feet in a single growing season. The vines die in the fall. But the rhizomes of the plants continue to live, and they produce new vines the next spring.

Hops grow in wide range of climates and soils. The leading hop-growing state in the United States is Washington. Oregon ranks second, followed by Idaho and California. The plant is also grown in Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, and South America.

Growers plant hop rhizomes in mounds of 6 to 8 feet apart. The vines are supported with poles or trellises to keep them from spreading on the ground. Such supports allow the plants to be placed closer together, thus increasing yield of each unit of land.

Hops are harvested in late summer or early autumn. Workers cut the vines by hand and place them in picking machines that separate the hops from the vines. The hops are then cleaned, dried in ovens, and pressed into bales for shipment or storage.

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