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New Hop Varieties Are Graduating into a Tough Job Market
It’s rough out there—even for young, freshly developed hop cultivars. Yet while many brewers are buying fewer hops these days, the Help Wanted sign is still out for new ones.
It’s rough out there—even for young, freshly developed hop cultivars. Yet while many brewers are buying fewer hops these days, the Help Wanted sign is still out for new ones. <a href="https://brewingindustryguide.com/new-hop-varieties-are-graduating-into-a-tough-job-market/">Continue reading.</a>
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A record number of hops have not been able to find work since craft-beer sales quit soaring and breweries cut back hop purchases.
Nonetheless, although farmers in the Northwest slashed acreage by 26 percent over the past two years, they reserved more than 600 acres for experimental varieties. Some of those cultivars now have names—or may have them soon—and they’re ready to go to work.
Breweries might employ them to create new brands, refresh established ones, or replace older and less environmentally friendly varieties.
It can take a dozen years or more to develop a new variety and make it available to farmers and brewers, and choosing a name for it is the final step in that process. The name sends a signal to brewers who’ve trialed an experimental hop that they can expect it to be readily available and to brewers who haven’t tried it that they may want to get to know it.
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