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story to find out more. Mildew-Resistant Hops May Be Adopted by Brewing IndustryBy David Elstein September 12, 2002The production of beer depends on
the continued stable supply of an agricultural commodity--hops.
Agricultural Research Service geneticist
John Henning is working to ensure that an emerging disease in hop production
areas doesn't threaten the crop. Henning works for the ARS Forage
Seed and Cereal Research Center in Corvallis, Ore., where he studies
diseases that affect hops. In 1997, the newly invasive disease, powdery mildew,
wiped out 10,000 of the 48,000 acres of hops in the United States. Prior to the
accidental introduction of this disease, farmers were already spending
considerable amounts to control downy mildew. During the following few years,
growers spent an additional $300 an acre on fungicides to keep both mildews
under control. Something else had to be done. In February 2002, Henning released "Newport"--the only bittering
hop that has a high level of genetic resistance to the two mildew strains. This
new variety reduces the cost of hop production and the amount of fungicides
used in hop production because the fungus is not able to infest resistant
plants. Newport produces large yields and is considered "grower friendly."
One major brewery is conducting large-scale pilot brewing trials of the
germplasm, while another large brewery has requested samples to start its own
tests, so it may be used commercially. The beer industry makes extensive use of hop varieties developed by ARS
geneticists, including two others released by Henning--"Horizon" is
used fairly extensively, and "Sterling" is used to a lesser extent.
At least one-third of the hops in American beers have ARS origins, and some
foreign beers also contain ARS hops. All beer contains two types of hops. The bittering hop is used to make the
beer more bitter. The aroma hop is used for flavoring. More information about this research can be found in Agricultural
Research magazine. ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. U.S. Department of Agriculture |