Cornell AgriTech researchers are testing 61 commercial, experimental and heritage hop varieties to determine which can grow reliably in New York and produce flavors brewers want.
The Geneva-based program evaluates plants from the field through pilot batches, giving growers yield and disease-resistance information before they take on the expense of establishing a new variety.
From harvest to brewing trials
The team began this year's harvest Aug. 10 and expects to continue through Sept. 25. Its current plots include 38 commercial varieties, seven experimental lines and 16 heritage varieties.
Each variety flowers and matures on its own schedule, and researchers examine cone dryness and the sticky lupulin glands that produce the oils and bitter acids behind beer's bitterness, aroma and flavor.
Doctoral student Nathan Lewis and other members of professor Larry Smart's lab measure harvest weight, disease resistance and cone quality. Smart said the program is designed to reduce the risk growers face when planting large numbers of an unfamiliar variety without knowing whether brewers will buy it.
Nine varieties are in regional brewing trials, including seven New York heritage lines recovered from farms and homesteads. The goal is to compare agronomic performance with how the hops taste in finished beer.
Breweries have used the experimental line USDA 032, which Cornell describes as herbal, spicy and stone-fruit flavored, in beers made by Big aLICe, Druthers, Fifth Hammer, Swiftwater and Watershed. The heritage line Reality has gone into cream ales and pale ales at Gem Creek, Seneca Lake Brewing, Steuben and Watershed.
Barryville hops have appeared in a Genesee Brew House pilsner and a Belgian pale ale from Brewery Ardennes and Scale House. Strong Rope used the Dwyer 2 heritage line in a pilsner.
Taller trellises and regional trials
Smart's lab has narrowed eight varieties for their production, yield and qualities likely to interest brewers. It recently hosted a Craft Brewer Open House and is offering hops to breweries on a first-come, first-served basis on each variety's harvest day.
Several members of the Seneca Lake Order of Brewers are expected to request fresh hops for an Oct. 17 competition. Cornell said the longer-term objective is to identify a signature New York hop that works for farms, breweries and consumers.
Researchers are also building six rows of 21-foot trellis, three feet taller than the conventional system. Smart said some varieties grow beyond an 18-foot wire and fold over, leaving plant material that can be lost at harvest.
Jensen Precast donated concrete posts and hardware for an acre of the taller system, an estimated savings of about $18,000. The lab will study whether higher yields justify the added work, including the need for longer string and challenges using a fungicide sprayer at the greater height.
Smart said New York has experienced less of the contraction affecting craft beer nationally, pointing to the state's farm-to-table culture and roughly 525 craft breweries. The Cornell project seeks to connect that local demand with hop varieties suited to the state's growing conditions.
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