The Prague Post
http://www.aaaradiotaxi.cz/index.php?xSET=lang&xLANG=2
August 30th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague accommodation
Prague Art & Antiques Prague Art Prague Antiques

Home » Archives » Business

Local hops industry flailing

Institute launches 'atlas' of varieties; Japan still buying

By Paul Voosen
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 2nd, 2008 issue

enlarge
Saaz hops, the famous flowers known for giving Czech beer its fine bitterness, have been in some bitter times of their own recently.
Hop growers are having trouble turning a profit, and the amount of land devoted to growing the crop has decreased 12.2 percent since 2000. Wild weather over the past two years — high temperatures, little rain and hailstorms — caused feeble harvests, with last year’s yield of 5,630 metric tons down 28 percent from 2005.
In the hopes of spurring the industry, the Hop Research Institute in Žatec, north Bohemia, has published an “atlas” to the country’s hop varieties. The guide, aimed at foreign brewers and merchants, breaks down hops by chemical composition and genetic structure, according to Zdeněk Rosa of the Hop Growers Union, which works closely with the institute.
“Introducing new hop varieties always takes time,” he said. “The atlas should help us to inform the breweries about the Czech breeding program and what Czech hop growers can offer today.”
While times have been tough, the Czech Republic remains one of the world’s largest growers of hops, trailing only the United States and Germany in acreage. Some 80 percent of these hops are exported, with Japan being the largest customer, followed by Germany, Poland and China.
Saaz hops remain the country’s dominant strain, constituting 88.8 percent of the crop area. Under its Czech name, Žatecký chmel, it received a protected origin of designation label from the European Union last year.
Several derivatives of Saaz hops have been developed by farmers, as the atlas details. These include strains called Sládek, Harmonie, Bor and Premiant, known for their aromatic effect on beer; Agnus and Rubín, meanwhile, are more bitter strains.
But it is Saaz hops that remain at the heart of the country’s signature beer, Pilsner Urquell, said Václav Berka, senior trade brewmaster of Plzeňský Prazdroj.
“They’re simply the best in the world,” he said.

Paul Voosen can be reached at pvoosen@praguepost.com


Other articles in Business (2/07/2008):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.