306 pplThe pilot crop of Russian hops has been harvested in the Krasnodar Region.
In September 2022, the first hops were harvested in the village of Novodmitrievskaya, Krasnodar Territory. The hops seedlings were planted on the territory of a 70-hectare hop farm in the fall of 2021.
9 different hops varieties were harvested, followed by the alpha-acids quantitative analysis, and the confirmation of the declared characteristics, taking into account climatic and geographical conditions. The results show the content of alpha acids, including in bitter hops.
In September, the first beer with the newly harvested hops was brewed. This is the dry-hopped light Hoppy Lager. It contains 12.1% alpha-acid Magnum-type bittering hops for bitterness; a 13.6% alpha-acid Herkules-type variety for bitterness and aroma; a 7.2% alpha-acid Cascade-type variety for aroma and dry hopping. The grist contained whole hops, light barley Pilsner Premium malt (“Kursky malt”), Munich malt (“Kursky malt”), as well as bottom fermenting yeast Fermentis Saflager W34/70. The beer was brewed at our own experimental brewery in Moscow by the Grainrus brewery technologist Sergey Matveev.
The Hoppy Lager presentation and tasting was held on September 27-29 for the participants of the VIII Brewers of the South Forum, with Grainrus being its general sponsor.
About industrial hop farm project:
As part of the implementation of the 180-hectare industrial hop farm project, 160 hectares of Krasnodar hop farms have been rebuilt, with trellises and anchors installed, wires stretched, soil prepared for planting, and irrigation system built. European equipment, as well as specialized equipment for seedling sowing, plant protection, and harvesting up to 2000 vines, was purchased.
The design capacity of the hop farm is up to 400 tons of hops per year. The production includes a full cycle of hop processing: from cultivation to packaging and vacuuming.
