From Rhizome to Brewery Humlegarden Seminar 14 th September 2018
Charles Faram & Co Ltd
Charles Faram & Co Ltd History 1865 Charles Faram established 1989 3 hop varieties in stock from the UK and no other products Fuggles, Goldings, Challenger 2012 Charles Faram Inc formed, office based in Portland, Oregon 2014 Charles Faram Brewing Supplies created in Toronto, Canada 2016 Cold store and distribution warehouse opened in Yakima, Washington State
Charles Faram & Co History 2018 Over 140 varieties in stock from all around the world Fermentis yeast Murphy & Son brewing aids (finings, water treatments etc.) Malt (Crisp, Weyermann,) Shives and Keystones Crown caps We also have our own breeding programme to develop new hop varieties Archer Minstrel Jester Olicana Godiva CF160 CHARLES FARAM IS GROWER OWNED
The Group
Hops Grow Best Between 35 55 degrees latitude Daylight hours during the hops main growing phase are critical Over 18 hours of daylight is required for good yields Below the 35 th parallel hops can be grown but artificial light is needed to extend the growing day.
World Hop Production All figures expressed as number of Hectares grown
Hop Production Each variety is kept true to type by cloning. (Cuttings from the original) Each seed would produce a new variety
Hop Production Preparation January - February Weed Control Preparation March - April Stringing
Hop Production Training March - April
Hop Production Spraying June - August Weeds Aphid & caterpillars Red Spider Mite Downy & Powdery Mildew Unable to control Verticilllium Wilt!
Hop Production Harvesting September
Hop Production Hops arrive at the Picking Machine
Hop Production Picking Machine Stripping the vine
Hop Production Cleaning the hops
Hop Production Loading the kilns for drying
Hop Production Drying & Baling
Hop Production Packing Pockets & Bales
Hop Production Sampling
Storage & Processing Cold Storage 3 7 degrees centigrade
Storage & Processing Vacuum packed Freshpak
Hop Processing Type 90 Pellets
Recent Types of Packaging
New Coldstore at Malvern Site 0 to -2 C
Assessment and Selection CF Ltd handles and sells approximately 70% of the UK hop crop from the 3 UK grower groups Hawbrand hops Wealdon Hops English Hops Ltd Annual visits to supplier countries to vist growers, make selections, assess the harvest Czech Republic inc Chmelarsky Institute Slovenia inc Hop Research Institute Germany Poland USA
Assessment and Selection
Yakima Site
Hop Production Which Varieties to plant? A grower s consideration Saleability Is the variety in demand Price that can be achieved Yield per hectare Ripening times Resistance to pest and disease
Charles Faram Hop Development Program Main nursery site is in Herefordshire Trial plots with local farmers Breaks all the rules, promising varieties are sent forward before full disease screening is completed New varieties primarily selected on aroma 5000 seeds (separate varieties) a year 50 new varieties in advanced development 1-2 commercial varieties released a year Seedlings now planted in Kent USA Czech Republic Slovenia Poland
How does our breeding programme work? Year 0: Create variety Crosses Year 1: Raising seeds and initial disease screening Year 2: Aroma and disease assessment and selection, initial brew trial. Venture propagating for all promising selections. Year 3: Propagation of plots and further disease screening Year 4: Larger scale brewing trials, further propagation for favoured plots Year 5: Planting on farms
5000 seedlings growing in pots in 2017
40% will be male. The program is only as strong as the plants that fail!
Disease screening Looking for natural resistance to Powdery mildew and tolerance to downy mildew - reducing our dependence on fungicides.
What else are we looking? Small leaves (more hops) Bunchy, Firm Cones Stiff laterals Good resin, complex aromas
What about the aroma? Green aroma is used to identify promising plants at an early stage, but not exclusively. Dried aroma is assessed in November and January. We analyse upto 200 dried samples per year. Green aroma identifies 2/3 rd of the desirable plants.
Hop Compounds Acids Alpha acids Humulone Co humulone Ad humulone Imparts bitterness, flavour and mouthfeel Beta acids
Hop Compounds Oils and Resins Farnesene Myrcene Humulene Selinene Caryophyllene Linalool Geraniool Imparts flavour and aroma Every hop has different levels of oils and resins Very dependant on growing conditions, especially in the last month
The Future? More intensely flavoured hops from all countries Alpha acreage has been decreasing, perhaps now critical, although there is indication of increase in the USA New varieties being propagated all the time Old varieties being re-visited Varieties being selected on aroma
Early Crop Reports from the 2018 Harvest
The UK There s a change of varieties to follow the market. Goldings and Fuggle still important. More varieties going in (mainly the newer varieties like Jester, Ernest, Olicana Late start due to snow in March. Then it was really wet, thankfully 4-5% increase in acreage. Then we had the hot sunny weather. Traditional British heritage varieties have struggled It s hard to tell until after the harvest what the yield will be but early varieties have suffered most Goldings are down by about 30% Phoenix is 20% up on average. New varieties are looking amazing. 60 will be ready for Charles Faram aroma testing at the start of next year
USA Weather has been normal this year. It was a bit wet. It s been extremely warm and then cooled down a couple of weeks ago Centennial will be below average. Maybe Simcoe and Idaho 7 as well Acreage gone up by 2000 acres. Mainly Citra and proprietary hops Simcoe acreage reduced Alpha is becoming more popular. It has been 80% aroma 20% alpha in the past although more recently aroma has been higher than alpha Future will see more alpha going in Release of new varieties has slowed down. Some great new varieties in the pipe line
Czech Republic Crop yield is low. There s more than 50% less on some farms All 3 Hop regions are below average. Weather has been very dry for growers in Europe Hop quality is better than expected. Essential oils this year are pretty good Acreage of Saaz and new varieties expected to increase in acreage next year Trial plots with Charles Faram are putting forward a new variety next year
Slovenia 1800 hectares slight increase of around 100 hectares mostly Aurora. Good substitute for Perle Crop very nice as had favourable weather (a wet English summer) May was too hot for early varieties, but quality still good Exciting times ahead with Hop development. More high aroma
Germany Acreage increased by about 700ha Mainly Herkules (Magnum and Taurus reduced as they cannot produce enough alpha per ha to compete) Hot dry summer - many varieties hit hard (particularly the early ones). Overall yields could be 20% short of normal Herkules still to be harvested but expected to be lower alpha and yields.