Balm Researchers Hop On Challenge To Grow Hops

BALM, FL – With the growing popularity of craft beer breweries in Tampa Bay, University of Florida researchers are experimenting with ways to locally grow an essential ingredient of beer.

The UF-IFAS Gulf Coast Research & Education Center in Balm, in partnership with Hillsborough County government and local brewers, is investigating ways to grow hops in the Sunshine State.

Hops is a flowering plant that is used as a flavor and stability agent in beer. Because of Florida’s warm temperatures and shorter days due to its proximity to the equator, local farmers haven’t had much luck growing hops.

Most hops hail from the Pacific Northwest where the days are longer and temperatures cooler. Brewers in Florida must ship in fresh hops, hops oils and hops pellets, which can be expensive and time-consuming.

Researchers at the Balm facility, therefore, have planted a 1-acre hops field surrounded by LED lights on top of poles to artificially increase the daylight hours needed to grow hops.

The lights remain on until 11 p.m. daily, said Shinsuke Agehara, an assistant professor of plant physiology at GCREC in Balm. That gives the plants some 15 hours of "daylight," about the length of an average day during the hops growing season in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The beams imitate sunlight, artificially stretching daylight hours to prevent hops plants from budding prematurely.

Agehara said researchers are experimenting with 14 varieties of hops plants. So far, he said, the Cascade variety seems to produce the best buds. Cascade is popular among brewers, both for flavor and aroma.

At the same time the researchers are looking for ways to contend with the heat and humidity that can cause diseases in Florida crops. Their goal is to find a variety of the climbing plant that will stand up to Florida's challenging growing conditions.

If successful, researchers hope to convince local growers to produce hops, creating a flavor of beer that will be unique to Florida.

Ideally, Florida growers will be able to harvest hops in May and June, with perhaps a second harvest in November and December. As with other crops grown in Florida, growers may be able to time their harvests to coincide with a shortage of hops in the national market.

"We are just seeing which variety can produce the best hops," said Agehara.

Photos via Hillsborough County