Hops topics:
New varieties, weed strategies, flavor analysis
New York’s 504 craft breweries generate $3.9 billion in economic impact. Many of those breweries want to make beers using local, NY-grown ingredients. But 99 percent of hops are bred and grown in the Pacific Northwest.
Not all of the varieties grown there perform well in New York. Our cool and damp climate encourages diseases that plague hops – especially downy mildew and a new threat, halo blight. And weeds are a constant threat to hops plantings.
Here at Cornell’s College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, we’re helping growers by:
- Working with the Hop Growers of NY (HGoNY) to breed a high-yielding, disease-resistant, and aromatic hop that performs well in New York State and can be marketed by brewers as New York’s hop.
- Evaluating novel electric weed-killing technology that reduces herbicides inputs and associated residue concerns.
- Developing high-throughput analytical methods to quantify aromatic flavor components, so we can select new hop varieties with unique sensory attributes.
