Brewing in the 1950’s – North American Hops

I’m finally getting to the end of Jeffery’s discussion of hop varieties. Sorry it’s taken so long.

This time we’re looking at North American hops. Starting with Canada.

“British Columbians. Unfortunately, we have only had the pleasure of seeing a very few of these hops, but we were greatly impressed by them. They combine brightness of appearance with a fair size of cone, and, above all, a flavour which could well equal that of the best Kent Fuggles. It is a pity that more are not available. Their preservative value is high, and they could be used with advantage even in the best beers.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 176.

I’ve seen these turn up occasionally in brewing records. Though I’m damned if I can find any examples at the moment. Was Canada much of a hop producer? I feel like a table coming on. I knew all that crap I collected about hops would come in useful sometime. Actually, I didn’t think that, but collected it anyway. Because the crazy obsessive type of thing I do.

As you can see, Canada wasn’t exactly a player on the world stage:

World Production of hops 1951 - 1957
Country	1951	1952	1953	average 1950-54	1955	1956	1957
	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.
Northern Hemisphere
USA	564,634	546,991	372,786	478,812	329,233	342,705	358,349
Canada	17,339	17,920	15,179§	17,214	12,554	12,902	10,563
United Kingdom	321,821	282,348	266,000	298,216	256,821	184,170	267,670
Czechoslovakia	98,420§	80,705§	98,420§	98,000	120,428	96,304	73,813
Germany	252,795	206,187	280,500	256,688	253,358	277,027	283,473
France	41,330	34,446	48,223	39,660	41,214	33,071	33,696
Belgium	19,366	17,062	19,179	20,750	26,571	16,027	23,821
Spain	t	2,607	3,661	t	5,732	5,812	6,893
Poland	t	t	t	t	24,992	12,580	24,598
Yugoslavia	24,652	23,652	25,589	25,661	36,616	45,866	52,848
Other European	t	t	t	t	875	1,134	982
USSR	t	t	t	t	78,812	57,723	65,196
Japan	9,054	16,241	13,286	11,026	15,187	15,795	16,205
Total	1,349,411	1,228,159	1,142,823	1,246,027	1,202,393	1,101,116	1,218,107
Southern Hemisphere*
Australia	18,384	31,920	28,000§	27,376	34,376	25,902	31,429
New Zealand	7,795	8,036	7,589§	8,946	11,062	8,964	8,929
Union of South Africa	2,482	3,384	3,125§	3,071	2,098	1,625	1,376
Argentina	1,179	1,179	1,116§	1,330	1,571	1,714	2,411
Total	29,840	44,519	39,830§	40,723	49,107	38,205	44,143
World Total	1,379,251	1,272,678	1,182,653§	1,286,750	1,251,500	1,139,321	1,262,250
* crops harvested early in the following year
t not available
§ estimate
Sources:
1951, 1952, 1953: 1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 65.
average 1950-54, 1955, 1956, 1957: 1962 Brewers' Almanack, page 63.

If I show Canada’s share in percentage terms, it’s clear how insignificant the country was as a hop producer:

Canada's share of hop production
Year	Canada	World Total	Canada's %
1951	17,339	1,379,251	1.26%
1952	17,920	1,272,678	1.41%
1953	15,179	1,182,653	1.28%
average 1950-54	17,214	1,286,750	1.34%
1955	12,554	1,251,500	1.00%
1956	12,902	1,139,321	1.13%
1957	10,563	1,262,250	0.84%

This originally Canadian variety is still with us:

“A cross between a wild Manitoba hop and an English hop, called Brewer's Gold is remarkable for its very high preservative value (120-140 on the dry hop). It has a rather strong aroma, but if blended it can be used as a copper hop. It has even been used as a dry hop.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 176.

Now on to the USA:

“United States. Hops from the New York district are usually ranked first in value, on account of their greater delicacy in flavour. Next in order is placed those grown in and marketed as Sonomas, Oregons, and Sacramentos. These hops all have a very distinctive colour, being pale primrose without a trace of a green tinge. This feature is probably due to the climatic conditions under which they are grown and harvested. In wealth of resins they have no equal, the amount being in some cases remarkable. For this reason they have a very high preservative value. Unfortunately, they have some rather noticeable and serious defects, one of which is the large amount of stick and leaf present, which weighs up to a considerable amount. This defect is due to the introduction of machinery for picking, and we fail to see how the defect is to be obviated. In our opinion, it detracts greatly from the brewing value. Furthermore, American hops are prone to attacks from blight and vermin. In some instances the infection is so intense that the insides of a large proportion of cones is rendered black and foul. Even the strigs are sometimes affected. The vastness of the gardens makes the situation even more difficult to handle than is the case when dealing with a scourge in England. Sonomas are supposed to enjoy a certain amount of freedom from attacks by blight. All the same, we have seen specimens of them in a most undesirable condition.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 176 - 177.

I thought New York’s hop industry was long gone by the 1950’s. Didn’t they have terrible problems with pests and disease?

Sonoma and Sacramento, of course, are in California. We’ll be hearing later about the effect of machine picking on yields and hop quality. All I can say is that it must have saved a stack of money on labour, because it had all sorts of disadvantages. The US industry had abandoned hand picking before WW II.

A recurring theme when British brewers discuss American hops is the horrible blackcurrant flavour. They were saying the same back in the 19th century.

“In flavour, Sonomas are certainly entitled to pride of position because they are much milder than Oregons, and free from that intense and objectionable black-currant flavour. Great efforts have been made in recent years to eradicate or lessen this by planting hills of delicate flavoured Kent and Worcester hops nearby. In some cases a degree of success has been met with, but, whether it is due to the nature of the soil or to the climate, there is always a gradual tendency to hark back to the strong flavour.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 177.

Not sure why planting British hops close by would make the others taste better.

Before WW II US hops were as common as muck in Britain. But, with UK-grown supplies being sufficient after the war, they seem to have disappeared pretty much completely. Whitbread look like they were using up some old Oregons they had during the war, but when they ran out in 1945, they disappear from their records.

It’s one of the biggest changes in ingredients I’ve seen, wartime excepted. American hops had been a mainstay for British brewers for around 100 years. Then suddenly they were discarded, like a lover who’s become fat or bald. Or both.

“The cones of some of the Oregon hops are of immense size, and we have seen some 3 in. or more in length. The bracts are long and pointed, and come away from the strig easily, displaying much resin. Unfortunately, the resins quickly change from soft to hard when stored under ordinary conditions. They emit, in a hard state, a pungent and uninviting aroma. Sacramentos are the coarsest of the series, and compare unfavourably both in resinous content and preservative properties.
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 177.

Don’t think I’ve ever come across anything specifically called Sacramento. Though they could just have been described as American or Californian. They sound pretty crap – bad flavour and with lesser preservative power.

Unbelievably, there’s loads, loads more about hops in the 1950’s to come. Unless I get distracted, obviously.