We tell the story of a journey that in some ways may seem repetitive but that every year brings great satisfaction!
We are talking about the cultivation of hops, from the first sprouts to its harvest, a key element of Oltremondo beer.
Are you ready to start this fantastic adventure with us?
HOPS IN ITALY
Some basic information: hops is a climbing plant, widespread throughout Italy,
growing spontaneously along riverbanks and forest edges, up to about 1000 meters in altitude.
Italian wild hops , despite having all the genetic potential to imprint its characteristics on beer,
is not used, in fact, the path to achieve a stable and appreciated native variety is still long, but with the development of the sector and research, it will be closer and closer.Hops in Italy is basically a crop still to be discovered!
In recent years it has had great success thanks to the evolution of the craft beer concept by young brewers.At Oltremondo today varieties from different parts of the world are cultivated: United States, Germany, and Japan, selected for their ability to adapt to the hilly Marche territory and for their organoleptic characteristics.
HOW THE OLTREMONDO HOP YARD WAS BORN
The Oltremondo hop yard was born from the desire to have homegrown hops as a distinctive ingredient of its beers.
In 2017, the meeting with theUniversity of Tuscia in Viterbo, and collaboration with the DAFNE department made it possible to launch the project from which the Oltremondo hop yard was born.After the initial planning and selection of the best hop varieties to cultivate, useful for the purpose, the construction of the facility began on an area of about 3000 sqm with roughly one thousand plants.
3 main production hop varieties: - 540 Cascade plants (about 55% of the hop yard);
- 240 Chinook plants (25%);
- 140 Magnum plants (15%)
4 experimental varieties for future development: Sorachi Ace, Comet, Crystal, and Cashmere.
AT THE BASE: CARE, PASSION, AND EXPERTISE
To obtain fragrant hops with valuable aromatic notes, the foundation of all the work must be:
passion, dedication, and skills, — three elements that have always distinguished the Oltremondo team.
By going through the crucial stages of hop growth, we arrive at the harvest, a fundamental event of this time of year.
- OCTOBER - FEBRUARY This is the “autumn-winter” phase, hops are dormant, like in hibernation.
During this phase, soil preparation takes place, with fertilization using manure that will nourish the plant at its awakening in spring.
The ropes on which hops will climb during growth are also tied.- MARCH – APRIL This is the awakening phase for hops, during which pruning of the roots takes place to protect the plant from downy mildew, a parasitic disease that can compromise hop growth.
This technique is called “bullshoot cutting,” followed by the selection of the best shoots that will be trained to climb the “climbing” ropes.- MAY - JULY From May to July, the plant is left to grow, regularly monitoring its health and any attacks
by parasites such as red spider mite and yellow spider mite.- AUGUST – SEPTEMBER In this last phase, hops plants are at their peak growth and what were small inflorescences are now true “cones” maturing, ready to be harvested.
We’ve reached the heart of our article, an exciting moment for those who follow hop growth day by day!
The flowers are now mature with a moisture content between 80-75%, while the lupulin inside takes on an intense yellow to ochre color.
THE HARVEST CAN BEGIN!
It starts at first light when plants are still fresh to prevent branches from losing elasticity, crucial when leaves are separated from flowers using the “hop picker”, an original machine designed and built by the Oltremondo team in collaboration with Iacucci Adamo company of Mondolfo (PU).
The atmosphere is convivial, and sometimes neighbors and friends come by the hop yard to see what resembles a traditional harvest in the barnyard, but of an unusual and curious plant: hops.
DRYING THE FLOWERS
Drying takes place inside a dryer always “made in Oltremondo,” where hops lose their internal water content to keep for about 2 years.
After drying, the raw material is stored. For this phase, the Oltremondo team revived an old “powder” formula, used before the introduction of hop pellets.
Finally, using a large cutter and dry ice, the flowers are chopped, almost powdered, and vacuum-packed. Dry ice keeps the temperature low during this process and releases CO2 to eliminate residual oxygen. This way two great enemies of hops are countered: oxygen and high temperature, preserving the flowers’ organoleptic qualities.
THE VALUE OF SEASONALITY
Oltremondo beer is born from the desire to use a self-produced raw material with important social and territorial value, free of external elements, environmentally sustainable, and that gives proper value to seasonality.
A new conception of beer, continuously evolving, born directly from the hop yard and the desire to improve day by day, producing a genuine final product capable of offering new sensations to those who taste it every time!
IT ALL STARTS FROM THE HOP YARD
Some basic botanical notions are necessary to fully understand the importance of hop harvest: the hop plant grows and propagates from a large root called a rhizome, from which the typical climbing shoots grow, where the flowers develop, similar to small pine cones.
To grow and climb, a support structure must be built, allowing the plant to easily climb up to 7-8 meters high.
The best period to start growing the key element that characterizes our beers begins with the first warmth of April and ends with the harvest around the last weeks of August.
During summer months, the most substantial and visible changes happen that make the hop yard majestic.Once planted, the hop yard takes about one to two years to develop the organoleptic properties necessary to effectively flavor the beers we produce, and a factor that particularly influences optimal growth is the territory itself.
The Oltremondo hop yard is located in the warm, fertile, and nutrient-rich valleys of Marche, and is based on non-intensive cultivation, aiming to intervene as little as possible, letting the plant grow naturally and totally organically. The constant health monitoring of the hop yard is carried out by Dr. P, an expert agronomist specialized in hop cultivation, whose collaboration began with the university project and continues today!
A union of scientific knowledge and love for the land, from which Oltremondo beer is born.
FINALLY, THE GRINDING!
After this preamble, we reach the last step: grinding.
This is the phase that differentiates big breweries from Oltremondo, as the former transform the flower into two types of pellets:
- T90 different-sized pellets
- T45 uniform-sized pelletsWhile Oltremondo brewery grinds all parts of the flower, thus keeping the hop’s organoleptic properties intact!
This means that using pellets produces a more defined and marked taste, while ground flowers allow you to savor more nuances, making Oltremondo beers unique in their kind.
What can we say, the harvest is over!
Now all that’s left is to come and taste the fruit of this fantastic season!
