LUPULINAECOCAM Operational Group: Development of organic hop cultivation in the Community of Madrid, to contribute to a stable and sustainable supply of Madrid craft breweries
- Type Operational group
- Status Filled
- Execution 2018 -2021
- Assigned Budget 161.050,00 €
- Scope Autonómico
- Autonomous community Madrid, Comunidad de
- Main source of financing PEPAC 2014-2020
- Project website GO LUPULINAECOCAM
Installation of experimental plantations: The experimental plantations installed will serve as a showcase for other farmers interested in hop cultivation. This way, farmers can gain an idea of the crop's requirements in the field and adapt it to their specific needs. Anyone can visit the plantations, and for more information, guided tours can be arranged through members of the task force. Prospecting, propagation, and study of wild hops: The collected wild plants will be multiplied and cultivated for study. Protocols for the vegetative multiplication of hops will be developed, which farmers can use to propagate their own plants.
These protocols will be available to growers, as they will be included in a Basic Guide on Organic Hop Cultivation in the Community of Madrid. Plant material from plants deemed suitable for the brewing industry due to their quality will be preserved for future study and distribution to commercial plantations. A feasibility study on organic hop cultivation in the Community of Madrid will be conducted. The production, quality, and environmental adaptation of commercial hop varieties and wild hop plants from the various experimental plantations will be compared.
As a result, the varieties best adapted to cultivation in the region and with the highest yield and cone quality will be selected. The results obtained from the data collected in the experimental plantations will be included in a Guide for Organic Hop Cultivation in the Community of Madrid, which will include:
- Types of plantation.
- Crop requirements and basic management tasks.
- Protocol for the vegetative propagation of hops.
- Varieties to grow.
- Minimum expected production.
- Economic profitability study
Hop cultivation in Spain does not meet national demand. The sector is heavily influenced by the demands of the beer industry, which accounts for 98% of production. The remainder is used for the manufacture of cosmetic and therapeutic products. In recent years, there has been an increase in the establishment of companies and cooperatives for the production of craft beer, with an increasing number of companies deciding to introduce organic production lines each year.
With the growing demand for craft beers in domestic markets, a supply problem has arisen for hops, an essential component in beer production, both in craft and industrial breweries. This supply problem is particularly evident in Madrid, which has around 20 craft breweries.
The hop cultivation area in Spain is concentrated in the province of León (487 ha, nearly 95% of the national total), primarily in the upper reaches of the Órbigo River valley. The remainder is grown in Galicia, Rioja, Navarra, Girona, Lérida, and Palencia. According to data from the MAPAMA Statistics Yearbook, the value of hop production in 2015 was €3.588 billion, 8.66% less than the production value in 2014 and representing 0.02% of final plant production.
According to provisional data from Datacomex, the value of imports in Spain in 2015 was €9.78 million and their weight was 867.83 tons. The majority of imports come from the EU, specifically from Germany. If with this project we succeed in establishing hop cultivation in the Community of Madrid, there will be an opportunity to diversify the crop offering in the Madrid plains, where there are currently approximately 10,000 hectares underutilized or abandoned for cultivation. If this happens, jobs will be created for the harvesting and processing of hops. Furthermore, the competitiveness of Madrid craft breweries will be improved with a reduction in the cost of one of the most expensive raw materials for beer production. Finally, the environment will be improved by reducing the transportation of raw materials, reducing the need for transporting them.
The main activities to be carried out in the Lupulinaecocam project are described below:
Wild hop prospecting. First, wild hop populations will be located in the river valleys of the Sierra, as well as in the valleys of the Henares, Jarama, Tajuña, and Tajo rivers. Subsequently, female plants will be identified and tagged, and flower samples will be taken for alpha acid analysis. Interesting plants will be multiplied for planting in the three experimental plantations we will establish to study this novel and innovative crop in the Community of Madrid. Two propagation options for the located plants will be studied: vegetatively by rhizomes and by green cuttings.
Installation of experimental hop plantations: This will test the organic cultivation of this species in the riverbanks of the Tajuña and Tajo rivers, and in the Sierra de Guadarrama. To this end, three experimental fields will be established with different training systems and varieties.
Hop plantation evaluation: phenology, production, and flower quality. All plantations will be monitored: a) Pest and disease incidence, studying each variety separately and seeking defense methods within organic cultivation. b) Monitoring the phenology of each variety, sprouting date, flowering date, and harvesting date. c) Production of flowers obtained and harvested green. Flowers will be harvested by hand. d) Yield of the commercial product after drying.
Analysis of the final product for storage and marketing will be taken as a reference and dictated by the Analytical-EBC Section 7 Hops standard, in its various indications, as defined by the standard, conductometry analysis or HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) so that the analyses meet the necessary criteria to consider their possible comparison with other Spanish and international production areas such as Germany, England and the USA.
Production of experimental beers with different types of hops obtained. Tests will be conducted on a volume of 100 liters of beer with the different hops obtained and will be evaluated through tastings by a panel of experts to determine the organoleptic quality of the characteristics contributed by the hops.
Analysis of results: The results obtained from the plantations will be analyzed by the research team to determine which varieties are most suitable for cultivation in our region. To this end, the data obtained from the different plantations will be compared, both in terms of phenology and flower production and quality. Economic profitability study. Based on the results obtained, a cost-benefit study will be conducted for the different types of plantations and varieties to be cultivated to determine the profitability of hop cultivation.
The primary goal of the project is to introduce organic hop cultivation in the Community of Madrid to supply Madrid breweries, which currently purchase this type of product through imports from outside Spain, at a high economic and environmental cost due to transportation. Knowing that wild hops exist on the banks of waterways in the central region, and assuming their adaptation to the climate that allows their cultivation, the project's objective is to study the viability of hop cultivation in the Community of Madrid, which currently does not exist commercially in the region.
To this end, three experimental plantations will be established: in the Sierra de Guadarrama, in the Tajuña valley, and in the Tajo valley. Different staking techniques and different commercial varieties will be used. In parallel, wild hop surveys will be conducted to assess the quality of their flowers, analyzing the level of lupulin, alpha acids, and aromatic profile. In addition, we will study the adaptation of these wild plants to the environment and compare them with commercial varieties from different countries that are suitable for aromatic plants and produce high amounts of flowers.
The project will last three years, which is the time it takes for a hop plantation to enter full production. The results of partial harvests from the first two years will be analyzed to monitor the brewing characteristics of the harvested inflorescences. These experimental productions will allow sufficient analyses to establish the quality of commercial varieties and wild ecotypes from the Community of Madrid and conduct the first brewing trials to assess their suitability and define their production capacity.
The study of wild native hop varieties will serve as a basis for future improvement programs if their quality is satisfactory. The organic hop production project aims to diversify hop cultivation in Madrid's vegas (fertile plains), create employment in rural areas, reduce water consumption, and lower production costs for Madrid's craft breweries, improving the quality of the product obtained and increasing their competitiveness.
The results obtained from the data collected in the experimental plantations will be included in a Guide for the organic cultivation of hops in the Community of Madrid that will include: - Types of plantation - Cultivation requirements and basic management tasks - Protocol for the vegetative propagation of hops - Varieties to be cultivated - Minimum expected production - Study of economic profitability
- Coordinator/entity name: Madrid Institute for Rural, Agricultural and Food Research and Development (IMIDRA)
- Postal address: C/ Leganitos, 47, 3rd floor, Centro District, 28013 Madrid
- Coordinator/entity email: imidra@madrid.org
- Telephone: 914383048
- Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDRA)
- Gabarrerra Sociedad Coopetativa Madrileña (info@cervezasgabarrerra.com)
- Rayo Verde Agricultura Sociedad Cooperativa Madrileña (eayoverdeagricultura@gmail.com)
- CSM Cerveza Artesana de Bustarviejo (cervezabailandera@gmail.com)
- Monasterio Natural S.L. (monasterionatural@gmail.com)
- Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDRA)
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