Opinion – Full Glass: Ambev takes hop growing project to Ribeirão Preto

Brazilian hops and curupira are increasingly distant. Not so long ago, the two were treated like legends around here. But recently one of them — hops — has started to become a happy reality, albeit on a small scale.

Comes from Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of São Paulo, the new initiative with hops — one of the ingredients of beer, along with malt, water and yeast. Located at Fazenda Pratinha, Silver Hops has entered into a partnership with the Fazenda Santa Catarina project, by Ambev, for planting and researching the little flower, responsible for the aroma and bitterness of beer.

In the southern region, the Ambev project has already begun to bear fruit. Lohn Bier, from Santa Catarina, has already launched two labels with hops from Santa Catarina: Green Belly and, this year, Toda Nossa, in partnership with Ambev. Colorado also used national hops in its Lager hop of the Brasil com S line, which values ​​ingredients from Brazilian biomes and also had tapioca in the recipe — the Ribeirão Preto brewery is part of Ambev’s portfolio.

For now, Silver Hops is still carrying out the climate adaptation tests for the cultivation of the little flower, which does not have an easy life in the country. As a rule, hops need a lot of exposure to light, somewhere between 10 and 13 hours a day, as happens in the European summer; at the same time, it enjoys the milder temperatures in the northern hemisphere. Silver Hops intends to dedicate 1.5 hectares to the cultivation of nine varieties of hops.

“Our role will be to complement the work that is already being done with family farming, bringing even more the look of research and innovation. With these two fronts, we will be able to generate important transformations in the brewing production chain and in responsible Brazilian agribusiness”, he says José Virgílio Braghetto Neto, responsible for Silver Hops.

For Felipe Sommer, coordinator of Ambev’s Fazenda Santa Catarina project, the integrated project “guarantees a very high quality national hop production.” For Sommer, it is essential to integrate small producers in the development of hops, including expansion and access to credit. “The focus is to develop and scale up the production of Brazilian hops with the support of Fazenda Pratinha, producers, universities, Aprolúpulo [Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Lúpulo] and others involved,” he says.

Other initiatives

Among other actions involving Brazilian hops, in 2020 we also had Braza Hops, a german pils launched by Black Princess, of the Petrópolis group — with hops that flourished in plantations in Teresópolis, in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro.

Long before that, Baden Baden, from Campos do Jordão, had already used the small flower grown in the region, also used in other craft beers in the surroundings of Serra da Mantiqueira, always on a small scale.

Cuesta Cervejaria, from Botucatu, in the interior of São Paulo, launched in 2019, in partnership with Carranca, a small batch of a hazy IPA made 100% with local ingredients.

All initiatives in the development of Brazilian hops are very important for the market, which uses almost 100% of the imported ingredient, mainly from countries like Germany, the Czech Republic and the United States. A hop that grows with characteristics of the Brazilian terroir is essential for those who dream of seeing the country as a new reference for brewing schools in the world.