Originally published September 13, 2024. A lukewarm hop picking season in the UK has begun September 2024, even as a strong harvest culminates in the Czech Republic.
In the UK’s case, hop gathering usually marks a celebratory tradition that began with the 16th century introduction of the hop plant, Humulus lupulus.
One of the places synonymous with the harvest is Hertfordshire in south-east England. Here, local beer maker Ledbury Real Ales is acclaiming the season’s comeback, writes Ledbury Reporter.
The company sources its green hops from nearby Hawkins Farming, whose late summer fruits, hops and grain harvests last four months.
Kent Harvest
But it is not just Hertfordshire that gathers these flowers that bitter and flavor beer, for there is rural Kent.
Situated in to the southeast of London, Kent is losing its great tradition of September hop harvesting.
The BBC reported on September 12, 2024 that since the 1930s, the county would welcome London families for the autumn harvest. Children and adults alike would stream there in a celebratory mood to gather the crop.
Since 1972 however, the family event was dying as more and more beer companies rushed in to make “craft beer.”
Despite losing momentum, many people still reminisce back to how they used to come by horse wagons to gather the flowers.
In reality, the holiday-like event was a waged system where harvesters labored to pick flowers from 6-meter tall bent vines.
The flower pickers got payment per bushel after delivering their blooms to the drying houses. Here, the green hops would dry and soon brew beer for the masses.
Better Hop Picking in Czech Republic
While in England the tradition is out of time, central Europe is seeing a robust harvest of hops.
A case study is the August 2024 harvest in the Czech Republic where hop picking began August 17, successfully.
The country ranks third globally in the production of hops, of which 70% ends up mainly in Japan and China.
Although hop acreage in 2024 has dipped to 4,582 hectares, production could echo 2023’s strong posting of 6,897 tonnes.
Interestingly, the country’s Distillers’ Union thinks that at least 20% of Czech breweries won’t reopen due to poor grape harvests. This exempts factories that make hop-flavored beer, which will remain open due to rising demand. Indeed, during Octoberfest in neighboring Germany in 2023, hop beer demand was upscale despite steep pricing.
In short, hop picking is culminating in the Czech Republic and starting in the UK amid a dying harvesting tradition. Speaking of which, below are salient facts about the UK’s hop sector, including its recent strengths.
UK Hops Statistics
Hop cultivation in the UK began in the 16th century when Dutch merchants brought the plant here. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the English have ranked as not only leading hop producers but beer lovers as well. FAOSTAT records that the UK and Northern Ireland yielded a volume of 1,091.47 tonnes of hops in 2021. The volume would dip in 2022 to 1,068.62 tonnes, just like acreage, which shed 17 hectares to 800 hectares. The UK’s 2022 output was only about 1% of worldwide production but the 5th highest, behind the U.S.’ 44% lead. In Europe, England emerged third in 2022 production behind Germany with 32% global share and the Czech Republic at 4%.
Is England a major importer of hops?
Despite producing 1% of world’s hops, the UK still needs more and imports often exceed exports 7:1. In 2022, for instance, the country imported $78.3 million worth, versus $10.2 million in hop exports.
How much hop extracts does the UK export?
In terms of hop extracts, the UK came 4th (when counting the 3rd placed EU as one country). The UK’s exports totaled 1,703.94 tonnes in 2021, per World Bank figures. That same year, imports of hop extracts reached 1,279.23 tonnes, the third highest worldwide.
How much beer do the English drink yearly?
In 2021, the UK ranked 7th in beer consumption at 4,496,000 liquid tonnes per year. Only Germany, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, the U.S., and China in ascending order drank more. In per capita terms, the Irish constituted the highest beer-taking constituents of the British Isles at 116.33 liters per year per person in 2021. This was the second highest per-individual consumption rate globally after the Czech Republic’s 140.12 liters per capita.