Spain | High-tech hops to protect beer from climate change

(Chantada) Outside the start-up Ekonoke’s warehouse in northwest Spain, the morning is freezing, but temperatures are mild inside: covered by LED lights, 360 Hop plants began flowering as if it were the end of August.

These plants, tangled in a complex network of cables and wires, are part of a unique “indoor” agriculture project developed by the Spanish start-up, in search of an alternative production method for this herbaceous vine vulnerable to climate change.

Objective: to preserve the taste and aromas of beer, closely linked to aromatic hops, an essential ingredient in the manufacture of this drink – with malt, water and yeast – thanks to its alpha acids, which generate bitterness and facilitate its conservation.

According to experts, rising temperatures and droughts caused by global warming are making hop harvests increasingly unpredictable in Europe, reducing yields and the concentration of the famous alpha acids.

This trend is likely to continue, according to a scientific article recently published in the journal Nature Communicationswhich predicts a drop in yield of almost 20% and a drop in the alpha acid content of 30% by 2050. Enough to worry the sector.

With climate change, “predictability no longer exists”, explains to AFP Giacomo Guala, hops expert for Copa-Cogeca, which brings together the main agricultural unions in the EU: “You don’t have rain when you’re supposed to have it and you have too much when you’re not supposed to have it. »

Less water

Having a stable supply of hops is “crucial”, because there is no alternative to give this bitterness, insists José Luis Olmedo, head of research at Cosecha de Galicia – the innovation branch of the Hijos de Brewery. Rivera, which makes Estrella Galicia beer.

Until now dependent on hops grown in the open field, the Spanish group quickly saw the potential of the Ekonoke project and joined forces with the start-up, providing a significant part of the 4.2 million euros raised. by the company in 2022.

“What interests brewers most is the guarantee of supply in quantity and quality,” explains Inés Sagrario, general director of Ekonoke, at its 1,200 square meter pilot farm in Chantada in Galicia, where the first Harvest took place in mid-February.

The start-up began testing in its Madrid laboratory in 2019 with four plants. Since then, she has gradually learned to reduce the growth time of the hops, but also her water needs, which are now “15 times less” than outside.

Reduced cycle

“We control all the environmental and nutritional parameters, but also the lighting,” with LED lamps reproducing the colors and intensity of the sun at each stage of the growth cycle, explains M.^me Sagrario. This helps “provide the plant with what it needs when it needs it,” she continues.

In the warehouse, an intoxicating smell of hops permeates the air, while a huge cluster laden with flowers waits to be picked. Cultivated without soil, the vines are fed via a closed circuit allowing constant reuse of water enriched with nutrients, without pesticides.

“In the fields, although the cycle is six months, we can only harvest once a year,” explains Ana Saez, agronomist and director of operations. “Here, as we can control and reproduce “spring”, we have reduced the cycle to three months. »

Ekonoke plans large-scale production in a 12,000 square meter structure by the end of 2025.

For Mirek Trnka, bioclimatologist at the Czech Academy of Sciences, indoor cultivation, although interesting, may not be enough to meet global demand. “We would need to significantly increase” the number of installations to ensure “the current level of production”, he explains to AFP.

At Ekonoke, we are counting on hybrid varieties, capable of “giving more quantity and quality” with “fewer resources”, to solve part of the problem.

A development that traditional growers should not worry about, according to the start-up. “We are not threatening them, it is climate change that threatens them,” summarizes Inés Sagrario.