Humulus Lupulus: The Origin Of The Hop Plant

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Humulus lupulus is a plant that has been around for many centuries. It began its timeline in the United States in the 1600s. There have been many different uses for this plant throughout history. From medicinal uses to commercial uses, the hop plant has offered major profitable benefits in addition to progress in medical research.
Humulus is a Latin name of uncertain origin; lupulus literally means a “small wolf”. This is in reference to the plant’s habit of climbing over and smothering trees (Melymuka).
Hop cultivation is said to have begun in Eastern Europe and from there spread to the rest of Europe. As Europeans began immigrating to different parts of the world in the 1500s, the tradition of hop cultivation was carried with them. The hop plant was introduced to more southern places such as South Africa and New Zealand in the 1800s.
Settlers of North America imported dried hops from Europe for a long time before finally growing the plant themselves. In 1629, the Massachusetts Company first began growing hops commercially. Gradually, most of the New England states became good hop growing places.
In the early 1800s, after experiencing a decline in hop cultivation, New York became the primary place for growing this plant. However, in the 1920s, downy mildew hit and destroyed many of the hop fields. This, in addition to Prohibition halted the hop growing and beer brewing industries.
When the Prohibition was lifted in 1933, hop cultivation increase again, and rapidly. Though, it was not New York that was the spot for production. The primary growing spots shift across the country to state like Oregon, California, and Washington. Oregon and Washington remain today as the largest hop producing area- in the world (DeNoma 2000).
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...to extract all of those acids.
Flavor hops are “derived from essential oils found in the lupulin glands” (Michael). The oils that come from these glands are humulene, mycrene, geraniol, and limonene. These hops are added to the boil about 30 minutes after the bittering hops. This timing is important because the oils have a high evaporation rate. If left in the boil for too long, the flavor and characteristics of these hops will be lost. Like the flavor hops, aroma hops are from the essential oils of the lupulin glands. These have an extremely high rate of evaporation, so they are added in the last few minutes of the boil.
Humulus lupulus has proven to be an extremely valuable plant in many different areas and time periods throughout history. From the medical research to the beer making industry, the exploration of this plant and its properties is only on the rise.

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