Craft brewers in Virginia say they’re having some trouble finding enough of one key ingredient, so a brewery in Richmond is turning to its customers for help. Ken Rayher at Hardywood Brewery says the shortage can be traced to more small producers in the market and to older stocks of the so-called Noble hops.
“Kind of the original five varieties that mostly originate in Germany of the Czech Republic. Some of those being older varieties are disease or wilt susceptible.”
Brewer Justin Anderson says hops grow from pieces of underground stems known as rhizomes, and his employer has taken to giving them away.
“They take an older plant, dig it out of the ground and chop up the roots. We buy those and hand them out to our customers. We help them to grow the plants over the year, and then we end up using those in one of our beers called the RVA IPA.”
Hops provide a bitter flavor, offsetting the sweetness of malt, and they are a preservative. Hardywood hosts a party each year for its volunteer growers and puts their names on the RVA IPA label.