"Brewing hoppy beer without the hops" Topic

"Synthetic biology has created microbes that produce drugs, flavors, aromas and fuels. Now scientists have used the same tricks, with the help of CRISPR-Cas9, to get yeast to produce the flavor of hops. They added genes from mint and basil and used the yeast to brew a beer that tasters said had notes of 'fruit-loops' and 'orange blossom,' with no off flavors. The yeast helps brewers avoid expensive, highly variable and water-guzzling hops…."
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Amicalement
Armand

Isn't that mostly for those who might miss that flavor?

If you are shooting for large numbers of new drinkers, and not just "refugees" who can no longer do the hop, why not come up with an entirely new brew? Why all this effort on a flavor nostalgia item?

Dan

Isn't that mostly for those who might miss that flavor?

No, it's to reduce the hops entirely due to sustainability issues. Hops are difficult to produce and require large amounts of water.

Better yet, stick with German beer that follows the Reinheitsgebot of 1516. In Germany, the same sort of geneticists are developing hops with new flavours such as grapefruit and pineapple (for those who want that).

Big Beer as tried to connor the hop market for years.

I doubt that's the main issue.

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It always about money, the Reinsheitsgebot was about money. And for what it worth, cultivating hops commercially might be difficult, but as weed it pretty heartily.

No one said anything about it not being about money. I was addressing the claim that Big Beer was cornering the hops market. For various reasons the demand for hops has plummeted, causing hops prices to free fall. No-one is interested in cornering that market now.

"Citra prices nearly halved and Cascade down from $6 USD-7 to $1.20 USD per pound."

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Not sure of all Big Beer but ABI (Anheuser-Busch InBev) is buying up hops and craft breweries. This is just capitalism, regardless of the cost of hops. Even if the biologists succeed in making hopless beer, nothing can protect small craft breweries from these sorts of takeovers.

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And for what it worth, cultivating hops commercially might be difficult, but as weed it pretty heartily.

Not worth too much, I'm afraid. My lane way to my house is filled with Vitis Riparia vines. They are a weed and grow very heartily. We have to trim them so that they don't pull down the electrical wires. Doesn't mean they make good wine….they don't.

The difficulty in raising hops is that they are quite variable as to quality (similar to grapes) and that they guzzle enormous amount of water to thrive. It is more of a sustainability issue, especially in dry places like California. So just because they grow like a weed, doesn't necessarily make them good for brewing.

The problem for big beer in the US that's Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors-Molson, has been that they only can profitably produce at best mediocre beer (MHO.) for 30 years now they watch their market share decline. So they had several strategies to try to deal with this cornering the hop market, in hopes that they could indirectly get a piece of the craft market by reselling hops. The response was people even in South Jersey started commercially growing hops.
"Not sure of all Big Beer but ABI (Anheuser-Busch InBev) is buying up hops and craft breweries. This is just capitalism, regardless of the cost of hops. Even if the biologists succeed in making hopless beer, nothing can protect small craft breweries from these sorts of takeovers."
I don't think that this is necessarily a bad thing, as it a lows the small brewer a chance to make some real money and start another brewery someplace else. As it is big business they can sustain the craft brewery rate of return and eventually will shut it down or start making "different economizing" beer, giving another craft brewer an opportunity in the same area.

I agree. Big Beer = Bad Beer for me too. Of course that is a simplification. A good local beer (for me) is Creemore Springs. It was a craft brewery that was bought by Molson Coors in 2005. As far as I can tell the beer has not changed and is still made according to the Reinheitsgebot.

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So this is an example of what you mean……if I read you correctly. To make a bottle of Creemore Lager costs more than a similar bottle of Molson or Coors. The parent company gives them some slack as overall sales is a pittance compared to, for example, Coors Light. That may change as Creemore is out to expand its production.

Wow I am impressed 13 years! Above should have read can't sustain, IMHO when big beer comes along and buys a craft beer, it only a matter of time (years) until some executive decides that the rate of return that said brewery yields is unacceptable and starts to meddle. I like Craft versions of German and Belgium beer (not a hoppy guy)

Just found out that Canada's first microbrewery, Granville Island Brewery, is also owned by Molson Coors.

gib.ca/beer

In fact, it was purchased by Creemore Springs.

Maybe it's smart not to meddle. Granville and Creemore don't sell anywhere near the volumes of Molson Canadian or Coors Light. So if you like "bulk beer" you drink those. If you want a craft beer, try the Granville or Creemore. Either way, the same $$ go into your coffers and the shareholders of Molson Coors are kept happy.