by Leslie Cox; Thursday; January 18, 2018
Quite some time ago, a headline in an on-line newsletter caught my eye. It was written by Lee Reich and titled How to Grow Your Own Six-pack. He professed to a winter musing on how much space would be needed to grow a six-pack of beer.
According to Lee, the first plant you would need for your beer recipe is a grain. While barley has long been used for brewing various concoctions, the Incas made their brews from corn and ancient European tribes used wheat.
Lee recommended barley because it is adaptable and easy to grow. It does not need a long growing season or particularly rich soil either. But if you are growing barley for brewing, do not plant soup barley that you find on grocery store shelves! You must plant the barley variety you would find at a specialty seed company or feed store.
For the “bitters” part of your recipe, you will need to grow hops – another easy plant to grow. John and I have a hops in our garden.
I enjoy ours, Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’, a golden version of the regular hops but still usable for making beer. It is funny just how many people who visit our garden will ask us if we make beer from our hops. Not being huge beer drinkers, we have never undertaken to craft beer. But I do harvest the hops to make sleep pillows.
Technically, Humulus lupulus is not a vine at all but a bine because of its stout stems with stiff hairs for climbing. It grows very quickly (as much as 3 inches, or 7.5cm, in one day) by wrapping itself clockwise around anything within reach.
Another misconception is the name “hops”. The proper common name for the plant itself is “hop”. The term “hops” actually refers to the female flowers or strobili that look like small papery cones. Humulus lupulus is dioecious meaning that male and female flowers are formed on separate plants. They are wind pollinated.
The flowers are harvested towards the end of summer and dried thoroughly before storing. Hops have been used medicinally for centuries to treat insomnia, stress and anxiety. Next time you are having a difficult time sleeping, try slipping a few under your pillowslip. Store the dried flowers in an airtight container out of direct sunlight.
A word of caution – the hooked trichomes (the plant hairs on the stems) can cause a rash called hop dermatitis. The plant is related to stinging nettles.
European brewers began adding dried female flowers, or hops, to beer sometime during the 11th Century as a preservative. The flowers also added a pleasing flavour to the beer and helped to produce a less cloudy brew. For the beer-making enthusiast, there are recipes using hops available on the Internet, a few of which can be found at botanical.com.
Lee Reich calculated you would need about three square metres to grow enough barley to brew one six-pack of beer. Hops do not need much garden space as they grow up!
Sounds like this recipe is a possibility.
For a little more information about Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’, click on the link here.
