"What two ideas are more inseparable than beer and Britannia?" asked Sydney Smith in 1934. It will doubtless come as a shock to many, be that as it may, that hop-flavoured beer took a couple of centuries to arrive in England.
Hops were being used for flavouring beer in the Netherlands by the early 14th century, much to the horror of the English. In point of fact, hops were forbidden in the reign of Henry VI. The City of London petitioned Parliament against the hop as 'a wicked weed that would spoil the taste of the drink and endanger the people.' Under Henry VIII, brewers were forbidden to hops and sulphur in ale. Later still, an edict of Queen Elizabeth 1 forbade the use of 'that pernicious weed, the hop.'
Not until some two centuries later could Boniface in George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem (1707) proclaim: "I have fed upon ale; I have eat my ale, drank my ale, and I always sleep upon ale"--hop flavoured at that.
Hops received their common name from the Anglo-Saxon hoppan, 'to climb.' And climb the vine certainly does--growing up a foot (30cm) a day to attain perhaps 30 feet (9m) in a season.
Botanically, however, Humulus lupulus comes from humus, Latin for soil and lupulus, wolf because the climber attacks a host plant, finally strangling it. The Romans are credited with being the first to raise it intentionally, not as a beverage ingredient but, as Pliny wrote, for the tender spring shoots. To the present times, experienced gardeners advise to prune back half young shoots in spring, to be cooked and eaten like asparagus.
Despite Tudor timidity, by the time of the succeeding Stuarts, herbalist Nicholas Culpepper could observe: "The Hop runs to a great height, climbing up and twisting round poles which are placed for its support." Less certainly, he believed, "it is under the dominion of Mars" recommending it for a vast number of internal and external afflictions. Included in these were suggestions to cleanse the blood and provoke urine, relief from jaundice, venereal disease, itches and scab while expelling worms and poison.
Three centuries later the Modern Herbal of Mrs. M. Grieve could note that in Sweden the shoots yielded a fibre made into coarse cloth, and the same could be used to make paper, while Humus lupulus also had tonic, nervine, diuretic and anodyne properties. It would, she said, improve appetite, promote sleep and sluggish livers could be pepped up with hop tea.
Later in the 20th century, Pamela Michael was to note that Dr. Latham, physician to the Prince of Wales, suggested hops as a substitute for laudanum, while Dr. John Mayo, physician to the Princess of Wales, advised an infusion for teething babies. Across the Channel in France, Dr. Losch placed his faith in hop gum for stomach cramp, insomnia, migraine, gout and jaundice.
In East Asia though, it is H. scandens that has greatest usage in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The leaves find use for leaves for coughs and colds; the 'cones' or fruits for snake bite and scorpion stings; and the entire plant for treating sores, premature ejaculation, chronic dysentery, malaria, typhoid, and to increase flow of urine.
Thanks to its affinity with beer, H. lupulus has spread far and wide from its European habitats. Classic beer making hops are all dioecious, separate male and female plants. Only the ripe cones of female vines yield the lupulin that imparts a bitter taste to beer
Seeds will yield a mixture of male and female plants and form the rhizomes that put forth new shoots at the start of each season. If uninterested in brewing at home, gardeners can use the vines to rapidly cover arbors and trellises in sun or light shade. Alternatively, they might find use in concealing unsightly fences, old garages and dilapidated structures. In areas with milder winters, the Japanese Hops, H. japonicus with bright green foliage may be similarly used; in the north it is grown as annual. A variegated variety is also available.
Interested in still more? Herb Day falls this year on 29th April. Richters an hour northeast of Toronto will celebrate between 2 and 3 pm with a free talk by Dough Warren, brew master at the Second Wedge Brewery, who has been using this bitter, aromatic herb for three decades. He will discuss the history, cultivation, varieties and varied uses of hops, doubtlessly including the traditional pillow stuffed with hops to overcome insomnia. Burp. Pardon.
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
"What two ideas are more inseparable than beer and Britannia?" asked Sydney Smith in 1934. It will doubtless come as a shock to many, be that as it may, that hop-flavoured beer took a couple of centuries to arrive in England.
Hops were being used for flavouring beer in the Netherlands by the early 14th century, much to the horror of the English. In point of fact, hops were forbidden in the reign of Henry VI. The City of London petitioned Parliament against the hop as 'a wicked weed that would spoil the taste of the drink and endanger the people.' Under Henry VIII, brewers were forbidden to hops and sulphur in ale. Later still, an edict of Queen Elizabeth 1 forbade the use of 'that pernicious weed, the hop.'
