Hops are the flowers also called seed cones or strobiles of the hop plant Humulus lupulus , [ 1 ] a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. The hops plants have separate female and male plants, and only female plants are used for commercial production. Many different varieties of hops are grown by farmers around the world, with different types used for particular styles of beer. The first documented use of hops in beer is from the 9th century, though Hildegard of Bingen , years later, is often cited as the earliest documented source.
Hops are also used in brewing for their antibacterial effect over less desirable microorganisms and for purported benefits including balancing the sweetness of the malt with bitterness and a variety of flavours and aromas. The first documented hop cultivation was in , in the Hallertau region of present-day Germany.
Not until the 13th century did hops begin to start threatening the use of gruit for flavouring. Gruit was used when the nobility levied taxes on hops. Whichever was taxed made the brewer then quickly switch to the other. In Britain, hopped beer was first imported from Holland around , yet hops were condemned as late as as a "wicked and pernicious weed".
In Germany, using hops was also a religious and political choice in the early 16th century. There was no tax on hops to be paid to the Catholic church, unlike on gruit. For this reason the Protestants preferred hopped beer. Hops used in England were imported from France, Holland and Germany and were subject to import duty ; it was not until that hops were first grown in the southeast of England Kent , when they were introduced as an agricultural crop by Dutch farmers.
Consequently, many words used in the hop industry derive from the Dutch language. Hops were then grown as far north as Aberdeen , near breweries for convenience of infrastructure. The hop for his profit I thus do exalt, It strengtheneth drink and it flavored malt; And being well-brewed long kept it will last, And drawing abide, if ye draw not too fast.
