If you've ever wondered why craft beer is so expensive, the hop flower — perhaps never more in demand by artisanal brewers than it is today — is a big reason why. There just aren't enough of ...

Colorado State University plant scientist Bill Bauerle, who enjoys a hoppy brew as much as the next person, has dedicated several years to optimizing hops grown in CSU's horticultural research center.

The hop is a flower and its oil gives beer its tangy taste and its aroma. Hop bines can reach up to 18 feet high, which means cutting them down can be tricky.

Hops are the flowers of the hop plant, and are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer. The hops plants are perennial, which means that they grow back each spring.

The hop plant is a fast-growing, herbaceous perennial, native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Only the female plants produce cones for use as hops (the male plants are the pollinators).

Researchers tested hop flower extracts that are found in beer to see how well they would help to prevent brain protein clumping, which can lead to the disease.

The hops at the Cooperative Extension orchard are watered for 20 minutes, three times per week, using one 5-gallon per hour emitter per plant. Hops don’t require heavy watering — only about 60 ...

View full size Randy DinkinsA hop flower is embedded in an agar plate that was inoculated with an HAB strain (Clostridium sticklandii). The opacity of the plate is caused by bacterial growth, and ...

Growers hopping on hopsThe bitter hops flowers are used to balance the sweetness of beer’s malted grains. The quick-growing hop vines, which like Colorado’s cool climate, have been measured as ...