Hops for Triceratops?

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2017 issue of Zymurgy Magazine

By Andy Farke

Hops have history. The version we usually hear starts when they were first regularly added into beer recipes during the Middle Ages, ending up at today’s breeding programs for intense aroma hops. But, limiting the hop story to their use by humans is like watching only the last 10 seconds of Star Wars. You’re missing most of the plot!

Let’s dig deep. Really deep, through 125 million years of time, to uncover the real history of hops. We’ll ride along on this epic journey with my fellow paleontologists, a few of whom happen to be homebrewers. As we begin our trek, I had to ask them—why does it matter?

Jurassic fossil expert, homebrewer, and BJCP judge Kelli Trujillo responded: “The prehistoric history of hops is all a part of where hops are today—how far they’ve come has to do with where they started in the first place.” Another homebrewing paleontologist…