At least, that’s the hope, says Mathias Schuetz, a biology professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, who works in the school’s applied genomics centre.Farmers and biologists are in the fifth year of a high-stakes hunt for a plant that’s both suited to B.C.’s rainy climate and makes great beer.
The hope is that a buzzworthy variety that’s economical to grow could increase demand for B.C. hops — not unlike the success enjoyed by the province’s wine industry.Kwantlen biology professor Mathias Schuetz is working on a hops breeding program with B.C. hops growers.B.C.’s hop breeding program began in 2018, when farmers began to cross different plants and select for the best traits, planting those that were easy to grow, resistant to disease or imparted delicious flavour or aroma.
Some of the first hops added to the program were collected from telephone poles and fence posts in the eastern Fraser Valley by Schuetz and his students at Kwantlen. Among them were Fuggle and Golding, varieties that were grown commercially in the industry’s heyday several decades ago, while others were related to native hops. After evolving in the wild for 80 to 100 years, the plants were unique to B.C., but had also naturally adapted to the climate.