Nice article on the problems that hops growers are facing due to climate change and what breweries and a couple of universities (go Hokies!) are working on to solve the situation. http://wvtf.org/post/virginia-protects-beer-risks-climate-change#stream/0
Maybe more indoor hop farms can help provide a solution too. The scale isn't as big, but the hops can grow well despite outdoor weather.
We are all very thirsty here in BA, therefore farmers will figure out how to deliver fresh nuggets to the brewers who need them.
I'd like to see alternatives to hops come into play a bit more. Obviously, in a DIPA you gotta run with the hops, but I've had good beers with heather, spruce tips, etc.. I'd like to see those alternatives come into play more with some stouts, ambers, whatever. It seems that that could be an aspect of the craft market that could see growth in the future if done right. We can grow plenty of spruce tips here in VA!
What kind of spruce is growing in VA, do you know? Christmas tree farms are not a viable ecological option unfortuantely. Both of the plants that you mention (heather and spruce) are higher-elevation/cold-climate species, and both will be long gone before hops hit a crisis point.
The Yakima Valley is high desert. Drip irrigation with water from the Yakima river is how they grow hops there. The humid conditions in the east is not a good thing as mildews become more of a problem. The humid summers and shorter days with less sun are also strikes against hops in VA.
The mountainous regions in Virginia and your state are suitable for spruce cultivation. A fair number of Christmas tree farms do business in the mountains.
Norway and Colorado Blue spruces are commonly grown in southwest VA, particularly in Grayson county. As @johnnybgood1999 pointed out there are a number of Christmas tree farms in the area.
I always smile when I read about hops. Back in the 70's, when I was a kid growing up in Oregon, I did lawn care for a few of my mother's friends. Back then, hops was an evasive weed and I spent a lot of time ripping it up. Who would have ever thought it would become a shortage.
Both very true. But since this is a thread leaning toward ecological impacts and mitigation, I pointed out that Christmas tree farms are not a viable ecological option in the long run. They are biological deserts for native species. I do not know if Norway or Colorado blue spruce tips are any good for beer making at all actually. Some species are too tannic and can make the beer astringent. Maybe an actual brewer could chime in on that aspect. The species that is native to the high elevations of both my state and yours however (including the Whitetop/Mt. Rogers area of Grayson County) is red spruce, which does in fact make a good flavor additive in beer. Unfortunately the spruce-fir habitat in the southern Appalachians is the 2nd most endangered ecosystem in the US, and all community types within this ecosystem are listed as globally rare. So although it might be good in beer, the widespread commercial use of red spruce tips would also not be a viable ecological option.
I am a homebrewer and my wife has been bugging me on & off for a few years to brew her a Spruce beer. She was a BIG fan of the first iteration of Yard’s Poor Richard’s Tavern Spruce beer. You need to brew with fresh growth tips as illustrated below in the photograph. As to which variety(s) of Spruce trees make ‘good’ beer I am uncertain. Cheers!
