European Beer News (Issue 23)

by Max Bahnson

The Ministry of Agriculture has announced changes in the beer legislation, more specifically, in the official nomenclature. Speciál (for beers with > 13° Plato) will now be called Silné pivo (strong beer). Porter as a category for dark beers of 18° Plato or higher is to be scrapped in response to the new trends among Czech brewers, which was also the reason to revise the flagship category of Czech beer, Ležák—Lager (for beers between 11 and 12° Plato). In recent years, ales and other top-fermented beers have grown in popularity to the point that larger brewers have been exploring them, and many people in the industry have complained that the name of the category makes little sense when applied to those beers—a 4.5% Stout must be labelled (top-fermented) Dark Lager. When the new nomenclature comes into force later this year, it will include two categories for the above mentioned Plato range: Ležák, for bottom fermented beers, and Plné Pivo (Full Beer) for the rest.

The official count of microbreweries has passed 300, and it keeps growing without slowing its pace, with Minipivovar having become part of the mainstream language. Microbreweries are getting more attention outside beer circles and this year's edition of Solima, the country's largest food trade-fair, included a wing dedicated solely to them.

Photo Credit: Øyvind Holmstad. 

by Jim Dykstra

Hopped Up

The United States overtook Germany to lead the world in hop production last year, according to a report from the International Hop Growers Convention, which took place in Nuremberg, Germany. 

Historically, Germany has secured the top spot, but drought coupled with some of the lowest rates of domestic consumption in decades drastically decreased production to 62.2 million pounds, or 33 percent of the world total, compared to the U.S. production of 80.2 million pounds, or 42 percent of the world total.

The continuing U.S. IPA trend has also provided a significant boost to America's total, the vast majority of which comes from Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Overall, total world hop production topped out at 190.4 million pounds in 2015, down from 208.1 million in 2014. The highest total reached in the past 10 years came in 2008, at 245 million pounds of dankness.