Hops. Chuvash Republic

Hops (hămla in Chuvash) is a perennial dioecious plant of the hemp family, a climbing plant covered with cones.

The hop vine is depicted on the coat of arms of Chuvashia as a symbol of the traditional wealth of the Chuvash people.

Hops have a delicate hoppy aroma and light golden and green cones.

The Chuvash people have long been renowned for their skill in cultivating hops. It is a traditional wealth of the Chuvash people and the republic. Hops grown on Chuvash soil are ecologically clean and safe. Cultivating hops from green sprouts to mature cones is a daily hard manual labor. Therefore, every cone is valued like gold and is called green gold. Processed hops products are supplied not only to breweries across Russia but also abroad.

Chuvashia accounts for 90% of all hops produced in Russia. A significant advantage of Chuvash hops is their environmental friendliness. The Chuvash Republic is the northernmost hop-growing region in the world. Due to its location and relatively cold winters, most overwintering hop pests are killed. While major hop-producing countries may conduct up to 12 chemical treatments during the growing season, Chuvashia requires only 2-3, which contributes to the ecological purity of Chuvash hops.

There are plans to increase the gross harvest of hops (from 192 tons in 2023) to 3.7 thousand tons by 2030, predicting more than a 19-fold growth. The area under hop plantations is expected to increase from 133 hectares to 2 thousand hectares. This area is sufficient for the aromatic hop varieties ripening in Chuvashia, which are highly valued for their quality. Additionally, efforts are being made to develop and adapt bitter hop varieties with high alpha acid content, which are in high demand among brewers, to the local climate.

The Chuvash Research Institute of Agriculture preserves 255 hop variety samples from Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Germany, the USA, and other countries in its live collection. New high-yielding varieties such as "Favorite" and "Flagship" and varieties resistant to adverse conditions such as "Pharaoh," "Forward," "Feudal," and "Fakir" have been developed.