Hop Industry

The global demand from breweries and merchants, supply from growers, the hop quantity produced, and their brewing value contribute to making hops a successful product in the global trade. A good yield of hops is greatly beneficial to the hop grower, the merchant, the brewer, and, of course, the beer-drinking consumer. A single book cannot cover everything to be said on the hops and its industry. Therefore, in addition to an overview of the hop industry and the use of models that support various decisions in agri-business, the book presents two case studies of decision support systems related to quality management in the hop industry. The cases focus on hops breeding and quality estimation of hops before their harvest time. The first case study covers the development of the model - created by using experimental hop breeding data and its use as a tool by experts to base their decisions on hop breeding and commercial use of hops. The model has been used to assess and rank the breeding potentials of individual future new hop varieties. The second case study examines the influence of four main weather parameters such as temperatures, rainfall, sunshine and relative humidity on the alpha-acid content of hops. It also identifies the most significant time periods of weather that influence the alpha-acid contents of hops. The test results validate the use of the models for further research. The book chapters complement hor's previous publications. They are the outcome of over two decades of his research, management and advisory activities in the global hop industry.