Saturday, November 21, 2009

Iceland....the land of hops?


When I was a kid I used to dream of visiting the geographic extremes of Greenland and Iceland, home of historical Viking adventures shrouded in foggy winds of Northern Seas mystery and myth.

Although my childhood fantasy of visiting those far flung icy lands has never wavered, my practical knowledge of those extreme Northern locals, specifically Iceland, has increased with the years and the notion that I will one day roam those cold shores of volcanic upheaval. I will definitely be bringing along my half liter mug.

Iceland, for those who may not be aware, is basically a huge chunk of volcanic excrement squeezed up from battling tectonic plates just South of the Arctic Circle between Europe and North America. The beauty of the place is that it sits directly in the path of the temperate flow of the Gulf Stream. It is basically where the Gulf stream goes to chill out.

Due to the relative warmth of the Gulf Stream Iceland is much more inhabitable and vibrant than any lands of it's latitude (65N) around the globe... like for instance Antarctica.
And while to my knowledge there are no hop farms on the Ross Ice Shelf there are great Hops to be found growing on the Southern edges of Iceland.
Prohibition in Iceland began in 1918 and survived in varying degrees until it's final removal on March 1st 1989. A date now known, and vigorously celebrated every year, as Beer Day.
Since that time the three major Icelandic brewers, as well as the small contingent of craft brew enthusiasts have utilized the locally grown hops in all their Pilsners and Lagers.
The relatively short cool summer growing season is enhanced by the long summer sunlight hours. It is believed that the hops thrive due to the Basalt low silica soil that is virtually a match for the lava type found halfway across the planet in the Hawaiian Islands. The hops are irrigated from the pristine waters of the Vatnajokull Ice Cap. The largest glacier in all of Europe.
The most commonly grow and heartiest of the Icelandic Lupulins is the Norse which weighs in with nice earthy and floral characteristics and a decent 7.5 alpha rating. Viking gold at 6.8 and the less produced but highly coveted Arnarson Hekla typically top out in the 6-6.5 alpha range. The Arnarson Hekla is the favorite bittering hop used in the production of the traditional Spring Porters that are a big part of the March 1st Beer Day celebrations.
To date no exportation of Icelandic Hops exists but I plan to continue my quest to get some samples drop shipped to me from one of the Reykjavik home brew shops so I can try out my Great Uncle Halldo'rs "Erik the Red" Strong Ale recipe

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice.....kinda went on a little trip! Hopparty on Garth!
Linguica Bob

Rick Sellers said...

Mike, well done dude! Very good read.

TheName said...

Story made me a bit sad, sir; a recent trip to Iceland found very little in the way of craft beer (although Polar Beer was acceptable and had what may have been the best logo of any beer around) and we couldn't find any of the Ölvisholt Brugghús in the short time we were there.

You should definitely go, though. Drinking some Gull Pils while looking out at Gullfoss is the way to spend an hour or two. Stash the hops into your bag along with some Kropp and Brennivin!

The Beer Geek said...

my recent trip to Iceland proved to be very educational as far as the study of the richness of the volcanic soil there... great job Mike in finding a superb location to grow your high-alpha hops! Yoo da man!

Anonymous said...

Where in Iceland is the picture that you added to this post? The one of the valley?

Unknown said...

Now just wait a minute...Antarctica is on the south end of the planet, right? What is this guy talking about 65N???