“Hops Are an Obsession”
“Hops – a pure passion!” This declaration was made by a man who had traveled a great distance to St. Stefan am Walde (Mühlviertel) near the northern border of Austria, in order to attend the meeting of the scientific-technical committee of the International Hop Growers’ Convention (IHGC) which took place from 25th to 29th June 2017. When asked why he is taking part in the four-day congress for hop scientists, US brewer David Grinnell immediately responded with firm conviction: “Because hops are an obsession.” Grinnell is interested in everything about hops, from breeding and cultivation to phytopathology, bacteriology and entomology, as well as hop chemistry, molecular biology and biotechnology research.