Cheers!

Hops and grapes

Two vines have long been a part of beverage tradition, hops and grapes. Did you know that both grow wild now in Nova Scotia, no doubt naturalized from past cultivation endeavours. Both are woody, clamboring over rocks, fencerows and trees.

The vernacular name of the hops, refers to the female flowers of the perennial herbHumulus lupulus. Hops have a distinctive fragrance, to which any connoisseur of beer will attest. The plants have also been used in herbal medicine and in breadmaking. In brewing, hops serve as antimicrobials favouring the growth of brewer’s yeast. Many varieties ofHumulus are grown, each offers a different aroma and bitterness/sweetness to the brew. Commercial production for the brewing industry occurs throughout the temperate areas of Europe, Canada and the US, since its inception 1300 years ago. Herbal medicine has seen the use of hops to treat anxiety, restlessness and insomnia. Many commonly fill a small pillow with hops, to treat the above ailments.

Grape use precedes that of hops in beverages by more than 6000 years and originated further east in Eurasia. As yeasts commonly live in the skins of grapes, it is no surprise that alcoholic drinks were quickly discovered. Nova Scotia has two species of grapes, found in the wild as native North American woody vines. Fox grape, Vitis labrusca, has yielded red or pink wine varieties (Concorde cultivar), while V. riparia is primarily used for rootstock for favoured wine varieties.  Jam and juice may be made from either as found. Fruit are produced in clusters of dozens arising from flowers produced on second year wood.


hops, photo by David Mazerolle
Riverbank Grape, photo by Martin Thomas
Fox Grape, photo by Martin Thomas