In Chuvashia, they told about the peculiarities of working with hops

In Chuvashia, over 200 tons of hops are harvested per year for beer production, while hop farming is planned to be revived in other regions of Russia. On September 2, industry representatives spoke about the specifics of hop growing.

The end of August and the beginning of September is the time for picking hops. At the same time, almost all the work is done manually, the inhabitants of Chuvashia treat it in a special way.

"Hops were grown in private subsidiary farms, and beer was brewed. No matter who you ask, they've been working with hops since childhood," said Maxim Golovko, head of hop production development in Chuvashia at Baltika—Agro LLC.

Currently, Chuvashia supplies 85% of hops to Russian producers. The region is in the first place for harvesting. The Krasnodar Territory takes the second place. 58 tons are collected there. In addition, hops are grown in the Lipetsk region, Altai, and the Republic of Mari El. New hopfields are also being laid in the Voronezh Region. Both producers and the state are interested in reviving this branch of agriculture.

"In general, there is no stage of the technological cycle in hop farming where there would be no subsidies. Everything is subsidized <...>: laying, care, land reclamation, machinery, there are even subsidies for 1 kg of hops sold," said Andrei Makushev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture of the Chuvash Republic.

An important task for brewers is to make the domestic industry independent of foreign supplies. In addition, experts want to open up new tastes for Russians, there are different varieties in each region of the country. You can get acquainted with them as part of the Baltika Fest gastronomic festival, which will be held at the Igora Drive autodrome near St. Petersburg on September 13.

"I am sure that this festival will be a real emotional delight, but what else is needed in order to get a portion of good mood in the North-Western Federal District in mid-September? Food, music, drinks," said Alexander Titov, General Director of the motorhome Igor Drive.

In addition, like-minded people are needed, for example, experts in the brewing industry, chefs from different cities of Russia, and connoisseurs of delicious dishes and foamy drinks. This is exactly the kind of festival organized by the Baltika Brewing Company, which turns 35 in 2025. The leading player in the Russian brewing market is constantly experimenting with unique recipes, new flavors, and advanced technologies.

Izvestia correspondent Natalia Oskerko noted that almost 100% of the raw materials used by Baltika are domestic. The company has its own malt houses and hop fields in different regions of Russia.

"We are focused on the mass consumer, but we want to create a culture of such refined consumption in a mass event. We are studying the peculiarities of the history of brewing and the way of life of the peoples of Russia," said Irina Fedorova, Director of Corporate Relations and Government Relations at Baltika Brewing Company.

This year, at the initiative of the company, an expert advisory council was created, the purpose of which is to unite brewers from different regions.

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On August 30, Ilya Kravtsov, chief agronomist of SEC Streletsky in the Tula region, spoke in an interview with Izvestia about the market prospects of Russian malting barley. He also noted that recently, domestic varieties of this product have begun to gain popularity in the industry.

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