Tango. Large-scale cultivation started in the spring of 2021. Until sufficient harvest quantities are available for every brewer everywhere, interested brewers can request trial-size samples directly from the GfH. Summary With Tango, a future-oriented aroma variety is reaching the market that will impress both hop growers and brewers. Tango stands for excellent brewing characteristics; consistently high yields even under environmental and climate-related stresses; improved broad-based disease resistance; and sustainable, environmentally friendly hop cultivation. It has moved hop cultivation into the future. Source (in German): BRAUWELT, Issue No. 46-47 (2020)
Initial Situation Hop growers in the Elbe-Saale region currently have 1,581 hectares or 7.7% of the total German hop area under cultivation. This makes it the second-largest hop region in Germany after the Hallertau. The region, thus, makes a substantial contribution to both German and global hop production. While in the past, the varieties cultivated in Elba-Saale were mostly the Czech landrace Saazer and the English variety Northern Brewer, the range of varieties has been expanded, especially after German reunification. Today about 80 percent of cultivars grown there are of Hüll origin. For the past 25 years, the main variety has been the robust, high-alpha Hallertauer Magnum. Its share, however, has declined from a peak of 65 percent to today’s 39 percent, in part because Magnum, which yields 280 kg alpha acid per ha is no longer competitive compared to the Hüll-bred high-alpha variety Herkules, which produces 500 kg alpha acid/ha. Yet, switching from Magnum to Herkules has not been successful in Elbe-Saale because of this hop’s high susceptibility to rot.
Figure 6.5: Changes in the variety spectrum of hops cultivated in the Elbe-Saale region over the past 50 years 80
