In Gansu’s Hop Fields

In August 2025, a two-day visit to the hop farms of Gansu, in northwest China, acquired an unexpected extra: a beer festival in Tianma’s hop fields. Breweries supplied the beer; another sent dispensing equipment despite being unable to attend. Sihuai (思怀精酿), a craft beer bar in Jiuquan, provided the gas cylinders. When a sandstorm arrived, the bar also took us in, allowing the gathering to continue.

The trip was part of the Chinese Hops Collaboration (国产酒花共创计划), a non-profit initiative that we at Beer Matters launched with BeijingBrew in May 2025. Three hop growers and seven craft beer brands joined as founding members. The idea was to make it easier for people at different stages of hop production and brewing to share their work, try things together and learn from the results. Gansu gave that intention a place to happen.

In the fields, we could reconsider some familiar assumptions about Chinese hops. We could examine fresh cones of Qingdao Dahua, a long-established Chinese variety commonly used for bittering. Handling and smelling those cones made the idea that it had only bitterness to offer seem inadequate. That experience was a reason to investigate further, with growers and brewers able to speak directly to each other.

The people behind the plants

Some of the work we encountered had begun long before our initiative. Ran Shengbin of the Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences traced his hop research back to 2009, when reference material and funding were scarce and the industry was contracting. He persisted in building a collection of hop genetic resources. A chance discovery of a valuable male plant opened possibilities for crossbreeding; he also described YC-5, a breeding line he had selected for growing conditions in northwest China.

Dr Nie Nan, from the Jingwa Center in Beijing, described another set of possibilities: genome sequencing, molecular markers and breeding in controlled environments. The centre was exploring how Dutch agricultural techniques could be combined with China’s wild hop resources, including work towards a genetic database. These were approaches to developing future hops, with research still to be done. For brewers accustomed to choosing from a supplier’s catalogue, they offered a view of the work that precedes it.

We recorded both researchers’ contributions during the visit and published them that December. Their accounts also exposed unfinished connections between research and production. Ran described cultivation practices that lacked scientific validation, leaving farms to work things out themselves. Bringing that experience into the same conversation as genetic research and brewing trials was one practical role our project could take on.

From a shared visit to shared work

Our hosts—Yasheng Lüxin, Gansu Tianma and Xinjiang Sanbaole—showed how much depended on growing and processing as well as breeding. Lüxin brought extensive farm resources; Tianma had been introducing cultivation and processing technology from abroad; Sanbaole had recently purchased hop-pellet processing equipment. The visit brought the growers making those investments together with brewers interested in their hops. A new plant, a processing decision and a brewer’s experience belong in the same discussion.

The collaboration’s founding commitments extend beyond visits. Growers are encouraged to share breeding progress and make hops available for experimental brewing at affordable prices. Breweries are asked to explore different styles and methods, then share what they learn. Drinkers have a part too: trying the beers and giving honest feedback. We want those responses to travel back towards the farms and researchers, so that enthusiasm for Chinese hops can help inform their development.

In June 2026, the project introduced a Chinese Hops mark, designed with support from Harmo Brew, to help drinkers identify participating beers. For an individual beer, the standard “中国酒花 INSIDE” version requires Chinese-grown hops to account for at least 50% of its total hop usage; “中国酒花 100%” requires all of its hops to be Chinese-grown. Brands must join the initiative, submit the beer’s information and hop usage, and receive approval before obtaining the artwork and usage rules. The process is free. The mark gives the ingredient’s origin a visible place on the product; the continuing work is to give brewers and drinkers more reasons to seek it out.