BALM - It was only a little more than 40 years ago that University of Florida professors perfected an early-ripening blueberry that could adapt to the state's sub-tropical climate.
Now, decades after the first farmer exported the fruit to New Jersey, Florida's blueberry industry is valued at $82 million, U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics show.
Researchers are hoping history will repeat itself with a new crop.
For the last three years, scientists at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm have worked to find a way to make hops a viable commercial crop for the state's farmers. The three-year trial, backed by the Hillsborough County Economic Development and Tampa-based Cigar City Brewing, is designed to yield a strain of hops that can withstand Florida's climate.
"This is a new production area. Maybe hops produced in Florida will have some new characteristics in terms of beer quality and aroma," said Zhanao Deng, a University of Florida professor specializing in ornamental plant breeding and genetics.
Despite some progress, those involved in the trial agree it will take several more years of research before farmers can plant the first crops. Until then, local brewers must continue to import their products' main ingredients from the Pacific Northwest with its cooler temperatures and longer growing season days.
University of Florida scientists are testing 14 types of hops, and so far the Cascade variety is showing the most potential.
Deng said each plant of the Cascade variety - known for its aroma and one of the most widely used by craft breweries - is yielding two to four pounds of hops so far. The plant produced only one pound in the trial's first year, he said. Researchers found the variety needed more light to survive in Florida, so they added artificial lights atop poles.
"Now we want to see if, in the future, we can perfect the hops design so we can reduce the cost to farmers by reducing the number of lights needed to grow it," Deng said.
Blueberry, strawberry and citrus farmers facing competition from other countries may find that producing hops is an easy way to diversify their crops and stay profitable in their businesses, Deng said.
Several area brewers and farmers toured the university's experimental hops field last month in Balm where they had several questions that will help researchers continue their efforts to make the plant into a viable commercial Florida crop. Most of the inquiries involved growing techniques, including levels of hydration, nutrients and soil quality, required acreage, pruning and possible diseases.
Brewers are cautiously optimistic for the future of hops in Florida. They like the idea of buying locally, but realize the first viable crop to grow outside the university's hops research fields is still years away.
"We spend about half-a-million dollars on hops every year," said Kent Bailey, founder of Coppertail Brewing Co. in Tampa. "We would love to send that $500,000 to a Florida farmer."
Bailey said Florida brewers are limited in the variety of beers they can produce because of a lack of fresh hops. Brewers usually don't attempt to make a wet-hop beer, for example, because it requires taking the hops fresh off the vine without being processed.
"The hops have a different flavor to them when they are wet as opposed to when they are dried," Bailey said.
Bullfrog Creek Brewing Co. in Valrico, like most Hillsborough brewers, gets its hops from the Pacific Northwest. The product is ordered two weeks in advance to prevent shortages, said ofounder Jamie Ratcliff.
Ratcliff said it's hard to tell now whether locally grown hops could benefit his business but he hopes to one day get the chance to try them.
"I would definitely buy locally," he said. "That's always been our philosophy."
Contact Crystal Owens at hillsnews@tampabay.com.
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