The Scientific-Technical Commission is annually compiling and updating the I.H.G.C. list of international hop varieties produced with a commercial purpose in each hop-growing nation.
This means that many old varieties that are no longer of commercial importance and are only maintained in variety gardens are no longer included in the list. The same applies to new breeding lines, which are only included once they are registered and are already in commercial cultivation – although this also applies to smaller areas under crop. This official variety list of the I.H.G.C. is intended as an aid for the official certification procedure and shall provide an up-to-date overview of the increasingly confusing and dynamic field of international hop variety diversity. It is published every year briefly prior to the BrauBeviale trade fair in Nuremberg in November.
Other than in previous years, there were only minor changes last year and only four new varieties were added to the list: Amira (DE), Alora (US), Teorem (FR) and Titan (DE). The 2023 list of varieties thus comprises 314 entries (312 actual hop varieties and two collective terms). Each variety is assigned a unique three-digit variety code that is permanently retained. For example, at the request of the variety owner, the former US bitter variety Pahto® Brand has been listed since 2022 under the breeder’s reference ‘HBC 682’ again, but the previous code PAH has been retained. A special case is “CTZ”, whereby this long-established term was added as a separate entry with the same code in 2022 at the suggestion of the Hop Growers of America. The possibility of officially using the synonym CTZ corresponds to the current actual use in the USA, but also in Germany. Although the three genetically (almost) identical varieties Columbus, Tomahawk and Zeus are synonymous with CTZ, they have so far been retained as individual entries together with their individual codes.
The version published here represents the final 2022 list as adopted by the IHGC Executive Committee on 27th November 2023. The next update of the international hop variety list will be published in November 2024.
For the Scientific-Technical Commission, I.H.G.G.: Dr. Florian Weihrauch