I will mention most craft brewing countries in this post, starting with the U.S. and Canada, but I have broken this down into labeled sections in case you prefer to go straight to your own area of the world.
U.S.: Contrary to the impression that many people have, cultivation of hops is not limited to the Pacific Northwest within the U.S. (Washington, Idaho, and Oregon), ... despite that this is where our commercial hop farming is concentrated; hops have been grown, with varying degrees of success, throughout _most_ of the continental U.S. Hops do _prefer_ latitudes between 35 and 55 -- which is everything in the continental U.S. that lies north of a line that runs from just north of Los Angelos and goes east across the Texas panhandle through almost the center of Arkansas and almost along the southern border of Tennessee and includes most of North Carolina; however, we have reports, within my Grow-Hops group, of successful growers in South Carolina, Georgia, and even as far south as Austin, Texas, which has a latitude of about 30.25 -- and which is farther south than ALL of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, and all but the very bottom of Texas and Louisiana and the Florida peninsula. We also have a successful grower in Hawaii. So, hops should be _capable_ of growing in nearly all of the continental U.S. with the proper care, if anyone is interested in giving it a try. Please see my "EVERYWHERE" section, below.
Canada: The recommended 35-to-55 latitude band covers probably 95% of Canada's populated area, including everything south of a line that runs east-west through _about_ the middle of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and most of Ontario and Quebec. Unlike the additional 'margin' band in the south (see U.S., above), I will be surprised if hops will grow much farther north than latitude 55 degrees because of the cold temperatures which can't be remedied as easily as short daylight. But we do have a member in Sweden who is going to try, and possibly members in Scotland, as well. Please see my "EVERYWHERE" section, below.
Europe: Turning to Europe, that same latitude band of 35-to-55 includes _almost_ all of Europe, including all of Spain, Italy and Sicily (although they are not known for growing hops), and excludes only part of Northern Ireland, and most of Scotland, Denmark, and countries around the Baltic Sea and north of Poland. However, we do have a member in Sweden who is going to give it a try. Please see my "EVERYWHERE" section, below.
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa: In the southern hemisphere, where the same latitude band applies, only the southern portion of Australia falls within it -- south of a line from about Adelaide to Canberra -- but Perth and Sydney fall well within that addition area above 30 degrees (Austin, Texas). All of New Zealand is in the preferred band, too. But for all practical purposes, all of South Africa lies below the preferred band, with most of it even lower than the marginal 30 degrees of Austin, Texas, which is why electric lights are needed to supplement daylight, as will be explained below. Please see my "EVERYWHERE" section, below.
Asia: I'll mention part of Asia, too, since I've seen a _few_ posts in brewing forums from members in Japan and South Korea -- almost all of those countries lie within the preferred band, with the rest inside the margin band, so hops should grow there, too. China, of course, is a major grower of hops with plenty of area in the preferred band. Please see my "EVERYWHERE" section, next.
EVERYWHERE: The problem with latitudes which are much below 35 -- actually probably below '30' since they apparently will still grow in Austin -- is that the length of daylight is too short; yes, despite the hotter climate, 'daylight' is actually closer to the equator because during summer in the northern hemispher, it is lit 24 hours/day at the North Pole and dark 24 hours/day at the South Pole. But there is still a reasonable solution even below latitude 30 (for any diehards in southern Texas and Florida); in South Africa, for instance, which also has daylight which is too short, growers use electric lights to trick the hops into thinking that the daylight is longer, and the number of lights and their wattage is not as high as one might think would be necessary. In other words, for just a couple of bucks worth of electricity, you can still grow many times that amount worth of hops. However, an added problem in warm climates is 'vernalization' already discussed in another thread. More info is available about all of this.
Our 'Grow-Hops' Yahoo Group is less than nine months old but already has
996 members as of this post, and has been growing _very_ rapidly in the past couple of months due to rising interest among homebrewers trying to find ways to ensure a supply of the hops they want at reasonable prices. If interested, please visitCheers.
Bill Velek