For the Love of Hops: Worshipping, Tincturing and Packaging for Sal...

Sometimes plants nudge up to you shyly and say, hey, you might wanna nuzzle up with me, coz I've got something to share with you. Some outright call you, coming at you from all directions - a friend might recommend it on the same day you come across a blog post or notice it in your garden, for example.

And sometimes, you just literally walk into it.

Our hops was totally out of control this year. We'd planted it in the far corner of the garden so it could grow up a pole and along a fence. It did so well that we planted it in three other sections of the garden so it could grow up poles. It's a sun worshipper, is hops, climbing high to meet the sky. But it also grows sideways, curling its sticky tendrils around anything it can. If you're not careful, one day you'll walk out and need a machete to get through the garden. Hops is a bine (not a vine) because it climbs with the help of stiff hairs along their stems, instead of tendrils like, say, a pea.

Humulus lupulus is named for the wolf, because it strangles plants it grows up like a wolf strangles sheep. In England, it grew up willow trees, and was known as a wolf willow - in my garden, I'd call it wolf verbena or wolf apple, as they are the plants nearby it helps.

I have written a post about hops before here, where I reference this poem which to me is reminiscent of hops ability to make life lanquid and calm:

Beneath the willow wound round with ivy we take cover from the worst of the storm, with a greatcoat round our shoulders and my hands around your waist.

I've got it wrong. That isn't ivy entwined in the bushes round the wood, but hops. You intoxicate me! Let's spread the greatcoat on the ground.

Hops Tea

Taking cover from the worst of the storm is so appropriate for me at the moment. Life's storm has me a little paralysed, and in the worst of it last week I stumbled into the garden to collect hops, drinking in in a tea of chamomile and honey. Usually, this mixture does the trick for me, especially when I have a migraine - it calms me down enough so I can sleep. I was in such a state last week that it took two cups and a lot of yogic breathing to calm me down enough, but still, I do think hops was a gentle friend when I needed it the most.

It's well known in folklore and now by modern science to be good for stress, restlessness, sleeplessness, digestive upset and anxiety, containing pain relieving, antispasmodic, antimicrobial and diuretic properties as well as phytoestrogens which can influence the endocrine system (this suggests caution for some).

For anxiety, which is what I'm particularly interested in, hops works to enhance GABA levels in the brain - a chemical that is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that quiets the activity of the neurons of the central nervous system - exactly what wouldn't shut up for me last week and was making me wake early and struggle to get to sleep in the first place. I was wired as anything and all I wanted to do was sleep to give my brain a rest, but couldn't. Good GABA levels mean less anxiety and better sleep - plus, 5-HT (serotonin) activates melatonin, an endocrine agent which entrains circadian rhythms, as well as efects on adenosine receptors which are also involved in sleep.

Therefore, beer and its hop component are thought to enhance the CNS’s neuroendocrine response via GABA, adenosine, and the biogenic amines serotonin and melatonin with an effective sedative action that both modulates the sleep/wake rhythm and favours the induction of sleep. ¹

There are also promising studies about hops and metabolic disorders, making them useful for treating obesity, diabetes and other related health issues due to a specific flavonoid, xanthohumol. There are also anti-carcinogenic effects with hops - it inhibits the activation of procarninogens, activates enzymes that fight the cancer and inhibits the early growth of tumours. Other anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects are also touted.

In summary, hops is celebrated for the following, and more:

it's effect on the nervous system and sleep, particularly of use with anxiety and depression.
it's ability to help digestion
to treat ulcers via a compound that elimates bacteria which cause them
helps create blood flow to the brain so is good for headaches, and potentially a preventative for alzheimers
being beneficial to oral health due to it's anti-inflammatory properties
it's potential in cancer recovery and prevention through antioxidants (though more research is needed)
skin health

I have included a couple of links for further reading, if you are interested. There's one study on phytoestrogens and the effects of hops on menstruation and menopause that's of interest to me but again, like many natural medicines, more work needs to be done. I've also read it's popular in Asia to help with breast enlargement (something I DON'T need, so doing more reading here!)

Effects of Hops on Depression, Anxiety and Stress Levels in Healthy Young Adults
The Sedative Effects of Hops
Hops & Metabolic Disorders
The Sedative Effect of Non Alcoholic Beer in Healthy Nurses
The pharmocology of hops with an emphasis on estrogenic capabilities
Hops Anatomy and Chemistry

I'm eagerly awaiting my hops tincture to be ready in about two months time, and I'll be sure to post about it and let you know how it goes. I might even sell a few bottles on @homesteaderscoop, the green goddess willing. I'm also considering selling some of the plants there as well come spring. It certainly grows well in my garden - after the first year getting it's roots down, it took off and now gives one of the best harvests in the garden.

To tincture the hops is just to fill a jar three quarters full with hops, and add 40 proof plus vodka. After 6 - 8 weeks it should be ready, helping me out when the harvest is long gone.

I've also been drying the hops and vacuum sealing them in bags in 15 and 25 gram lots to put on @homesteaders coop, and you can find the link here if you'd like to purchase some. I'm still working out postage and prices so get in early, just when I don't know what I'm doing!