Ekonoke launches first beer made from fully hydroponic hops

By: Trademagazin editor Date: 2022. 09. 23. 11:25

Spanish hops manufacturer Ekonoke is growing fully-indoor hops in Madrid in a controlled environment that measures carbon dioxide levels, temperature, lighting, humidity and photosynthesis, allowing up to 52 harvests per year without using pesticides.

Their first beer, “Respect!”, developed in collaboration with Estrella Galicia is commercialized as the first beer made exclusively with indoor hops

Ekonoke details that it is aiming to be a global hops supplier in the near future, using its fully scalable proprietary technology. To increase production, the company is moving to a 1,000 square meters site in Galicia, Spain.

Their first beer, “Respect!”, developed in collaboration with Estrella Galicia is commercialized as the first beer made exclusively with indoor hops.

The company flags that hop production is massively concentrated in the US and Germany, which hold 80% of the global output.

Unfortunately, according to Ekonoke, production is under significant threat from climate variations in terms of quantity and quality of annual harvests. The controlled environment allows for extreme water savings compared to regular agriculture, added to the company’s use of a recirculating irrigation system, which recycles most of the water used to grow the plants, a 95% reduction in water use is achieved.

However, being an indoor crop, its energy use is substantially higher.

Mark Cervera / Food Ingredients First