CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLANT. 47 



the bale with hops of a certain color and then filling 

 the balance with hops of another color. When a sam- 

 ple is drawn from a bale of this kind, one portion of the 

 sample will show hops probably of a greenish char- 

 acter, and the other portion will show up a yellow or 

 red. It is essential that the bale be even in color and 

 that a sample taken from any part fully represent the 

 whole. 



Viewed from the standpoint of brewers as brought 

 out at a recent conference of English hop growers, it 

 is necessary to consider three things in judging qual- 

 ity of hops: First, the preservative power, depending 

 upon the particular class of resin called oleo resin; sec- 

 ond, the amount of bitter that is yielded, and third, 

 the flavor or aroma. Generally speaking, the higher 

 the percentage of oleo resins, w r hich are now capable of 

 exact determination, the greater the value of hops for 

 brewing purposes. Discussing these features, Mr. C. 

 S. Meacham, a brewer of Maidstone, Eng., among 

 other things said: 



"Continental or American hops, growing a high 

 percentage of oily resins, are generally so intensely bit- 

 ter that it is this which determines the maximum quan- 

 tity which a brewer should use in his beers in conjunc- 

 tion with his milder British hops. It must be borne 

 in mind, however, that the amount of the bitter is to 

 some extent counterbalanced by the lesser quantity of 

 hops which need be used where the percentage of 

 preservative resins is high. This statement might be 

 construed by some as a reason for not striving after a 

 high resin percentage, but I would remind such that 

 it is not bulk of hops but preservative resin which 

 the brewer wishes to purchase, and for which he will 

 be prepared to pay more money. 



It is on this point of resin that the battle between 

 English and foreign hops is to be fought. In softness 

 and clearness of bitter and delicacy of flavor, English 



