On Friday, October 2nd, the annual hop competition was held at the Hop Museum. During the award ceremony, several Poperinge hop farmers were honored for their harvest. The national hop competition is an initiative by the city of Poperinge, in collaboration with the Hainaut city of Komen-Waasten and the East Flanders city of Aalst. This year, 91 hop samples participated, divided into various varieties.
Speakers included deputy Bart Naeyaert (responsible for agriculture and horticulture, among other things), Geert Toye (Koninklijke Kortrijkse Brouwersbond), Philippe Mouton (first alderman of Komen-Waasten), and Evert Rubbrecht (agricultural coordinator for the city of Aalst).
The judging criteria included the quality of the hop cone (quality of the pick, color and shine, dryness), the lupulin content, and the aroma. New this year were the intrinsic quality assessments for the Magnum (alpha acid content) and Golding (hop oil) varieties.
The city of Poperinge awarded prizes in six categories. Bart Boeraeve from Poperinge won with his Target hop (88%). Niels Dekervel from Poperinge took first place in Magnum (82.3%) and Cascade (83%). Rob Lagache from Waasten won with Challenger (85%), and Michiel and Johan Rosseel from Poperinge with Golding (85.7%). Among the miscellaneous aroma hops, Hannes Lagache from Reningelst won with Brewers Gold (86%).
Komen-Waasten sponsored the prize for the Saaz variety, won by Hannes Lagache from Reningelst (83%). Aalst awarded the laureate of Hallertau Mittelfrüh, where Hof Ter Bree Eik from Lennik achieved the highest score (83%).
Following the award ceremony, the Hopstalen exhibition was officially opened. This exhibition can be visited at the Hop Museum (Gasthuisstraat 71) until Sunday, November 8th. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 AM to 5 PM.
