The beginnings of hops culture in Brazil

Abstract

Hops are vital for brewing production and an important element in the relationship between Brazilian society and alcohol. From this background, we seek to trace the history of alcoholic beverages until the dominance of beer and the introduction of hops in Brazil. We collected our data and information from reports of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Foreign Trade Statistics System and the Magazine of the Imperial Fluminense Institute of Agriculture. The findings show a close relationship with Germany with its brewing and hop-growing tradition, in addition to the impact of hop processing on national and international trade and, more recently, the importance of producer organization.