Hops

Argentina's hops grow mainly in the Comarca Andina, which includes El Bolsón. Press reports cite the area as the country's most important hop-growing region, though local cultivation covers only part of domestic brewers' needs. Exact acreage figures vary by source, so none is given here.

Varieties grown include Cascade, Nugget, Victoria, and Bullion, alongside Argentine-bred varieties such as Traful, Tehuelche, and Catarata. Cascade originally comes from the US and carries aromas of citrus and blossom. Among the well-known growers is Lúpulos Patagónicos, a family business that has grown hops since 1982 and is now run by its third generation.

Hops serve two purposes. The alpha acids in the cones give beer its bitterness when boiled in the wort for a long time—wort being the sugary liquid before fermentation. Essential oils, by contrast, are lost during long boiling and instead, when added later as aroma hops, release scents ranging from citrus to pine. Nugget is considered a classic bittering hop, while Cascade leans more toward aroma.

As with all plants in the Southern Hemisphere, the harvest calendar is flipped. While hop farmers in Bavaria pick in late summer, the harvest in El Bolsón falls around Carnival in February. The vines climb many meters up posts and wires by then, and the fresh cones go straight to breweries the same day.

This is the origin of the Fiesta Nacional del Lúpulo. It began as a folk festival in 1964 celebrating the harvest, dedicated to the settlers who built up hop farming from the early 20th century onward. The 48th edition took place from February 19 to 22, 2026, with the 49th announced for February 18 to 21, 2027.