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Hop-Growing Heritage Meets Modern Brewing

Born of Necessity, Perfected by Nature

In the first half of the 20th century, the Spanish brewing industry relied heavily on imported hops, primarily from Germany. The Spanish Civil War and World War II disrupted this supply, forcing the country to develop its own production.

The answer was waiting in León, where wild hops flourished along the banks of the Órbigo and Tuerto rivers. The natural presence of these populations confirmed the region's extraordinary agronomic potential and laid the foundation for a new productive sector. What began as a necessity in 1945 with the creation of the Sociedad para el Fomento del Lúpulo de León has evolved into a world-class hub for hop agronomy, blending decades of heritage with the future of brewing.

Why Partner With Us?

Our hops are cultivated primarily on family farms managed by third- and fourth-generation farmers. The combination of accumulated experience, deep knowledge of the land, and modern agronomic techniques delivers distinct advantages for your brewery:

  • Pristine Plant Health:: Continuous crop monitoring and precise disease control ensure healthier, resilient plant material.
  • Peak Harvesting: We harvest at the precise optimal moment to maximize alpha acids and lock in essential oils.
  • 100% Traceability: Complete transparency and quality control from our specific farm plots directly to your final product.
  • Agile Innovation: Dedicated experimental micro-plots allow us to test, evaluate, and scale new varieties ahead of market trends.
  • Market Adaptation: Faster adaptation to modern market trends and specific brewery needs.
  • Direct Collaboration: A direct relationship between producer and client, promoting transparency and technical knowledge exchange.
  • Heritage: Preservation of a unique agronomic knowledge passed down through generations of growers.

Our tradition, in pictures

Opening of the Hop Development Society building in León in 1945, a landmark moment in the early development of hop growing in the region
Some of the first hop varieties cultivated in León, reflecting the early trials that helped establish hop growing in the region
Collecting wooden poles for use as supports in León’s first hop fields, showing the practical work behind the region’s early hop cultivation
Authorities visiting one of León’s first hop plantations in the 1940s, during the early development of organised hop production in the region
Bales of whole hop cones from one of León’s earliest harvests, showing the first commercial steps in the region’s long hop-growing tradition

Grown with Purpose, Adapted to Demand

Our approach combines traditional knowledge with modern crop management. Depending on soil, weather and crop requirements, we use both drip irrigation and flood irrigation, allowing water management to be adapted to the needs of each field.

We also maintain a programme of American hop varieties already adapted to the growing conditions of León, ready to be propagated and brought into commercial production when there is sufficient demand.

Alongside our conventional production, we grow EU-certified organic American and New Zealand varieties in León, offering European breweries a local, European-grown alternative to varieties traditionally sourced from overseas — a "European zero-kilometre" approach that brings production closer to the market.

The principle behind all three areas is the same: to adapt what we grow to real market demand, responding to the varieties, production methods and volumes that breweries actually need.

Measured in the Lab, Proven in the Brewery

Analytical control is supported by the Biofuels Laboratory in Villarejo de Órbigo, part of ITACyL (Agricultural Technology Institute of Castilla y León) providing objective data to assess hop quality and composition.

We also study how hops behave in the brewery. Alongside standard quality parameters, we analyse diastatic power and enzymatic activity, with particular attention to their relationship with hop creep during dry hopping.

By connecting agronomy, analytical control and brewing performance, we aim to produce hops that are not only well grown, but also better understood from field to fermenter.