The young shoots are the clearest and most useful edible part of American hop. Shoots are best gathered shortly after emerging from the ground, when they are approximately 6–10 centimeters long and before their tissues become tough. At this stage they can be eaten raw in small quantities, although cooking produces a more tender and dependable vegetable. The flavor is aromatic, green and mildly bitter. It has been compared with asparagus, young nettles or leafy brassicas, but hop shoots possess their own resinous character. The texture may be slightly dry or gritty if the shoots are gathered too late. Older shoots rapidly become fibrous and are unsuitable as vegetables. Once the stems begin active climbing and the leaves expand, the window for eating them has largely passed. The rhizomes have been listed as edible in some references, but reliable descriptions of their preparation are rare. They are likely to be tough, bitter and resinous. Removing them also damages or kills part of the perennial crown. Their use should therefore be regarded as uncertain and generally inadvisable. Female hop cones are useful as flavoring agents. They may be boiled in water, incorporated into fermentation starters or added in very small amounts to bread, drinks and other foods. Their intense bitterness limits the quantity that can be used. The seeds inside mature cones have sometimes been interpreted as an edible grain, but the available ethnobotanical evidence does not establish them as a significant source of flour. Mature cones contain relatively few small achenes, and both the seeds and surrounding bracts are coated with bitter aromatic resins. Edible Uses & Rating: American hop merits an overall edibility rating of 3/5, based principally on the excellent young shoots. The shoots can be abundant around established crowns, are available early in the season and require relatively little preparation. Their mild bitterness and distinctive flavor make them more suitable as a specialty vegetable than as a staple. The rating is reduced because the harvesting period is brief and older growth becomes tough almost immediately. The hop cones are useful primarily in small quantities as flavorings and preservatives rather than as substantial food. The rhizomes and seeds should not materially increase the rating. Evidence for rhizome consumption is weak, while the seed account may reflect confusion between eating the seed itself and using whole hop cones to flavor bread or fermentation mixtures. A sensible PFAF description is therefore that American hop is a useful spring vegetable and important flavoring plant, but not a significant source of roots, flour or bulk calories. Taste, Processing & Kitchen Notes: Very young hop shoots have a fresh green flavor with noticeable but usually agreeable bitterness. They can resemble asparagus tips, young brassica shoots or slightly resinous green beans. The most tender upper portions may be eaten raw in small amounts, but blanching, steaming or brief boiling gives a softer texture and reduces excessive bitterness. To prepare the shoots, rinse them carefully and remove any gritty or damaged lower portions. Simmer or steam until tender, then serve with butter, olive oil, lemon, salt or a mild sauce. Their distinctive flavor can be overwhelmed by strong spices. Hop shoots may also be added to omelets, risottos, soups, pasta dishes or mixed spring vegetables. They should be added late in cooking to preserve their tender texture. Shoots longer than approximately 10–15 centimeters should be tested for fibers before being gathered in quantity. If they resist snapping cleanly or have begun to twine, they are usually too old. Hop cones are overwhelmingly bitter when chewed. Their yellow resin glands produce aromatic, spicy, herbal and sometimes citrus-like impressions, but these pleasant qualities are accompanied by intense bitterness. In culinary use, cones should be treated like a strong herb or spice. A small quantity can flavor a large batch of liquid or dough. Excessive hops can make food almost impossible to eat. The supplied notes correctly clarify that historic hop bread was not necessarily made from hop-seed flour. Hops were more commonly used to prepare a bitter decoction that helped culture yeast, added flavor and limited spoilage. If mature cones are being investigated for seed, they must first be dried until the bracts become papery. Rubbing and winnowing may separate the heavier achenes from the lighter bracts. Raw seeds and attached resin taste strongly acrid. Toasting can improve the flavor, but low heat is essential because the resinous material scorches easily. Boiling is more effective at reducing bitterness. The field method described in the supplied information—light toasting, followed by boiling and discarding the cooking water—may leave a pleasantly starchy seed with residual resinous flavor. Nevertheless, the seeds should be considered experimental rather than established food. A small satisfactory taste does not confirm safety in meal-sized quantities. Seasonality (Phenology). American hop is dormant through winter. New shoots emerge in spring after soil temperatures rise. In warmer parts of its range, this may occur in March or April, while northern populations may not begin active growth until May. The edible-shoot season is short. Shoots are best gathered when approximately 6–10 centimeters long and before rapid elongation begins. Once established, the bines can grow very quickly, sometimes extending many centimeters in a day under warm, moist conditions. By early summer they may reach the tops of shrubs, trees, fences or trellises. Male and female flowers generally develop in midsummer. Male flowers occur in loose branching clusters, while female flowers appear in shorter compact clusters that enlarge into cones after pollination. Hop cones mature from late summer into autumn. Cones intended for flavoring are usually harvested before they become fully dry, when they remain greenish, springy, and strongly aromatic. Seeds require pollinated female plants and are collected later, when the cones have turned brown, papery and dry. In cultivation, many commercial hop fields are kept free of male plants because brewers often prefer seedless cones. The above-ground bines die after frost. The perennial crown and rhizomes remain alive beneath the soil and produce new shoots the following spring. Safety & Cautions (Food Use): Hop shoots and cones contain biologically active bitter and aromatic compounds. Culinary quantities are generally regarded as acceptable, but concentrated or excessive use can cause unwanted effects. Hops have sedative properties and may increase drowsiness when combined with alcohol, sedative medicines or other calming herbs. People who are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking sedative medication or being treated for hormone-sensitive conditions should seek appropriate professional guidance before consuming concentrated hop preparations. Handling fresh hop plants can cause dermatitis in susceptible individuals. The rough stems and leaves may irritate the skin mechanically, while hop pollen, resins and plant hairs can trigger allergic reactions. Long sleeves and gloves are useful when harvesting shoots or cones from dense growth. Dogs can develop a dangerous and potentially fatal reaction after ingesting spent or fresh hops. Hop material should never be left where dogs can eat it, including brewing waste, compost piles, or kitchen scraps. The strongly bitter flavor of cones provides a natural warning against eating them in bulk. Bitter taste should not be disguised with sugar or other ingredients to encourage meal-sized consumption. The rhizomes should not be eaten simply because a few references list them as edible. Species-specific preparation and safety information are inadequate. Hop seeds should also be treated cautiously. Their use as an ingredient in bread has not been clearly distinguished from the use of whole cones as flavoring or fermentation aids. Always distinguish hop from unrelated climbing plants before gathering young shoots. Identification is easiest when the mature leaves and female cones have previously been observed at the site. Harvest & Processing Workflow: Identify an established hop colony during the previous summer or autumn, when its lobed leaves and cone-like female strobiles are unmistakable. Return in spring and look for new shoots emerging directly from the known rhizome crown. Choose shoots approximately 6–10 centimeters long. They should be tender, upright and not yet actively twining. Harvest only a minority of the shoots from each crown. The remaining growth is needed to replenish the rhizomes and produce flowers. Cut the selected shoots just above soil level with clean scissors or a knife. Avoid pulling, which may tear the underground crown. Rinse the shoots in clean water and inspect them for insects, grit and damaged tissue. Cook promptly, as the tender shoots deteriorate and toughen after harvest. Refrigeration may preserve them briefly, but they are best used fresh. Female cones intended for tea, brewing or flavoring should be collected when aromatic, green to yellow-green and slightly papery. They should spring back when gently compressed. Dry cones in a single layer with good air circulation and away from direct sunlight. Store only after they are fully dry. Seeds are obtained from fully mature brown cones produced on pollinated female plants. Rub the dry cones over a tray, screen away coarse material, and winnow cautiously. Because seed use is poorly documented, prepare only a small experimental quantity and do not treat it as a meal food. Cultivar / Selection Notes: American hop is principally encountered as a wild native plant rather than as named horticultural or brewing cultivars. Native American hop populations are genetically diverse and vary in cone chemistry, aroma, flowering time, disease resistance, and leaf shape and adaptation to local climates. The taxon has contributed useful genetic material to hop-breeding programmes. Native North American germplasm may offer resistance to particular diseases and tolerance of continental winters, humid summers or other regional conditions. Plants sold under named commercial hop cultivars are usually selections of European-derived Humulus lupulus var. lupulus or hybrids involving several lineages. They should not automatically be labelled American hop simply because they are grown in North America. For young-shoot production, desirable traits would include numerous thick spring shoots, mild bitterness, delayed fibre development and limited lateral spread. For brewing, female plants with abundant aromatic cones and favourable resin composition would be preferred. Male plants are necessary for seed production but are usually excluded from commercial cone yards. Locally sourced plants are appropriate for native restoration. Introducing commercial hop cultivars near wild populations may risk genetic mixing and should be considered carefully. Look-Alikes & Confusion Risks: Mature hops are highly distinctive, but their young spring shoots can be confused with other climbing or scrambling plants. Hop leaves are opposite, rough-haired and palmately three- to seven-lobed. Their margins are sharply toothed. The stems are rough and twine around supports. They do not produce tendrils. Wild grape species have alternate leaves and climb using branched tendrils. Their young shoots may appear near the same riverbank habitats but differ in leaf arrangement and climbing mechanism. Moonseeds, Menispermum species, have alternate leaves and produce dark berry-like fruits rather than papery cones. Their fruits should not be eaten. Virginia creeper has palmately compound leaves consisting of separate leaflets and climbs with adhesive tendrils. Poison ivy can climb but normally has three separate leaflets rather than a single lobed blade. Stinging nettles share opposite serrated leaves and belong to the same broad order, but they are upright plants with stinging hairs rather than twining bines. Japanese hop, Humulus scandens, is an annual introduced species with deeply divided leaves and more aggressive weedy behaviour in parts of North America. Its female inflorescences differ from the large compact cones of common and American hop. American hop can be difficult to distinguish from escaped European hop where their ranges overlap. Variety-level identification may require examination of leaves, stems, cone structures and geographical origin. Traditional / Indigenous Use Summary: North American Indigenous peoples used native hops primarily as flavourings, medicines and fermentation aids rather than as sources of flour. Records from Apache communities are especially relevant to the western variety, but they clarify a broader misunderstanding about hop food use. Hop cones were boiled and used to flavour foods and fermented drinks. They were combined with mesquite flour, screwbean flour, wheat flour and wild potatoes and were added to tulbai, a fermented maize beverage. The expression translated as “to make bread with it” does not necessarily mean the seeds were ground into bread flour. Whole cones or hop decoctions could be incorporated to flavour dough, support yeast culture and reduce spoilage. European and North American bread-making traditions also used “hop yeast,” prepared by culturing microorganisms in a bitter hop infusion. The antimicrobial properties of hop resins helped restrain some unwanted organisms while the yeast multiplied. Native American hop may have been used medicinally for pain, sleep, digestive complaints and other conditions, although practices varied among communities. The spring-shoot vegetable tradition is much better documented in Europe than in Indigenous North America. This difference may reflect cultural preference, incomplete records or the greater prominence of hops as a specialty crop in European hop-growing regions.

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.


Humulus americanus (often treated as a regional or taxonomic variant of the common hop, Humulus lupulus) shares the same chemical properties and traditional medical uses. Hops have a long and proven history of herbal use, where they are employed mainly for their soothing, sedative, tonic, and calming effect on the body and the mind. Their strongly bitter flavor largely accounts for their ability to strengthen and stimulate the digestion, increasing gastric and other secretions[254]. The female fruiting body is anodyne, antiseptic, antispasmodic, diuretic, febrifuge, hypnotic, nervine, sedative, stomachic and tonic[4, 9, 21, 46, 165, 192, 218]. Hops are widely used as a folk remedy to treat a wide range of complaints, including boils, bruises, calculus, cancer, cramps, cough, cystitis, debility, delirium, diarrhea, dyspepsia, fever, fits, hysteria, inflammation, insomnia, jaundice, nerves, neuralgia, rheumatism, and worms[269]. The hairs on the fruits contain lupulin, a sedative and hypnotic drug[213, 218]. When given to nursing mothers, lupulin increases the flow of milk - recent research has shown that it contains a related hormone that could account for this effect[7]. The decoction from the flower is said to remedy swellings and hardness of the uterus[269]. Hop flowers are much used as an infusion or can also be used to stuff pillows where the weight of the head will release the volatile oils[213]. The fruit is also applied externally as a poultice to ulcers, boils, painful swellings, etc[4, 218]; it is said to remedy painful tumors [269]. The female flowering heads are harvested in the autumn and can be used fresh or dried[238]. Alcoholic extracts of hops in various dosage forms have been used clinically in treating numerous forms of leprosy, pulmonary tuberculosis, and acute bacterial dysentery, with varying degrees of success in China. The female fruiting body contains humulone and lupulone; these are highly bacteriostatic against gram-positive and acid-fast bacteria[240]. A cataplasm of the leaf is said to remedy cold tumors [269]. The German Commission E Monographs, a therapeutic guide to herbal medicine, approve Humulus lupulus for nervousness and insomnia (see [302] for critics of Commission E).

Humulus americanus shares many of the same uses as Humulus lupulus. A fine brown dye is obtained from the leaves and flower heads[4, 100, 269]. An essential oil from the female fruiting heads is used in perfumery[213, 238]. Average yields are 0.4 - 0.5%[240]. Extracts of the plant are used in Europe in skin creams and lotions for their alleged skin-softening properties[269]. A fiber is obtained from the stems[46]. Similar to hemp (Cannabis sativa)[100] but not as strong[115], it is used to make a coarse kind of cloth[4]. It is sometimes used for filler material in corrugated paper or board products, but is unsuited for corrugated paper because of low pulp yield and high chemical requirements, or for production of high-grade pulp for specialty paper[269]. The fiber is very durable, but it is difficult to separate; the stems need to be soaked beforehand for a whole winter[4]. A paper can also be made from the fiber; the stems are harvested in the autumn, the leaves removed, and the stems steamed until the fibers can be removed. The fiber is cooked for 2 hours with lye, and then hand pounded with mallets or ball milled for 2½ hours. The paper is brown in color [189]. Ecology & Wildlife: American hop contributes dense seasonal cover to riparian thickets and woodland edges. Its bines climb existing vegetation rather than supporting themselves, allowing rapid occupation of sunny canopy gaps without producing woody trunks. The leaves support herbivorous insects, which in turn provide food for birds and predatory arthropods. Dense foliage offers shelter and nesting cover for small birds and other animals, although excessive growth can reduce light reaching smaller plants beneath it. Seeds may be eaten by birds and rodents. The papery cones and dried stems may also be used in nesting material. The rhizome system helps bind moist alluvial soil, although the plant should not be relied upon as the sole means of erosion control. American hop’s genetic diversity is ecologically and agriculturally important. Native populations contain adaptations to regional climates, diseases and growing conditions that may assist future hop breeding. For PFAF users, American hop is best understood as a multifunctional native climber: a valuable spring vegetable, powerful flavoring plant, source of breeding material and vigorous component of moist North American landscapes.

Special Uses