Hallertauer Taurus (Hop) is a late maturing hop variety that as released in 1995 by the Hop Research Institute in Hüll, Germany. It has a very high alpha acid content averaging from 12% to 17%. The bitterness character is crisp, which makes it well suited to bittering of German-style lagers. Given its super-alpha character, brewers do not use it as an aroma hop, although its aromatics are delicate and floral. Although brewers probably have not noticed much, there is one thing interesting about this hop—it has the highest amount of xanthohumol of any hop in the world. Although xanthohumol, a powerful antioxidant, is present in most hops in only trace quantities as a share of overall oil content, in Taurus it has been measured to an average of 0.91%. In vitro studies have demonstrated that xanthohumol in fairly high concentrations is an effective cancer chemopreventive agent. This seems likely to open up a new market for the hop besides brewing—in the health preparations and health food sector, where xanthohumol is being aggressively researched. Agronomically, Taurus is fairly resistant to wilt and downy mildew, but it has a low resistance to powdery mildew.
Bibliography
http://www.hopsteiner.com/pdf/germany/HallertauerTaurus.pdf" (accessed March 28, 2011). http://www.hvg-germany.de/images/stories/pdf/hopfensorten/en/Taurus_engl.pdf/ (accessed March 28, 2011). http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL=B6TH7-4CGMX8M-1=10=05%2F31%2F2004=1=high=search=search=d==c=C000050221=1=0=10=5d0180322add765935b3592983641459=a/ (accessed March 28, 2011).