Records of hops being used in ancient Egypt have been found but not as a flavouring for beer.   The Germans have the longest recorded history of brewing with them, with mention of it almost thousand years ago.   English ale was brewed without hops and contained other fragrant herbs such as juniper, rosemary and nettles.   Beer was ale brewed with hops, but now the terms are interchangable.

Hops grow in cool temperate regions of the world such as the northern parts of Europe and the US.   Germanyⁱ and the United States produce most of the world's hops between them.   The hop cones are the reproductive part of the female hop plant and contain sticky resins and oils.   The resins contribute more to the bitterness flavour and the oils more to the more aromatic flavours.

The hops are harvested and dried gently in kilns for storing unitl needed.   They may be processed further into standard sized pellets to aid brewers produce more consistent beers.   They are added to the wort during the boil stage of brewing to extract the resin & oil constituents and their corresponding flavours.   The same flavours may be extracted with a solvent and then added to the beers directly.