You mean 45th
No, I meant the 48th parallel. There's a reason why the Boston Beer Company chose to use the name "Latitude 48" for one of their beers. The area between the 48th and 50th parallels is the Goldilocks zone for growing aroma hops. It's where all of the continental landrace hops grow the best. Anheusher-Bush (AB) established Elk Mountain Farms in Bonners Ferry, Idaho because it is located at the 48th parallel. The peak photoperiod is too short below the 48th parallel for the nobles to be agronomically sound, especially Saaz. Elk Mountain Farms is AB's major domestic source of noble hops.
Hallertau, Germany - 48.6347° N, 11.7747° E
Hersbruck, Germany - 49.5081° N, 11.4328°
Tettnang, Germany - 47.6708° N, 9.5875° E
Spalt, Germany - 49.1739° N, 10.9275° E
Zatec (Saaz), Czech Republic - 50.3300° N, 13.5444° E
Bonners Ferry, Idaho - 48.6922° N, 116.3175° W
Elk Mountain Farms is the the largest aroma hop farm in the world.
http://www.upstatechunk.com/beer/photos/a-bfarm.htmAn Elk Mountain Farms video that was created by a former migrant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq9glWxlyq8The same problem exists with Goldings and Fuggle to an extent. Kent, UK is located at 51.1900° N, 0.7300° E.
There's an upside to being located below the 48th parallel. Cultivars such as Cascade like it warm. If you have never seen a photo of a Cascade bine grown in the UK, well, let's say that Cascade grows about as well in the UK as Goldings grows in the U.S.
With that said, it appears that my Wye Challenger plants are not Wye Challenger. I suspected that something was wrong when my Wye Challenger hills threw sterile male flowers in addition to cones. However, the sizable first-year harvest was another a clue that the hills may not be Wye Challenger. I contacted a hop grower that I know who lives in Kent. He said that Wye Challenger is easy to spot in a hop yard. It has a unique dark reddish purple bine (described as dark violet in literature). The bines on my plants are green with red stripes. The only hop cultivar that I have seen with same bine color, growth habit, cone shape, and cone set is Columbus. Guess what? Columbus is known for throwing sterile male flowers.