Ruminants—those that graze on grass and fibrous plant, partially digest them, and then re-chew the cud—rely on a host of naturally occurring bacteria to aid in the digestion of their meal. One group of microbes that helps this process is known as the hyper-ammonia-producing bacteria (HABs). These HABs produce ammonia, though, which reduces the animal's ability to turn amino acids into fresh, tasty muscle tissue.

To make up for these lost amino acids, cattle growers add expensive yet inefficient high-protein additives to the animal's feed stock. According to Agricultural Research Service (ARS)—the scientific research agency of the USDA—scientist Michael Flythe, this problem can be addressed by adding a key ingredient from the brewer's toolkit: hops. His work shows that hops can reduce the HAB populations, which makes sense, as hops were originally added to beer to limit bacterial growth.

The experiments added either dried hops flowers or hops extract into either a culture of pure HABs, or a mixture of bacteria collected from a living cow's rumen (its first of four stomachs). Both types of hops inhibited the growth of HABs and reduced the amount of ammonia they produced. While the work may not immediately result in tastier beef, hopefully it can represent the first step in allowing me to get a steak in the US as good as the steaks I have had in Alberta, Canada.

We went with the USDA's announcement of the results here because, with a name like ARS, how could we not?