Optimizing Hop Additions: Brewing Beer with Whole Hops, Hop Powder, and Hop Extract
Aug 02, 2023
Celeste
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During the wort boiling process in actual production, different quantities and varieties of hops or hop products are added at various stages. The quality difference between these products is minimal since the hop contents are well preserved throughout processing and preparation. However, variations in quality do exist between individual hop preparations.
There are three types of hop preparations available for addition:
Whole hops
Hop powder products (hop powder and granular hops)
Hops Extract
When using multiple hop varieties, it is advisable to add the bitter hops first. This allows the acids to dissolve into the wort effectively and helps evaporate unwanted volatile substances. Aroma hops, on the other hand, should be added last or even after depressurization in a pressurized boiling process. This ensures that the hop oils remain in the beer, there is no need to take advantage of the bitter substances in the hop aroma. The timing and variety of hops added can significantly impact the quality of the finished beer.
The use of whole hops has decreased over time due to increased hop grain discharge, reducing brewing efficiency. Despite this, many breweries worldwide still use whole hops. When using whole hops, a hop separator must be installed behind the brew kettle to remove the hop grains. Some breweries opt to crush the whole hops before adding them to reduce wort loss. Finely divided hop grains are separated in the whirlpool tank. The separated hop grains can be sold together with the grains, but not as fertilizer.
Hop products like hop powder or granular hops provide convenience. The whole flower is crushed into hop powder under low temperatures and oxygen-free conditions. It is then extruded into short rod-shaped pellets and packaged in a vacuum or filled with inert gases like nitrogen and carbon dioxide. In most cases, the content are expressed in kilograms of α-acid. Microbreweries can manually open the bag and directly add the hop powder or granules to the brew kettle.
Hop extract is obtained by extracting the core components of hops (alpha acid, beta acid, essential oils, etc.) by carbon dioxide leaching and other methods. The hop extract has a high viscosity, but becomes more liquid when heated to 45-50°C. It is then added to the brew kettle at a specified time after being maintained in a homogeneous state through continuous circulation.
The choice of hop product depends on the size and equipment of the brewhouse. Craft breweries and smaller scales often use whole hops and hop powder products. However, hop extract has high efficiency, easy handing, and almost complete dissolution without residue, making it a convenient choice for large-scale industrial mass-production breweries. Additionally, hop extracts offers advantages in terms of storage, transportation, stability, quality, and cost-effectiveness.
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