13th BrewingScience Hop Special out now

Hop research | In December 2023, the latest Hop Special was published in the BrewingScience Newsletter, this time sponsored by BarthHaas. The scientific online-journal BrewingScience features peer-reviewed scientific papers with impact on the brewing industry. The brief article abstracts below provide a good initial overview of the content.

Nutritional analysis of Super Galena hops

Believe it or not, hops contain vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, protein, ash, calories, nitrogen free extract, and fiber. The paper by John Paul Maye deals with the nutrients contained in hops, using the hop variety Super Galena as an example. (Article)

The impact of diseases on the quality of hops for use in brewing beer

Hop cultivation is confronted with two enormous challenges: In addition to climate change, the EU Green Deal threatens to impose ever more restrictive approvals for plant protection products. A consequence could be that brewers will be less likely to encounter defect-free, only green lots of hops in the future. To date, there exists no reliable data on the brewing value of such infested batches. This article by Adrian Forster, Andreas Gahr, and Florian Schüll deals with this subject. (Article)

The relevance of Hop Storage Index (HSI) for hop usage

Understanding the relevance of the hop storage index (HSI) is important in a changing world where hoppy aroma in beer can indicate the perceived quality of beer. Hops don’t like to get old, but as they age, understanding the changes to the hop components and how they impact beer is significant, as described in the contribution by Joshua McMillan, Mark Zunkel, Alicia Muñoz Insa, and Christina Schönberger. (Article)

Comparative analysis of dry-hopping with hop extracts versus hop pellets

This article by Breeze Outhwaite, Abbey Symes, and Darryl Mills presents a new study in which the authors investigated whether the use of hop extracts instead of conventional pellets in the brewing of American Pale Ales increases efficiency, maintains flavour integrity and increases beer yield. (Article)