Viscosity of Hop Extracts

Hop pellets, conventional hop extracts (ethanol and CO2), isomerized kettle extracts (IKE, PIKE) and light stable kettle extracts (LSKE) are the products usually used in the brew house. Besides excellent storage stability, hop extracts are homogenous and therefore can be dosed precisely to add mainly bitterness to the beer.

Canned extracts do not need to be warmed up prior to dosage as they are directly put into the kettle. However, if automatic dosing units are used in the brewhouse the extract needs to be warmed up prior to pumping into the kettle. Thereby the viscosity is reduced and the extract becomes more fluid. The viscosity of hop extracts mainly depends on the temperature but hop variety, crop year, type of extract and hop oil content can also have an influence. ...

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