Technical Support | Oxygenated hop oil compounds, Geraniol and Linalool, when added to the whirlpool and/or during fermentation can take advantage of biotransformation as a result of when yeast converts oxygenated hop oils into floral and citrus tasting compounds (see also January 2019 newsletter).

Technical Support | Hops “keep away certain putrefactions from beverages.” – a statement written by Hildegard von Bingen, in the herbal book “Physica“ from the 12th century [1]. In today’s language, this is equivalent to describing an antimicrobial effect that has been observed for centuries, not only in beer production but also beyond the brewing industry, primarily when gram-positive bacteria must be controlled or inhibited in biochemical processing, as feed additives or food applications.

Technical support | When compared to regular hop addition during wort boiling, late and especially dry hopping make the composition of beer more complex and diverse, which requires additional analytical methods. For this purpose, two new methods are now recommended by the European Brewery Convention (EBC). At the same time, the precision values given for BU (Bitterness Units) measurement have been updated. They now cover also higher ranges as typical to dry-hopped beer.

Technical Support | Downy mildew in hops, usually called peronospora, is caused by Pseudoperonospora humuli and can lead to considerable losses in quality and yield due to weather conditions. For this reason, Dr. Alexander Feiner conducted a study on resistance to downy mildew in hops as part of his doctoral thesis in cooperation with the IPB in Halle (Saale) and the IPK in Gatersleben.

Technical Support | On Dec. 22, 2020, the US Department of Agriculture reported that US hop production for 2020 decreased 7% from last year, yielding 104 million pounds down from 2019’s record yield of 112 million pounds. Acreage increased in Washington by 1388 acres, in Idaho by 910 acres but decreased in Oregon by 202 acres with an overall increase of 3%. Washington State produced 71% of the hop crop, Idaho 17% and Oregon 12%. The overall hop yield per acre was 1,770 pounds down 211 pounds from last year.

Technical Support | As usual in December, we are pleased to share some data of the hops’ compositions
which is important to achieve consistent hop aroma in beer, especially when changing
from one crop year to another.

Company update | Hopsteiner celebrates its 175th anniversary this year. Instead of traditional festivities, we have decided to engage in a research cooperation dedicated to the fight against COVID-19 in the field of the antiviral effect of hop ingredients.

Hop market | The crop estimate for the Hallertau was announced on August 25st, meaning that crop 2020 estimates have now been submitted for all German hop growing areas.