We carried out tests in our pilot plant to check the influence of hop product and contact time for dry hopping. The beer we used was a moderate pale ale with 5,6 % alcohol and with a bitterness of 32 IBU. For dry hopping we added the variety Hallertau Tradition in the form of leaf hops and pellets from the same processing order (see table 1). The beer was stored at 4°C for 18 days. Sampling was done prior to dry hopping and then after 4 and 8 hours and then again after 1, 5, 7, 11, 13 and 18 days according to the numbers 1 to 10 in both diagrams. ...

Towards sustainable malting

Castle Malting® (or Malterie du Château®

Effective January 1, 2013, the Bühler Technology Group will concentrate the core functions of its Malting market segment currently located at its two German sites in Braunschweig and Beilngries at the headquarters of its Grain Logistics business unit in Beilngries. This concentration at a single site is supposed to lead to a bundling of technological know-how, a fine-tuning of processes, and to a reduction in the number of interfaces. The overall aim of this decision is to strengthen the competitiveness of the Malting market segment in view of meeting future market challenges. All employees in Braunschweig affected by this change will be offered a new job in Beilngries.

As in previous years we would like to demonstrate how the contribution of hop oils to beer can vary from one crop year to another. We have chosen linalool as a representative hop aroma substance as it correlates well with the sensory impression of hoppy aroma in beer.

The Hopsteiner Guidelines 2012 will soon be published and be available at BRAU 2012 in Nuremberg. We are still working on some details of the beer production and will present the balance of World Alpha Acid Supply and Demand as soon as possible…

A new era for China Brew and Beverage

China Brew and Beverage has reinvented itself several times. Once it outgrew the confines of the convention center where it had been held up to now, it moved to the Beijing China International Exhibition Center (CIEC). There it should have enough room to expand for several more years. The exhibition center’s close proximity to the airport makes the location quite favorable; it can also be reached from other parts of Beijing without difficulty. The partnership with the Messe München is nothing new, and was already in existence in 2010 when the last China Brew and Beverage took place.

For many consumers, beer foam is an important visual attribute of beer. It is well known, that hop derived bitter components are important for a good foam quality, as measured by lacing and foam stability. Although tetrahydro-iso-alpha acids have been used widely in the industry to improve foam stability, some brewers have been looking for an alternative as tetrahydro-iso-alpha acids have a slight different bitterness profile compared to iso-alpha acids...

Estimates for the 2012 hop crop in Germany were finalized in the Hallertau on August 17th. We are pleased to attach a list comparing the crop results for 2011 with the estimates for 2012 for the world’s main growing areas.

In 2011 the world hop crop amounted to approx. 98,000 mt to 100,000 mt. 38 percent of this quantity was harvested in Germany and 29 percent in the US. An alpha quantity of approx. 10,000 mt was produced. Alpha losses from harvest to processing have been taken into account, however, processing losses and further storage losses until use of the hop products were not considered. This gives a world average alpha content of 10.3 percent. Germany produced 41 percent of the world alpha and the US 36 percent. Germany and the US are further strengthening their leading role in the world hop market.

In their joint report the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft , LfL) and the Society of Hop Research (Gesellschaft für Hopfenforschung [EV], GfH) provide information on ongoing and finished hop research projects and their results.

When exposed to sunlight, i.e. if bottled in green or white glass, beer quickly develops an off-odour usually referred to as “sunstruck-flavour”. For about 50 years, 3-methyl-2-butenthiol (MBT) has been assumed to be the only cause of lightstruck-flavour, particularly due to its very low odour threshold. Several past studies suggest that the formation of thiol is a result of isohumulone coming into contact with light, riboflavin and cysteine. New studies show that it is not only MBT which causes sunstruck-flavour in beer. To assess the impact of hops and light on sunstruck-flavour, both hopped and unhopped beers were analysed before and after illumination. ...