Table of Contents
Advanced hop products designed for sustainable brewing and improved taste and aroma in different beer styles
A. Symes, F. Van Opstaele, G. De Rouck and P. Oliveira
Breweries can have up to 30 % beer loss due to process inefficiencies. Recently, hop extracts have been explored to offer standardized, cost-effective and a sustainable alternative to brewers. This study aimed to test new hop extracts applied in three main beer styles to showcase potential advantages to brewing. Hop extracts were applied into: 1) one lager wort stream for differentiation into lager and ale beers; into 2) one non-alcoholic beer, and into 3) one specialty beer style, Indian Pale Ale (IPA). Following the application of selected hop extract blends, the resulting beers were submitted to sensory analysis and their profiles compared. Results showed that, when applied to lager wort, brewing solely with hop extracts (naturally pre-isomerized bittering and post-fermentation aroma extracts) successfully delivered true-to-style lager and ale beer profiles. Bittering hops from alpha and beta skewed the aroma towards floral/herbal and citrus/lemon, respectively. Aroma hop extracts contributed towards citrus enhancement in lager, and stone fruit/floral in ale. Overall, hop extracts improved hop bill efficiency when compared to hop pellets. In non-alcoholic beer, sweetness was modulated, worty notes masked, and mouthfeel improved. In IPA, a blend of post-fermentation extracts (Amarillo®/Cascade/Citra®) significantly increased positive attributes (fruity, sweet, floral, and citrus). Also, it was possible to deliver a characteristic dry hop taste impact, while significantly reducing the brewing time. The selected hop extract blend delivered positive taste impact across all beer applications.
Descriptors: brewing efficiency; advanced hop extracts; functionality; sustainable hop bill
BrewingScience, 75 (November/December 2022), pp. 109-119
