Table of Contents
How the amount and timing of dry-hopping affects beer turbidity - WINNER OF LUDWIG-NARZISS-AWARD 2025
Mathis Geserer, Frank Peifer, Martin Krottenthaler, Korbinian Schmid and Sandro Cocuzza
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on beer turbidity after dry-hopping. Firstly, depending on the quantity of hop pellets added and secondly, when varying the dosing point while maintaining a constant hopping rate. Selected chemical and physical properties of the finished beer were also investigated for both scenarios (quantity and time of dry-hopping). Both the “trial quantity” (TQ) and “trial timing” (TT) resulted in significant effects with regards to the increase in turbidity in the dry-hopped beers. Gradually increasing dry-hop dosing rates in TQ correlated well with the greater turbidity according to both methods used, MEBAK and OD600. All dry-hopped beers in TT showed a significant increase in turbidity compared to the base beer. This haze was further intensified with a very late dry-hop dosage at the end of maturation. The turbidity was, along with other selected variables, also analysed after the beer had been stored for 6 months at 20 °C, “trial storage” (TS). Both, the supernatant formed after storage and the homogenised beers were investigated. The results of the stored and homogenised samples showed highly comparable and, in some cases identical results compared to analyses of freshly bottled beers of TQ and TT. The effect of the dry-hopping variations of TQ and TT could still be demonstrated analytically in the supernatants and visually in the settled beers. Pictures were taken to visualise the behaviour of the various dry-hopped beers to link the results to the visual expectations that consumers have of commercially available beers.
Descriptors: dry-hopping, turbidity, 90°/ 25° measurement, OD600, bitter substances, polyphenols, pH value, real extract and alcohol content, hop creep
BrewingScience, 77 (July/August 2024), pp. 66-75
