The new science of hops

Brewers, engineers and researchers push the boundaries of hoppy beer.

Towards a better beer

THE IPA BOOM that you may have noticed at your local restaurant/bar/ beer shop/bodega/grocery store is forcing brewers to innovate in the quest to cram more hops into every batch.

Conventional brewing wisdom saw hop pellets and dried flowers go in at the start of a boil, the end, and then after fermentation. But the hoppiest brewers have already hit the limit of how much physical hop flower can go into a beer (about three pounds per keg) before a soggy kale taste sets in. Nobody likes soggy kale. Here are the new tools and tricks for making ridiculously hoppy beer that you will want more than one of.

Lupulin powder

Used for flavour and aroma, this yellow-green powder is three times more potent than traditional hop pellets, says John Paul Maye, technical director for Hopsteiner hops company. Dried hop flowers are cooled to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, freezing the lupulin sacks at the base of hop leaves. The flowers pass through a series of rolling sieves, separating the concentrated packets of hop oils from the leaves.

Debittered leaves •

The cast-off from lupulin powder, these leaves act like low-bitterness European hops, and add tannins and mouthfeel. We used it in our lager (see “Our Hoppy Experiment”) to add a kick of old-school pilsner character under the bright, lupulinpowder aroma.

CO2 extract hop oil

Hop-oil extract replaces bittering hop pellets added at the start of the boil. It can also provide aroma and flavour, but that’s often frowned on as too untraditional.

Whirlpool addition

After the boil, the unfermented beer remains near-boiling during the 30 to 60 minutes it takes to pump a batch through a whirlpool filter and heat exchange before it hits the fermenter. The slightly lower temperature volatilises less aromatic oil – just like you brew coffee sub-boiling – while still dispersing hoppy compounds into the wort, making it a more effective addition than late in the boil.

Fermentation dry hopping

Adding hops while the yeast ferments increases contact and extraction thanks to the heat and movement yeast generates. Some yeast strains also interact with hop oils, typically amplifying juicy flavours and muting the piney notes.

As the CO2 passes through the hop pellets, the aromatic oils and acids dissolve into it. The green vegetable material, about 70 to 90 per cent of the hop pellet by weight, is left behind. CO2 is pressurised to as much as 6 000 psi to reach the...