Use of the Hop Aroma Component Profile to Calculate Hop Rates for Standardizing Aroma Units and Bitterness Units in Brewing

Abstract

Hop bittering resins and hop aroma essential oil components are separate hop fractions that vary individually with variety, crop year and climate, source, age, and processing conditions. Our taste panel, confirming the reports of others, found that the use of hop bittering values and preset varietal ratios to determine hopping rates can lead to unexpected and unwanted variations in the intensity of a beer's hop character when brewing a late moderately hopped or dry-hopped product that requires the use of a large quantity of aroma hops. Based on historical ratios, taste panel reports, α-acids averages, and the hop aroma component profiles of 22 hop aroma compounds, calculations were developed that first determine kettle aroma hopping rates and then bittering hopping rates. Some examples of production wort and beer aroma units and arbitrary bitterness units are presented, along with taste panel findings.

• α-Acids
• Beer
• Essential oil components
• Flavor
• Hop character
• Wort