What Does Hops Do In Beer?

So What’s a Hop? – Hops are the flowers, or cones, of a plant called Humulus lupulus, Hops help to keep beer fresher, longer; help beer retain its head of foam—a key component of a beer’s aroma and flavor; and, of course, add “hoppy” aroma, flavor, and bitterness. A view of Aroostook Hops, a farm up in Westfield, Maine. Every single beer on the market today contains hops. If they didn’t, they would be a “gruit” which is basically a beer that, instead of hops, uses witches-brew-sounding herbs like bog myrtle, yarrow, heather, or juniper.

Sidenote: bitterness can also come from fruits, herbs, and even vegetables added to the beer. For example: pith from orange zest, spruce tips, juniper, and more. Hops are divided into two very general varieties: bittering and aroma. Bittering hops will have higher alpha acids, making them more economical for bittering beer (a small amount goes a long way).

Aroma hops will tend to have more essential oils. It’s those highly volatile essential oils that contribute much of what people understand as “hoppiness.” We’re talking aromas like citrus, pine, mango, resin, melon, and more. By adding hops early in the brewing process, all of those essential oils volatize (boil away), either during the boil or during fermentation. We’ve written a couple blogs about more specific topics around hops like, and, Click the links to check those out. The use of hops varies greatly depending on the beer, and what the brewer is looking for. And it’s this variety of uses that makes hops such a delicious and versatile ingredient to brew with. : Beer Fundamentals – What are hops?

What is the benefit of hops in beer?

Benefits of hops – Hops offer such versatility to craft beer, with brewers able to dream up almost any flavors and bring them to life—invoking tropical fruits, fragrant flowers, herbal tones (think tea), freshly cut grass (really), and more. When you track the evolution of India Pale Ale (IPA), you see that American craft brewers especially have enjoyed pushing hops to their limits.

Hops serve other purposes in beer, namely providing inherent preservative qualities. The acids within hop resin are naturally antimicrobial, helping ward off spoiling bacteria during fermentation. And this defender role carries through to the finished beer, where hops also curb the development of off flavors.

This isn’t new science either; hops have worked hard for centuries. By the latter 1700s, British brewers learned to crank up the hops when shipping beer to faraway destinations. Those ocean journeys were long, and hops extended beer’s life.

What Flavour does hops add to beer?

West Coast IPA – Brewed with a lot of hops in the boil, West Coast IPA’s are known for their high levels of bitterness. Dry-hopping adds flavors of grapefruit and orange. Brewers of West Coast IPA’s will often brew with hop varieties that add piney notes to their beers.

1. New varieties of hops are always being developed, so the kaleidoscope of flavors they can offer continues to grow and expand.
2. However, as a rule, hops add bitter flavors to beer along with a whole spectrum of aromatic notes that can range from woody, spicy, and earthy to floral, citrus, and fruity.
3. Hops are used in different parts of the brewing process to manage how you enjoy the balance of aroma in the beer you drink in breweries in Seattle.

Visit Lowercase Brewing to taste some of our beers, and we’ll be happy to point out the very hoppiest for you to enjoy! Follow our Beer Blog for more posts like this!

Do I need hops in beer?

The Role Of Hops In Beer | Guide To Beer Hops Hops may be one of four essential ingredients in beer (alongside barley, yeast, and of course water). But from the current spectrum of craft beer offerings—and the heavy emphasis on hoppy IPAs—it might seem like hops is the marquee ingredient behind all worthy and delicious beer.

That isn’t the case. Hops are magical, absolutely, and hoppy styles are recently trending as hard as the Kardashians, but hops are part of a spectrum; an ingredient—a really interesting one—in the magical, So what are hops? As far as beer is concerned, what we call “hops” are actually just the cone-shaped flowers of the female hops plant, aka Humulus lupulus,

—with none of the THC, alas—hops contain acids and oils that impart bitterness, flavor, and stability to the finished beer. Generally, hops are added to the boil stage of brewing, as it takes a pretty long time (around an hour) to unleash the “alpha” acids that bitter and balance the sweetness of the malt (this is why hops weren’t incorporated into beer production until around the turn of the 1 st Century A.D.– ancient man probably wouldn’t have had time or inclination to chill out around a fire as his hops boiled).

Hops are most often associated with bitterness, but that isn’t the only reason to use them. Depending on what you’re going for, you might add more hops later in the boil (since aromatic oils are destroyed in a long boiling process). But a beer could also be dry hopped (added to the fermenter) or even fresh hopped (when just-picked hops aren’t dried but instead brought to the brewery like so much fresh cut grass).

Again, depending on the style you’re going for, and where you’re brewing, the choice and timing of hops will vary. If you’re looking for a great basic example of how hops can vary in flavor and regional characteristics, try a West Coast IPA alongside an East Coast IPA.

You’ll notice similarities—an unapologetic, but pleasant bitterness, e.g.—among a world of differences. Bear in mind, these are so-called “hop-forward” beers, with a pronounced bitterness which you may or may not like. But fear not, because in many cases—and many beer styles—hops don’t have a starring role but a supporting role, and are often even shunted into the background for structural support as a brewer looks to emphasize other flavors (say, the roasty character of a grain in a darker ale).

Beyond knowing your, a good way to know how hops have been used in a particular beer is checking the IBU level. An increasing number of beers will display the IBU, or “International Bittering Units,” which measures the iso-alpha acids in a beer (and thus, the bitterness).

Does hops give beer its flavor?

At first glance, the hop plant is pretty lame. It’s susceptible to pests and disease, it only pops out its valuable flowers once a year, and it doesn’t have many uses. But one of those uses is really, really important. Hops are basically here just for mankind’s beery satisfaction.

1. Once the cone-shaped flowers of the plant are harvested and dried in the fall, they play a huge role in the beer brewing process.
2. Brewers love these little vine-grown buds for several reasons.
3. First of all, they taste good.
4. Hops impart a necessary bitterness to beer that might be overly sweet or out of balance without them.

What’s more, hops leave behind a whole lot of flavor in the form of citrusy, pine-like, herbal, and earthy aromatics. Hops also help maintain a beer’s foamy head and lend antibacterial qualities that help prevent spoilage. So yeah, hops rule. But not all hops are created equal.

1. The amount of bitterness and type of aromas that hops deliver to beer are dependent on a number of factors, including the variety of hops grown (there are dozens!) and their growing conditions.
2. As you get to know hops around the world, you’ll find trends amongst the hop varieties grown in the different major growing regions.

Let’s have a look! You’ll notice that I’ve included a few recommendations below for commercial beers that clearly represent a given hop’s flavor profile. As a rule, beers made with just one hop variety are tough to come by; just as chefs layer flavor with a number of different seasonings and aromatics, brewers typically use multiple hop varieties for depth in flavor.

Is hoppy beer healthier?

Drinking too much beer can cause health problems – Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock Unfortunately, beer isn’t exactly a healthy food. Drinking beer may lead to weight gain since an average 12-ounce serving typically contains around 153 calories. Beer has also been shown to increase the chance of developing serious illnesses like liver disease, cirrhosis, and cancer.

1. Consuming too much beer may also negatively impact your mood and lead to an increase in depression, according to Healthline,
2. However, not all beer types are created equally.
3. It turns out that some brews might be worse for you than others.
4. A recent study, conducted by Researchers from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Germany and published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism, seems to have good news for fans of IPAs,

The study found that beers that contain a lot of hops, such as IPAs, might be better for your liver than other types of beer or liquor. The researchers examined four different groups of female mice, one that was fed straight ethanol, one that was fed a dose of beer without hops, one that was fed hoppy beer, and one fed a maltodextrin control solution and compared the results of the four different beverages had on the livers of the mice in each group.

Do hops make beer more bitter?

Hops and Bitterness – As you probably know, bitterness is pretty much all about hops. Hops are the flowers, or cones, of a plant called humulus lupulus, Hops help to keep beer fresher, longer; help beer retain its head of foam—a key component of a beer’s aroma and flavor; and, of course, add “hoppy” aroma, flavor, and bitterness. A bag of pelletized hops. The most prevalent form of hop you’ll find in today’s breweries. It was the hop’s preservative quality that first saw it added to beer way back in 822 C.E. Every single beer on the market today contains hops. If they didn’t, they would be a “gruit” which is basically a beer that, instead of hops, uses witches-brew-sounding herbs like bog myrtle, yarrow, heather, or juniper.

• But do hops have to make beer bitter? Adding hops early in the brewing process contributes bitterness to beer.
• Adding hops later in the brewing process contributes more to the beer’s aroma.
• But you can still add hops early in the process and end up with a notably un-bitter beer.
• It’s all about the amount of hops, timing of hop additions, and which hops you’re adding.

Hops are divided into two very general varieties: bittering and aroma. Bittering hops will have higher alpha acids, making them more economical for bittering beer (a small amount goes a long way). Aroma hops will tend to have more essential oils. It’s those highly volatile essential oils that contribute much of what people understand as “hoppiness.” We’re talking aromas like citrus, pine, mango, resin, melon, and more.

By adding hops early in the brewing process, all of those essential oils volatize (boil away), either during the boil or during fermentation. That’s why adding them later in the brewing process tends to make a beer smell “hoppier.” Also, that volatility is the same reason why the aroma and flavor of heavily hopped beers don’t stand up as well to time.

Much of the hop-forward aromas and flavors will dissipate, leaving quite a different beer than the brewer intended. A view of Aroostook Hops, an organic hop farm up in Westfield, Maine. But here’s the wild part: you can add hops and not really have any detectable bitterness at all. In our Coolship beer, we age our hops for up to four years, which allows even those bittering alpha acids to dissipate.

This leaves only the hop’s preservative quality (and a little bit of a stinky aroma that mercifully dissipates during brewing). But does craft beer have to be bitter? Absolutely not. We understand that IPAs and other hop-forward styles have certainly dominated the craft beer scene for years. But there are plenty of other styles of beer, both craft and not, that have tame and even basically nonexistent bitterness (even including some of the hugely aromatic “New England-Style” IPAs).

If you’re someone who doesn’t like bitterness, here are a list of different beer styles, and examples of widely available beer, that we recommend you try:

Witbier – citrusy, spicy, hazy ( Allagash White ) Hefeweizen – banana, cloves, biscuits ( Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier ) Octoberfest or Marzen – malty, amber ( Samuel Adams Octoberfest ) Bock – caramel-like, malty, strong ( Tr ö egs Troegenator ) Baltic Porter – dark, roasty ( Jack’s Abby Framinghammer ) Gose – tart, hint of salt, refreshing ( Anderson Valley Gose ) Saison – dry, fruity, balanced ( Saison Dupont ) Milk Stout – dark, creamy, roasty ( Left Hand Milk Stout )

: What makes beer bitter?

Do hops make beer fruity?

Biotransformations in Dry Hopping – Brewers and researchers have discovered that certain compounds in select varieties of hops may go through biotransformations in the presence of yeast which creates the desirable fruity flavor compounds. I was fortunate to get summaries of much of this research from Stan Hieronymus.

• The key components in this biotransformation appear to be the presence of thiols (3MH/3SH) in the hops along with high levels of geraniol, linalool, and 4MMP/4MMSP, all of which are aromatic oils.
• Geraniol has a floral, rose or geranium aroma.
• Linalool has a floral, orange aroma and 4MMP/4MSP has a box tree/current/tropical aroma.

Finally thiols, which have been known in wine making for a long time, also have a black currant or muscat aroma. These various compounds in select hop varieties can be transformed into fruity/tropical aromas and flavor compounds by the yeast near the end of fermentation.

For example geraniol is transformed into citronellol, and linalool is transformed into terpineol. However these biotransformations only occur for hops with thiols present, which generally means they must be American (Pacific Northwest) or Pacific (Australia/New Zealand) hop varieties as most European and English varieties have low levels of the critical oils.

Here are some of the hop varieties that have the highest levels of thiols, geraniol, 4MMP/4MSP:

High Levels 4MMP/4MSP (box tree flavors): Citra, Simcoe, Eureka, Summit, Apollo, Topaz, Mosaic, Ekuanot, Galaxy and Nelson Saivin High Thiols/3MH/3SH (grapefruit/passion fruit flavors): Nelson Sauvin, Amarillo, Mandarina Bavaria, Mosaic, Citra, Cascade, Calypso, Tomahawk High Geraniol (fruits/flowery): Bravo, Cascade, Chinook, Citra, Mosaic, Motueka Geraniol Precursor Dominant: Amarillo, Comet, Ekuanot, Hallertau Blanc, Polaris, Summit

To use these hops in a biotransformational way, most brewers are dry hopping near the end of active fermentation or very soon after primary fermentation winds down when there is plenty of yeast available. You don’t want to dry hop too early in the fermentation, however, as the CO2 bubbling up through the beer can strip away some of the aromatics.

What happens if you brew beer without hops?

Conclusion – Without hops, your beer will taste overly sweet. Hops play a crucial role in brewing by giving beer that bitter balance that people enjoy. There are beers made without hops because some people prefer this for a sweeter taste. However, you can always substitute hops with other ingredients if you prefer.

What happens if hops is not added to beer?

When to add Bittering hops – Bittering hops are added once the wort has been collected in the kettle (or after you’ve added the malt extract) and a rolling boil has been achieved. They are usually boiled for 60 minutes, although some recipes call for as little as 30 minutes.

Which beers don t use hops?

10 Popular Brands of Hop-Free Beers

Beer Name	Brewery Name	ABV%
Chimay Red (or Chimay Rouge)	Chimay Brewery	7%
Hefeweissbier (Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier)	Weihenstephan Brewery	5.4%
Aventinus	Schneider Weisse Brewery	8.2%
Schlenkerla Rauchbier	Brauerei Heller-Trum	5.1%

Why is IPA beer so bitter?

Hops and the IPA brewing process – Stone36/Shutterstock American Craft Beer reports that the answer to both questions is hops. Per VinePair, adding more hops — the flower of a female plant called Humulus lupulus, and a member of the hemp family — is what makes an IPA a bitter beer. Generally speaking, hops are a crucial beer ingredient that counteracts the sweetness of malt grain and, according to Men’s Journal, have been added to beer since 822 A.D.

• Today, the big beer brewers use over 100 types of hops and each offers a different flavor that adds to the beers bitterness profile.
• The Allagash Brewing Company states that hops are a key component to the bitterness of an IPA, but also notes that there are other components that add to that bitterness like fruits, herbs, and vegetables.

And yes, there are different levels of bitterness that an IPA can have. Per The Crafty Cask, if hops are added early in the brewing process, the more bitter the beer will be. The brewing process also determines the IPA’s Internationa Bitterness Units (IBUs) — a metric unit that measures a beer’s bitterness (via Just Beer ).

Do hops add sweetness to beer?

A question often asked, are hops essential for beer? Hops are the cornerstone of beer, and they’re not going anywhere. This may sound like an exaggeration, but it’s actually not far from the truth. Since the earliest days of brewing, hops have been a key ingredient in beer, adding flavour and bitterness to balance out the sweetness of malt, their other primary ingredient.

Is Heineken a hoppy beer?

What Does Heineken Taste Like? – Heineken is a European pale lager, which are generally dry and crisp in taste. They’re easy to drink and don’t really have any dominating flavors. It’s bottom-fermented and has a clear appearance. If you’re curious about what makes Heineken a European pale lager, you’ll find the post we wrote on this here: What Type Of Beer Is Heineken Exactly? (Detailed Explanation) Heineken is a beer that you’ve likely heard of, if not drunk.

• It is sold in 192 countries, making it super accessible.
• This beer is made from just water, hops, barley, and yeast.
• Their A-yeast is partially what gives Heineken its flavor.
• Heineken has a mildly bitter taste, which is balanced by a slight sweetness.
• Apart from barley and hops, there are also hints of green apple, and sweet corn to this beer.

It is golden in color and has a biscuity smell. Because of the hops, Heineken is generally more bitter than the standard American lager. Overall it is a crisp beer with a good balance of bitterness and sweetness. This lager has an ABV of 5%, along with 19 IBUs and 149 calories per 12 fl. Let’s see what tastes similar to Heineken

What type of beer is the hoppiest?

India Pale Ale – Very High Bitterness (40-60 IBU) Very High Hop Flavor The ruler of all hoppy beers is, of course, the IPA – India Pale Ale. Originally designed to be shipped long distances and not go bad, you will find IPAs to me stronger and more bitter than Pale Ales. Read more about IPAs in our guide to Common Beer Styles,

Is hops in beer good for your liver?

Attention, beer fans: There’s an ale style your liver might appreciate more than others. Updated on March 31, 2022 Hey, beer drinkers, are you drinking the type of beer that might actually protect your liver? Photo by Meredith. Fatty liver disease is one of the biggest risk factors for alcohol drinkers.

1. But a new study published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism suggests that hops, an ingredient in bitter beers, may protect the liver by guarding against the build up of liver fat.
2. The study was done with mice.
3. Researchers fed groups of mice three types of alcoholic beverage: beer with hops, beer without hops, and pure ethanol.

The livers of mice that drank either straight-up ethanol or beer without hops showed significantly more fatty deposits than the livers of the hopped-up beer-drinking mice. Researchers suspect that a compound in hops may have a protective antioxidant effect that helps minimize cell damage in the liver.

1. The study concludes, in language about as clear as extra stout: “our data suggest that hops in beer markedly attenuated acute alcohol-induced liver steatosis in female mice through mechanisms involving a suppression of iNOS induction in the liver.” Translation: the hops did it.
2. So then, what types of beer have more hops? Hops contribute bitter characteristics to the brew, so bitter beers like India Pale Ales (IPA) and Extra Special Bitter (ESB) will have hops in abundance.

Lagers, less so. In fact, historically, India Pale Ales were given an extra helping of hops as a way to preserve them so they could withstand the long sea journey to India. For specific recommendations, check out this comprehensive list from Brewpublic of the 50 Must Try Hoppy Beers,

How to Cook with Beer Beer Cocktails Recipes Beer Brats Recipe

Do hops affect alcohol content?

Ingredients – The ingredients used in brewing also play a significant role in determining the ABV of beer. The amount of fermentable sugars in the wort, such as malted barley, wheat, or corn, affects the alcohol content. Hops, which are added for flavor and aroma, do not have a significant impact on ABV. However, some brewers add sugar or other fermentable adjuncts to increase the ABV. It’s important to note that using too much sugar can result in a higher ABV but also a thinner body and less flavor.

Are hops good for your liver?

Compounds derived from hops show promise as treatment for common liver disease CORVALLIS, Ore. – Research by Oregon State University suggests a pair of compounds originating from hops can help thwart a dangerous buildup of fat in the liver known as hepatic steatosis.

The, published today in, are important because the condition affects roughly one-fourth of people in the United States and Europe. While heavy drinking is often associated with liver problems, people with little or no history of alcohol use comprise that 25%, which is why their illness is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD.

Resistance to insulin, the hormone that helps control blood sugar levels, is a risk factor for NAFLD, as are obesity, a high-fat diet and elevated levels of fat in the blood. The liver helps the body process nutrients and also acts as a filter for the circulatory system, and too much fat in the liver can lead to inflammation and liver failure.

In a mouse-model study, Oregon State researchers led by Adrian Gombart showed that the compounds xanthohumol and tetrahydroxanthohumol, abbreviated to XN and TXN, can mitigate diet-induced accumulation of fat in the liver. XN is a prenylated flavonoid produced by hops, the plant that gives beer its flavor and color, and TXN is a hydrogenated derivative of XN. In the study, 60 mice were randomly assigned to one of five groups – low-fat diet, high-fat diet, high-fat diet supplemented by XN, high-fat diet supplemented by more XN, and high-fat diet supplemented by TXN. The scientists found that TXN helped put the brakes on the weight gain associated with a high-fat diet and also helped stabilize blood sugar levels, both factors in thwarting the buildup of fat in the liver.

“We demonstrated that TXN was very effective in suppressing the development and progression of hepatic steatosis caused by diet,” said Gombart, professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the OSU College of Science and a principal investigator at the Linus Pauling Institute.

“TXN appeared to be more effective than XN perhaps because significantly higher levels of TXN are able to accumulate in the liver, but XN can slow progression of the condition as well, at the higher dose.” The mechanism behind the compounds’ effectiveness involves PPARγ, a nuclear receptor protein – one that regulates gene expression.

Chemistry of beer, part II: Hops to keg

PPARγ controls glucose metabolism and the storage of fatty acids, and the genes it activates stimulate the creation of fat cells from stem cells. XN and TXN act as “antagonists” for PPARγ – they bind to the protein without sending it into action, unlike a PPARγ agonist, which would activate it as well as bind to it.

• The upshot of antagonism in this case is less fat collecting in the liver.
• Activated PPARg in liver stimulates storage of lipids and our data suggest that XN and TXN block activation and greatly reduce expression of the genes the promote lipid storage in the liver,” Gombart elaborated.
• These findings are consistent with studies that show weaker PPARγ agonists are more effective at treating hepatic steatosis than strong agonists.

In other words, lower PPARγ activation in the liver may be beneficial.” TXN was better at accumulating in the liver than XN, which may explain why it was more effective in reducing lipids, but the difference in tissue accumulation is not fully understood.

“It may be because XN is metabolized by the host and its gut microbiota more than TXN is, but additional studies are needed to figure that out,” Gombart said. “Also, while XN and TXN are effective preventative approaches in rodents, future studies need to determine if the compounds can treat existing obesity in humans.

But our findings suggest antagonism of PPARγ in the liver is a logical approach to prevent and treat diet-induced liver steatosis and related metabolic disorders, and they support further development of XN and TXN as low-cost therapeutic compounds.” Also collaborating on this research were Yang Zhang, Matthew Robinson, Donald Jump and Carmen Wong of OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences; Gerd Bobe of the College of Agricultural Sciences; Cristobal Miranda and Fred Stevens of the College of Pharmacy; Malcolm Lowry, Thomas Sharpton, Claudia Maier and Victor Hsu of the College of Science; and Christiane V.

Do hops add sugar to beer?

The effect of dry-hopping on fermentable sugars and ABV – The Brewers Journal Housed in a Grade II listed mill in the spiritual heart of the industrial revolution, Northern Monk takes thousands of years of monastic brewing heritage and tradition and combines them with the best of modern brewing techniques along with local and internationally sourced ingredients.

Northern Monk started brewing in 2014 and has since become an institution of innovation in brewing, with a focus on quality, which is largely monitored in-house using a variety of lab equipment including the CDR BeerLab.With this in mind, it is no surprise that head brewer Brian Dickson and Production Manager Colin Stronge were keen to use their BeerLab in our latest study to investigate the effect of dry-hopping on fermentable sugars and ABV. The project

An article published in the Journal of the Institute of Brewing in 1941 by Janicki, J. et al discussed the presence of diastatic activity in hops and how this might affect secondary fermentation on in cask beer. Their experiments consisted of taking samples of starch dissolved in pH adjusted water (to approximate beer pH) and adding Saaz hops at a rate of approximately 40 g/L.

The research discovered that maltose was produced from dry-hopping in mg quantities in just five hours, suggesting that the starch in solution was being broken down by enzymes in the hops. Ron Pattinson points out in his blog (March 2018), that Brown and Morris also commented that hops contain a noticeable percentage of glucose and fructose (around 3%), which was also shown to be fully fermentable after extraction from the hops and addition of yeast.

Part two of Ron’s blog post also revisits the work published by Janicki et al, further discussing the ability of hops to break down starch into fermentable sugars. To best investigate these two effects, we picked three beer styles of increasing dry-hop quantities, namely a session IPA, an American IPA and a DIPA.

1. The increasing levels of dry-hopping – all via a hop rocket – should give increasing levels of diastatic activity and fermentable sugar addition and potentially an increase in ABV.
2. The results For the study, a sample was taken from the FV every 30 minutes, with two samples taken before dry-hopping and two samples taken after dry-hopping.

All three beers were dry-hopped for 3-hours using a hop rocket and all samples taken were analysed for ABV, fermentable sugars (g/L), Starch (g/L), pH, and bitterness (IBU) using the CDR BeerLab. The starch measured on the BeerLab will include a mixture of complex starch molecules not broken down in the mash as well as some longer chain dextrin molecules. American IPA and DIPA The two most notable results came from the American IPA and the DIPA as expected, both beers showing high initial starch which drops as fermentable sugars increase. As shown in Figures 1 and 2 the American IPA has a starch concentration beginning around 2 g/L and dropping to a level of around 1.5 g/L, this drop is exaggerated in the DIPA with a drop from around 1.8 g/L to just over 0.5 g/L.

• The fermentable sugar concentration looks slightly more variable with an initial drop in value followed by a peak, this can be explained by yeast being roused back into suspension from circulation of the hop rocket and absorbing some of this sugar.
• The peak in sugar concentration could come either from the diastatic power of hops on the residual starch or from the addition of fermentable sugars in the hops themselves.

Figure 1 Figure 1. American IPA Sugar Vs Starch Figure 2 Figure 2. DIPA Sugar Vs Starch Figure 3 Figure 3. Session IPA Sugar Vs Starch Session IPA As mentioned previously, the Session IPA was dry-hopped prior to initiating the hop rocket and as can be seen in Figure 3 the starch does not exhibit a drop in concentration, there is however a slight rise in sugar concentration.

1. This may be due to the initial dry-hopping breaking down all of the simple starch and leaving only complex starch molecules, meaning that the second dry-hopping by hop rocket could not break down any more starch, but could add some sugar.
2. It is clear to see in Figure 1 and 2 that hops are having a demonstrable effect on starch reduction and sugar production, which ultimately will lead to further fermentation in the beer – potentially giving a higher ABV than expected in the finished/packaged beer compared to during dry-hopping.

Apart from the natural variation of ABV on the BeerLab (±0.1) there was no significant increase in ABV during the dry-hopping, however as can be seen in Table 2 there is an increase in ABV value in the finished, packaged beer. The increase for the Session IPA is negligible, however for the American IPA and the DIPA there is a significant jump in ABV, which correlates with the Sugar Vs Starch graphs above. To confirm accuracy of the finished beer results, the DIPA was tested by distillation and Density meter giving a result of 9.99% ABV. Conclusion It is apparent that the addition of dry-hops to a beer at the end of natural fermentation will contribute to a reduction in residual starch and an increase of fermentable sugars.

This can be explained by two effects; diastatic enzyme activity present in the hops, breaking down starch into fermentable sugars; contribution of fermentable sugars from the hops themselves. By increasing fermentable sugars near the end of fermentation, yeast will continue to ferment beyond when the brewer believes fermentation has finished, causing an increase in ABV, which may not be accounted for with gravity readings.

References Janicki J., Kotasthane W.V., Parker A., Walker T.K.; J. Inst. Brew.; 1941; Vol.47; pp.24 – 36. Brown H.T., Morris H.; J. Inst. Brew. (The Brewers’ Guardian); 1893; Vol.6; pp 93 – 94. http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/why-dry-hop.htm : The effect of dry-hopping on fermentable sugars and ABV – The Brewers Journal