An Overview of New Hop Products for Beer Brewing

This week I take a look at some of the many new hop products available to home and professional brewers.

Important Tips

• Most pro brewers recommend using these new hop products in combination with regular (usually T90) hop pellets. Using no natural hops can leave the beer that is lifeless as the hops contain some 500+ flavor compounds.
• Many of these hop products are targeted for a specific phase of the brewing process, along with specific dosage, so you need to download and read the specification sheet for the product you are using.
• Hop and oil extracts generally cost more, but also reduce beer wastage and provide a time savings versus regular hops.
• Some extracts can be added “to taste” into finished beer which lets you adjust bitterness, aroma and flavor very late in the process.

Alpha Acid Extracts (CO2 Extracts) – For the Boil

These are concentrated flowable liquid extracts designed primarily to provide clean bittering and alpha acids during the boil. They have a high alpha acid concentration, often 65% or higher and are typically extracted from a single hop variety. They are historically the earliest extracts that hop growers devised for long storage and ease of use for large breweries. They are added directly to the kettle early in the boil.

• CO2 Hop Extract (Yakima Valley) – Sold in syringes, 150g, and 500 g cans by hop variety. Alpha acid content varies by variety from roughly 55-65%. Dosage is driven by alpha acid, so you can calculate the bitterness by using a CO2 extract hop entry with alpha acid set to the percentage on the can.
• Flex (Haas) – A flowable CO2 extract at around 65% alpha acid content. Dosage is driven by alpha acid, so you calculate the equivalent utilization using a 65% alpha acid CO2 extract entry in BeerSmith to target your beer IBU level.
• Isomerized Kettle Extract – IKE (Hopsteiner) – A hybrid isomerized CO2 extract with beta oils and hop oils that is pre-isomerized and is intended for use late in the boil, with the goal of preserving hop aroma as well as adding bitterness. It is advertised as a replacement for regular CO2 extract, but with a higher yield. Dosage is calculated based on isomerized alpha content of the product and desired IBU level in the beer.
• Hop Shot (Artisan Hops) – Small package (10 ml) for home brewers in a syringe. Sold by variety, dosage of 1ml for 60 minutes is approximately 9 IBUs, or alternately use alpha acid content of the extract which is roughly 65%.

Concentrated Hop Powders/Pellets – Whirlpool/Dry Hop

These products are made by separating the vegetative matter from the luplin gland leaving a concentrated powder or pellet. The pellet has higher alpha content and a high percentage of hop oils. These are most often used in the whirlpool and dry hopping phases to deliver some bitterness, flavor and aroma with less beer waste.

• Lupomax (Haas) – Concentrated lupulin pellets with alpha acid made using a proprietary process. For use in the whirlpool or dry hopping. Dosage rates vary widely but a good rule of thumb (from Yakima Valley) is to use 70% of your comparable T90 Hop dosage.
• Cryo Hops (Yakima Chief) – Cold concentrated lupulin pellets with resins and aromatic oils. For use primarily in the whirlpool or dry hopping, though they can also be added late in the kettle. Yakima recommends a dosage rate of 50% of your comparable T90 hop rate.
• CGX Hops (Crosby Hops) – Cold concentrated pellets. For use primarily in the whirlpool and dry hop. Crosby recommends dosage rates of 45-50% of your equivalent T90 hop rate.

SuperCritical CO2 Extracts With Alpha Acid – Whirlpool

These are flowable liquid extracts tailored for use in the whirlpool. They add both alpha acid (bitterness) and aroma oils to the beer, but significantly reduce waste versus using hop pellets.

• Incognito (Haas) – A flowable CO2 extract with concentrated alpha acids (40-55%) that adds both bitterness and aroma in the whirlpool. Dose directly into the whirlpool at a rate of 40-200 grams/hL which is 59-235 g/bbl or about 0.05-0.27 oz/gal.
• Dynaboost (Yakima Chief) – Flowable hop extract primarily for use in the whirlpool, adding both some bitterness and aroma oils. Yakima recommends a 1:8 to 1:12 replacement rate for T90 hop pellets.

SuperCritical CO2 Extracts Without Alpha Acid – Dry Hopping

These are liquid extracts primarily focused on dry hopping though some can also be used in the whirlpool or brite tank.

• Spectrum (Haas) – Dissolvable liquid extract that adds flavor and aroma to your finished beer without waste. Add at 1-2 degrees plato above terminal gravity. Replaces standard T90 pellets at a 1:5 to 1:8 ratio (i.e. 1 gram spectrum for 5-8 grams T90 pellets).
• HyperBoost (Yakima Chief) – Hyperboost is a supercritical oil extract that does contain some alpha acids, but is focused around aroma oils. While it can be used in the whirlpool it is primarily intended for use in dry hopping. For dry hopping they recommend a 1:100 to 1:125 dosage rate relative to T-90 equivalent and also recommend still using T90 pellets for 50-75% of the dry hop total.
• Prysma (Haas) – A flowable extract that can be used in the whirlpool, dry hopping or even post fermentation. Does not contain alpha acids, but does have hop flavor and aroma oils. Dosed at a rate of approximately 1:7 to 1:8 by weight versus regular T90 hop pellets. Also they do not recommend using more than 80% of the load on Prysma (i.e. use at least 20% traditional hops).
• SubZero Hop Kief (Freestyle Hops) – An ethanol (not CO2) lupulin extract designed for dry hopping or the brite tank. Can be added ‘to taste’ during dry hop or in the brite tank. They recommend a dosage rate of approximately 0.2ml per liter. One 275ml bottle is roughly equivalent to a 5kg bag of T-90 hop pellets. As with other products they don’t recommend exceeding 40% of the hop load with Hop Kief.

Isomerized Alpha Hop Extracts for Adding Bitterness – Cold Side

These products are typically concentrated isomerized extracts made from CO2 hop extract. They are used primarily for adding bitterness to beers that may have otherwise been under-hopped in the kettle. You can add them anywhere on the cold side, including dry hopping or the brite tank.

• ISOHOP Extract (Haas) – Isomerized alpha extract for addjusting bitterness on the cold side. Standardized at 30% alpha acid content, you can dose to taste or calculate the volume to add based on IBUs needed and a 30% alpha concentration.
• Isomerized Hop Extract (Hopsteiner) – Isomerized extract standardized at 30% alpha concentration. Again you can dose to taste or calculate volume based on a 30% extract addition.

Hop Oil Emulsions and Botanical Extracts – For Finished Beers

• Abstrax (Abstrax Hops) – Have two main lines: Quantum: Hop derived and Omni: Botanical as well as lines that are cannabis inspired (BrewGas) and Fruit inspired (Skyfarm). Most brewers prefer the quantum line. Generally you dose to taste starting at 0.065 ml/l or 1 drop per pint (0.25 oz per barrel) and scale up. Typical finished dose rates are 0.3 to 1.0 oz per barrel, with Lagers running lower. Allow 48-72 hours for full integration.
• Euphorics (Haas) – A line of flavor oil extracts made from botanicals and hop oils. These are fruit/flavor oriented and not tied to particular hop varieties. Can be added directly to a finished beer “to taste” with recommended dosage rates from 3-6+ ml/bbl depending on desired effect.

And Many More…

The above is just a partial list of offerings from hop producers. Some additional products to research include the Salvo line of Aroma oils from Hopsteiner, Lupocore enhance hop pellets from Yakima, Redihop, Tetrahop and Hexahop from Haas, and LLZ and Tetra Iso extract from Hopsteiner. Many of these are specialized products used to enhance foam stability, reduce light-struck flavors, and enhance bitterness and aroma Again I recommend reading the data sheets on these products to determine best application and dosage.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s article on advanced hop products. Thanks for joining me on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. If you want to take the guesswork out of brewing, please try my BeerSmith 4 recipe software from BeerSmith.com. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter or my podcast (also on itunes and youtube) for more great tips on homebrewing.