Dry Hopping of Beer

What is Dry Hopping about?

• Mostly: Addition of cone hops or pellets between

brewhouse and filtration
• Special: Use of “Deep-frozen Green Hops” or directly after
harvesting (without drying)
• Added quantity usually about 20 -100 g /hl

Purpose:
• Unique (& intense) hop aroma, variety characteristically
History & Background

• Already done in the Middle Ages to prevent beer from

microbial infections
• Most widely known: “Indian Pale Ale”, Stout beers
• Today: Mainly craft brewers, mostly in the US and UK
• Brands in commercial scale on the market
• “Green” & “green-grassy” hop aroma
• Highly volatile aroma components remain in the final
product
Dry Hopping
Techniques
Dry Hopping Techniques -1-
Usually:
• Hops (cones, pellets, “hop plugs”) are placed inside the
fermentation or maturation tank
• Placed in the empty tank prior to filling
• No yeast recovery, no problems with oxygen

• Some form of bag (any permeable cloth material)

• Somewhere nearby the doorway > easy retrieving after
emptying
• Some fine plant materials might pass out of the bag !
Hop Plugs (Pellets Type 100)
Dry Hopping Techniques -2-

• Hops (cones or pellets) are mixed prior to addition with

beer or oxygen-free and de-ionized water
• Dosing system pumps / circulates the slurry into / through
the tank
Additional equipment: centrifuge to remove the plant
material prior to filtration
Dry Hopping Techniques -3-

• Hop cones are added to a separate “extraction vessel”

• Pumping system recirculates the beer through the tank
• Continuous extraction of bitter & aroma components
• Take care of oxygen and microbiology
Dry Hopping Techniques -4-

• Addition of hop oils

• “Dry hop character”
• Can be dosed more precisely prior/during filtration

• + Light stable
• + No plant or foreign materials
• - Less antimicrobial activity
Dry Hopping Techniques -5-

• Hop dosage to the final product

• “Cast Conditioned”
• Muslin bag

• Comparable to unfiltered, dry

hopped beers (sediments)
Issues to watch
on…
Keep in mind…

Resulting aroma is influenced by….

• …hop variety (character)
• …type of hop product (e.g. cones vs. P45)
• …recirculation / contact time (1-3 weeks)
• …yeast strain
• …type of beer
Possible Difficulties -1-

Aroma components
• Aroma of dry hopped beers is very sensitive to the growing
conditions of the hops!
> Differences of the crop year
> Harvesting date
> Influence of location
• Consistency?
Possible Difficulties -2-

Bitter Components
• No boiling step > no isomerization
• Poorly soluble alpha acids & unspecific polar components
do contribute to analytical bitterness
• Trials: Increase of 0,6 BU by each ppm AA
(Spectro vs. HPLC)
• BU (corrected) = 59.3 x (A275nm – 1.40 A325nm)
• Relationship to perceived bitterness? (e.g. Humulinones)
• Slight loss of IAA (adsorption)
Possible Difficulties -3-
Equipment
• Blocking pumps
• Filtration might be worse and no further brands can be
filtered afterwards

And others…
• Micro-organisms (natural flora, mainly gram-negative
bacteria; a few yeasts and mould strains)
• Heavy metals / pesticides
• Oxygen, depending on dry hopping technique
Summary
Summary

• Dry hopping creates significantly different and unique beer

brands
• Huge range of hop varieties
• Take care of consistency
• Consumer’s expectation?
Thank you for your attention.