Quantifying Alpha and Beta Acids in Hops
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Kerry Breno: kbreno@whitworth.edu
Session Type
Poster Presentation
Research Project Abstract
The bitter flavor in beer is largely due to the α- and β-acid content found in the female cones of the hop plant, Humulus lupulus. This is because hops are often added to the mashed malted barely and boiled during the production of beer. During this process, the modestly bitter α-acids (humulone, cohumulone, and adhumulone) undergo thermal isomerization, making a much more bitter flavor. Meanwhile, the β-acids (lupulone, colupulone and adlupulone) are oxidized, making them significantly less bitter than the α-acids. Therefore, since alpha and beta acids largely contribute to the flavor of the beer, it is important that brewers know the concentration of these acids and can correlate growing conditions. In this experiment, the objective was to quantify the α- and β-acid content in hops samples provided by local collaborators to the International Calibration Extract 3 (ICE-3) standard.
Session Number
PS3
Location
HUB Multipurpose Room
Abstract Number
PS3-o
Quantifying Alpha and Beta Acids in Hops
HUB Multipurpose Room
The bitter flavor in beer is largely due to the α- and β-acid content found in the female cones of the hop plant, Humulus lupulus. This is because hops are often added to the mashed malted barely and boiled during the production of beer. During this process, the modestly bitter α-acids (humulone, cohumulone, and adhumulone) undergo thermal isomerization, making a much more bitter flavor. Meanwhile, the β-acids (lupulone, colupulone and adlupulone) are oxidized, making them significantly less bitter than the α-acids. Therefore, since alpha and beta acids largely contribute to the flavor of the beer, it is important that brewers know the concentration of these acids and can correlate growing conditions. In this experiment, the objective was to quantify the α- and β-acid content in hops samples provided by local collaborators to the International Calibration Extract 3 (ICE-3) standard.
