In recent years, innovative hop extracts have become more commonplace in the brewing world. These products offer highly concentrated versions of brewer’s favorite varieties. While procedures for substituting classic hop products, say T-90 pellets for T-45s, are well understood, methods for brewing with these new concentrates are less clearly defined.
In this experiment, four beers were brewed on a 5-hectoliter system, and the resulting wort was split equally between four fermenters. The wort was made of 93% 2-Row, 5% Flaked Wheat, and 2% Acidulated Malt, with an original gravity of 1.058.
One fermenter was dry hopped using only T-90 pellets (Mosaic® Brand). The other fermenters’ dry hop charges were adjusted so that some of the T-90 charge was replaced with Yakima Chief Hops’ Trial 701 product in varying concentrations (25-50%). This experiment also investigated the difference in beers which were dry hopped at different points within fermentation (at knockout and post-fermentation).
All hops and beers were analyzed via GC/MS for aromatic component concentrations, as well as HPLC for bitterness. Beers were also assessed via a trained sensory panel and were compared to each other using Tetrad Tests to determine if consumers could detect differences between the beers.