OnTap Magazine

1 2 4 5 3 BETTER HOPPING FOR BETTER BEER MARCEL HARPER I f you're a beer nerd like I am, then hops are something you not only venerate, crave, and use in large quantities, but something you occasionally even dream about. In a non- weird way, of course. Since the 9th century, brewers have used hops to bitter and preserve their beer. The bonus of fantastic aroma and flavour was probably only appreciated later, but once it caught on, brewers never looked back. Most brewers know that the bittering, flavour, and aroma of a beer can be drastically altered by manipulating the quantity and timing of hop additions to the kettle during boiling. Early hop additions contribute more to the bitterness of the beer whereas later additions add more flavour and aroma to the final product. Another way of adding hop flavour and aroma to your beer is adding hops to the fermenter, known as dry hopping. And yet another method has the intrepid hop adventurer adding hops before the boil in a technique known as first wort hopping. In this article, I'd like to share some hard- earned lessons and insights I've gained over the years as a hop nerd. Using some (or perhaps all) of the following techniques is sure to improve your hoppy brews. But before we get into that, let's take a very brief look at hop chemistry and how various interesting features of this magnificent plant interact to produce the myriad flavours found in beer. HOMEBRU 50 | Autumn 2022 | ontapmag.co.za