The utilization rate of hops can be improved by the following methods.
(1)The reasonable method of adding hops should be based on the quality and technological requirements of hops, and the times, proportion and time of adding hops should be mastered. In principle, the utilization rate of hops is relatively higher due to the low proportion of hops, less times of hops and early adding time. Some specific parameters can be determined by small-scale experiments. However, the first 1-2 hops were added too early, because the polyphenols in hops were easy to combine with protein, which would affect the removal of polyphenols in wort, and the polyphenols in wheat husk was an important component of beer turbidity, so the two hops should not be added too early, they should be added after boiling for 10 min and 30 min respectively. The last time to add hops, the main role is to increase flavor, the utilization rate of A-acid is very low, so this time to add hops should not be too much, and should use good quality flavor hops.
(2)The utilization rate of hops can be improved by controlling higher boiling intensity, higher boiling intensity and severe churning effect. If wort and hops keep still, the utilization rate of hops is only 40% ~ 70% of strong boiling, so the boiling intensity should be controlled at 10% ~ 12% through the setting of heater, the structure of boiling pot and the pressure of heating steam.
(3)With the increase of wort pH, the solubility and isomerization rate of A-acid increased. However, too high wort pH would affect the protein aggregation and affect the stability of proteinTherefore, the pH of wort is generally controlled at 5.2 ~ 5.6, and the maximum is no more than 5.8.
(4)Reasonable boiling time under normal circumstances, wort boiling time should not exceed 90 min. if the boiling intensity is high and the protein coagulates well, the boiling time can be controlled at 60 ~ 75 min, which can not only save energy and time, but also reduce the degree of further conversion of isomers. If it is necessary to extend the boiling time. The time of adding hops should be adjusted accordingly.
(5)The dispersion, leaching and isomerization degree of hop active components in wort can be improved by using hop products such as granule hop and hop extract according to the actual production situation.
In addition, there are many factors affecting the utilization rate of hops, such as wort clarification, cooling, fermentation, wine storage, filtering and other processes can cause the loss of effective components of hops. Some of these factors are inevitable, and some can be reduced by taking some technological measures.
