The Effect of Dry Hopping Efficiency on β-Myrcene Dissolution into Beer

The production of heavily hopped beers, such as Indian Pale Ale (IPA) styles, has been gaining momentum in recent years in the Central European markets. To this end, the dry hopping process is becoming increasingly popular, mostly in microbreweries, but also with larger manufacturers. In our research, we investigated the dissolution rate of the main volatile component of hops, beta-myrcene with a modified dry hopping method. Following the primary fermentation, we applied the dry hopping process, where the weighed hops were chopped and blended into a container with 0.5 L of beer and later added to the young beer. During the dry hopping process, we determined various important parameters of the beer, and we repeated the same measurements for the bottled beer. In the first 96 h of the dry hopping process, we monitored the concentration of beta-myrcene so that we managed to determine the dissolution rate constant (k = 0.1946 h(-1)). The beta-myrcene concentration stabilizes after 44 h in the fermenter. At the same time, measurements were conducted for bitterness, pH, CO2 and alcohol content, extract and density during the process. Our experiment demonstrates that a new method of dry hopping provides a much higher concentration of beta-myrcene (215 mu g/L) than other methods indicated in former studies in the field. A health and safety assessment of beta-myrcene was also made and we determined what the safe amount of beta-myrcene ingested with IPA beer is. Our modified process was successful, we were able to determine the dissolution rate of beta-myrcene, and the recommended daily intake of IPA beer with particular reference to beta-myrcene.

Automated summary

The production of heavily hopped beers, such as Indian Pale Ale (IPA) styles, is becoming popular in Central European markets. This study investigates the dissolution rate of the main volatile component of hops, beta-myrcene, using a modified dry hopping method. The experiment demonstrates that the modified process provides a higher concentration of beta-myrcene compared to previous studies in the field.