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The plant

The hop plant is a vigorous climbing herbaceous perennial, usually trained to grow up strings when grown commercially. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants, and only female plants are used for commercial production. The species is native to West Asia, Europe and North America. It is sometimes described as a bine rather than a vine because stiff downward-facing hairs let it climb. Hop cones contain lupulin, a yellowish, waxy substance described as an oleoresin, which gives flavour and aroma to beer.

Chemistry

Myrcene, humulene and caryophyllene together represent 80-90% of the essential oil in hops. Humulene was first found in the essential oils of hops, from which it derives its name. Its concentration varies among hop varieties and can be up to 40% of the essential oil. Farnesene is a major component in some hops. The composition of hop essential oils can differ between varieties and between years in the same variety.

Oils steam-distilled from eight South African hop varieties contained 208 identified compounds and consisted largely of terpenes. Myrcene (27.8-48.15%) was the most abundant monoterpene, while α-humulene (19.52-24.98%), β-caryophyllene (8.47-13.73%) and β-farnesene (2.08-7.57%) made up the majority of the sesquiterpenes. Hops also contain alpha acids, or humulones, which are thermally isomerized during wort boiling into iso-alpha acids that give a bitter flavour to beer.

A relative of cannabis

Cannabaceae is a small family of flowering plants, known as the hemp family, with about 170 species in about 11 genera. These include Cannabis (hemp), Humulus (hops) and Celtis (hackberries). The hop plant diverged from Cannabis sativa over 20 million years ago.

Uses

Hops are used chiefly as a bittering, flavouring and stability agent in beer, where they add floral, fruity or citrus flavours and aromas alongside bitterness. Bittering hops have higher concentrations of alpha acids and are responsible for the large majority of the bitter flavour of a beer. Aroma hops are the primary contributors of hop aroma and nonbitter flavour. Steam-distilled hop oil can be added at various points in brewing, typically on the cold side of production, and gives beer a hop aroma that depends on the time of the addition. Hops are also used in herbal teas and in soft drinks such as julmust and Malta. Both the young shoots and young flowers are edible and can be cooked like asparagus. Raw hop shoots taste bitter and astringent, but once cooked their flavour combines earthiness, somewhat like kale, with nuttiness and a slight hoppy note. Hops are toxic to dogs.

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