Hop Oils, Essences & Extracts

For years, hop processors have been extracting the "goods" from hops with a variety of methods. Oils (containing the hop aroma) have been extracted with steam distillation and both oils and alpha acids have been extracted with nasty solvents such as hexane and methylene chloride. These create problems: The heat of steam distillation changes the hop aroma profile, so you can't use steam distilled hop oils for a true fresh hop aroma. And in order to remove the solvent, they have to heat it, again changing the aroma. There are also concerns that some solvent remains. Recently, CO2 has been used to extract oils and alpha acids, with none of these problems. All of HopTech's hop oils, essences and extracts are made with a CO2 extraction process, and HopTech is the only source for the homebrewer. All of our oils, extracts and essences come with complete instructions for use, and methods for conducting taste tests using small quantities of beer (like 12 ozs) before addition to the whole batch.

Hop Oil

Hop Oil is used to produce the same effect as dry hopping. Hop Oil imparts only a fresh hop aroma to the beer, no bitterness or "late hop character". Hop Oil is an attractive alternative because it is easy to use, repeatable and takes less time (dry hopping can take up to two weeks for the hop aroma to diffuse in the beer). Hop Oil used to be hard to use, requiring micro-syringes, ethanol and laboratory precision. But HopTech's exclusive, water-based (no alcohol!) formulation makes it easy! Simply add 1 teaspoon to five gallons of beer for each part-per-million (ppm) of hop oil you want in the beer. Typical rates are between 1 and 3 ppm. Supplied in 2 oz. bottles with a convenient dispensing cap, enough for 30 gallons of beer at 2 ppm. Four varieties are available:

Premium British Blend: A carefully controlled blend of British and European hops that allows very consitent aroma charactersitics from year-to-year, but keeps it from resembling any particular variety. Very floral. OILPB $7.95/2 ozs

Pure East Kent Goldings: Wow! A very mellow and smooth hop aroma. Not nearly as floral as our two British blends. Made exclusively from real East Kent Goldings. Expensive, but worth it. Limited supply. OILKG $10.95/2 ozs

Cascade: At long last pure Cascade hop oil is finally available. Made exclusively from Cascade hops. OILCAS $7.95/2 ozs

Late Hop Essences

HopTech's Late Hop Essences are the soluble portions of the hop oil that contribute to a beer's late hop character, usually imparted by hops added late in the boil. Depending on the essence's composition, two effects are possible. The "floral" essence adds a subtle floral taste (not aroma), and is not the same kind of "floral" aroma you get with our hop oils. It's really hard to describe, you'll have to try it. The most pronounced effect comes from the "spicy" essence. This has a dramatic effect on the beer's "mouth feel" adding a body and complexity that is truly amazing. It can really "perk up" a beer (when added to Bud, no one ever guessed it was Bud, even when served from a Bud bottle!). Useful effects occur at very low levels, from 50 to 100 parts per billion (ppb) of the active constituents, and you can mix them for combined effects. As with our hop oils, we have formulated these essences to make them easy to add to your beer. 1 tsp adds 50 ppb to five gallons. Add just prior to bottling or to the serving keg. Supplied in 2 oz dispenser-top bottles, enough for 30 gallons of beer at 100 ppb.

Late Hop Essence "Floral" LHEFL $5.95/2 ozs

Late Hop Essence "Spicy" LHESP $5.95/2 ozs

Iso-Alpha Acid Extract

This extract contains pure iso-alpha acids, which can be added to beer at any stage (post fermentation is best) to add up to 50% of its bitterness. (Not recommended for bittering your beer entirely since there are secondary benefits from wort boiling with hops.) However, our Iso-Alpha extract is useful for correcting an under-bittered beer and also for training yourself to judge bitterness levels. In the book Using Hops (see page 26) a method is presented where you can use the Iso-Alpha extract to estimate the bitterness level of your beer at home. The Iso-Alpha extract can be added at any stage of brewing, but best utilization will occur if added just prior to bottling or to the serving keg. Simply add 1/8th of a teaspoon to 5 gallons of beer for each single IBU you want. Supplied in a 2 oz bottle with a dispensing cap, enough to add 16 IBUs to 30 gallons of beer. ISOAA $5.95

Attention Microbrewers! Because HopTech's Hop Oils contain no alcohol, the BATF has given their approval to HopTech's Hop Oils for use in commercial beer. We also offer our Hop Oils, Essences, Iso-Alpha Extract, Fruit Flavors and our Root Beer Flavor (see page 15) in larger, more economical sizes for microbrewers. Call us for more details.

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