/ RAW MATERIALS / Raw Hops and Hop Products / Visual Inspection of Raw Hops

R-310.02.732 [2016-03] Stem and Leaf Material in Whole Hops

In the past, the only method available for evaluating hop quality was manual examination and evaluation. With the development of more discriminating analysis methods, manual evaluation has become less essential.

Today, it is used for the general differentiation of hop varieties as well as in the determination of physical quality defects. Manual examination methods are still commonly employed by hop growers and hop brokers for the evaluation of hop quality, for example, at trade exhibitions. In the standard method for manual hop evaluation developed by the Wissenschaftliche Kommission des Europäischen Hopfenbaubüros (see form below), up to 100 points may be awarded for positive quality attributes, while up to 30 points may be subtracted for negative ones [1].

Literatur

H. Kohlmann, A. Kastner, Der Hopfen 183, Hopfen-Verlag, Wolnzach, 1975

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stem and leaf material

Application/Purpose

Desired condition: free of foreign material, stems and leaves

Points to be awarded: 1−5

Scope of Application

Whole hops intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry

Principle

Evaluation of the harvested hops through visual inspection is employed in order to determine whether a portion may be deemed undesirable . This is aided by gravimetric determination of impurities as well as leaf and stem content.