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It’s not typically I evaluation different software program primarily based brewing instruments, however I used to be lately contacted by Enrico Mollica a couple of net primarily based program referred to as Hop Management that features a giant properly thought out hop database in addition to some progressive evaluation instruments that may attraction to hop heads. I’m presently working with them to carry a few of these options right into a future model of BeerSmith, however I needed to focus on their system for these keen on doing extra detailed hop evaluation immediately.
Hop Management Overview
Hop Management is a web-based software program is the results of over 10 years of analysis carried out by Italian engineers Enrico and Giulio Mollica. The algorithms behind this software program was validated utilizing experimental actions carried out in collaboration with companion Italian brewery Birrificio Dada.
Hop Management is split into two main items. The primary is a database of presently over 300 hop varieties compiled from business averages. This contains detailed aroma oil content material in addition to sensory knowledge for every selection. The second piece allows you to enter primary recipe knowledge and do a examine of the hop profile for the completed beer. I’ll talk about each in a little bit of element beneath:
Hop Management Database and Comparability Software
Hop Management presently has some 300 hop varieties within the database however plan to extend that to over 400 in 2025. The information is compiled from business averages however contains not solely the standard alpha/beta acids but additionally full aroma oil content material and sensory knowledge which will be displayed in a shade spider chart. Whereas a few of this knowledge is on the market from particular person suppliers, having it multi functional place at your fingertips is a large plus.
The hop finder allows you to discover hops by alpha, beta, and co-humulone proportion, and you may as well filter by fragrant profile which may actually allow you to discover a fascinating hop aroma shortly. Clicking on any selection brings up the sensory spider chart, description and technical knowledge together with whole oils.
A hop comparability instrument allows you to examine as much as six hop varieties within the database and show their sensory knowledge on an overlayed spider chart together with important hop knowledge facet by facet. This may also help you reply questions like “What’s the distinction between utilizing Fuggles or East Kent Goldings in my brew” or “How do these three hop varieties stack up.”
Hop Research
Along with the hop database, you’ll be able to create a “hop examine” which is a mini hop recipe to research the fundamental hop character and content material for a given hopping schedule. Organising the examine includes coming into primary quantity, BJCP fashion, boil density and gravity knowledge alongside along with your hop schedule. Ths hop schedule contains selection, boil time, hop sort in addition to dry or whirlpool hops.
When you enter your recipe and hop knowledge, the instrument calculates and shows the next for the general recipe:
- A Spider Chart: for the calculated hop aroma in addition to the BJCP fashion hop aroma. To create this diagram, the algorithm performs a mixture of the contents of a number of important oils (the impact of thiols, when relevant, is included) contained within the hop additions chosen by the consumer, making an allowance for the impact of time, temperature and hop sort.
- Bitterness in Worldwide Bitterness Untis (IBU earlier than fermentation).
- Total Bitterness Ratio: (BU/OG ratio) for the beer.
- Total Humulene/Caryophillene (H/C ratio)
- Complete Hoppy Degree (THL): which is a macroscopic indicator of the general hoppy stage of the beer (in response to the definition supplied in Machado’s technical paper)
- Beta to Alpha Ratio: (BA/AA %)
- Bitter High quality Index: this a model new hop metric created by the developer of HOP CONTROL that gives an estimation of the standard of the bittering (primarily associated, as literature suggests, to the general co-humulone content material).
- Essential important oil contents: reported when it comes to “normalized diagrams”, i.e. for every important oil the ratio between its quanity and its notion threshold is graphed. The reported most important important oils are myrcene, humulene, caryophyllene, farnesene, linalool and geraniol
Whereas a few of these, like IBUs and bitterness ratio can be found in most beer recipe applications, the overal aroma oil content material, mixed calculated spider chart, high quality index and whole hoppy stage aren’t extensively obtainable in different instruments and will be fairly helpful in case you are making an attempt to tweak an IPA to have a selected aroma or bitterness profile.
In response to Enrico and Giulio: “The revolutionary methodology of HOP CONTROL permits to optimize the brewing course of by beginning with a base recipe and instantly figuring out the course for hopping enchancment, decreasing trial batches and prices. Outcomes from breweries and homebrewers present extremely improved hop aroma, elevated bitter high quality in addition to value discount.”
After registration on the official web site you’ll be able to take a look at the software program with all its functionalities and the entire 300+ hop database, for a free trial interval of seven days. The value for the annual license is lower than $20 and contains an infinite variety of saved recipes plus all the brand new upgrades and hop database extension as new varieties are added. The builders have a low cost code BeerSmith_2024 which you should use till 31 December 2024 to get 30% off a professional license.
From my perspective this explicit instrument would make a superb addition for critical brewers in search of extra detailed hop choice standards in addition to those that want to do in-depth evaluation on hoppy beers like IPAs. I hope to combine a few of these instruments into BeerSmith over time, however Enrico and Giulio have a really good instrument obtainable now for dwelling and professional brewers.
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