Beer has existed for millennia. While different regions of the world are known for producing different styles of beer and incorporating some different ingredients, largely speaking the key ingredients are grain, hops, yeast and water, unless you ask Bud Light.
In the modern age of beer production, the proliferation of craft beer leaves an unprecedented number of options and styles to choose from. As the 5,000+ craft breweries and traditional conglomerates jostle for market position and fight off external pressures, the battle to create the tastiest beer has never been fiercer.
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You know what would make your beer taste better? If you believe YCH Hops’ Senior Vice President of Operations, Karl Vanevenhoven, it may just be using liquid nitrogen to process the hops that go into it:
“The benefit of our cryo process is we are using liquid nitrogen to process the hops so it is very cold, and it is in a nitrogen environment reducing oxygen. The beauty of that is it enhances the quality of the product.”
The focus of YCH Hops’ patent pending technique is the cold processing of the Lupulin glands, the part of hops that causes bitterness, taste and aroma. The result is a more potent hop pellet meaning that less is required to brew the same beer. And while the process is more costly than other forms of processing, brewers typically come off better financially using cryo-processed hops.
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YCH Hops’ COO, Steve Carpenter, advises that the hops are not only more efficient in terms of brewing, they also improve the flavors of the beers:
“Our customers are telling us they’re using this product and it is allowing them to make more hop-forward beers with hoppier aromas and flavors.”
The cryo-hop process can be used on any strain of hops and YCH Hops are currently selling their hops for commercial and home-brew use, with minimum purchase quantity currently sitting at 11lb.
Sgt. Suds 