My last post on hop addition timing attracted a lot of interest and someone from Yakima Chief reached out to me with a technical data-sheet which they published in 2021. I’ve shown the key chart below which quantifies the nature and level of hop flavour oils which they have detected in a finished beer vs. species and addition time.

They don’t specify their methodology but compare a set of hop species whose oil content has the combination of concentration and properties (solubility, boiling point etc) which helps them to remain in the beer from the hot side and those whose qualities mean they are best added as a dry hop.

* A flavour combination is often different from the sum of it’s parts.

Information of hop oil composition is hard to find, so whilst the chart is only qualitative and only covers US varieties it does give a good guide to a range of 20 popular aroma hops. I know that one use I will be able to put this to is to combine hops with different oil profiles to better maximise the breadth of flavour experience in my beers.

A copy of the full data-sheet can be downloaded from here or here. If you are a micro-brewery wanting help with a beer design, please do get in touch and let’s see how I might help.