September 2015

Background

When thinking of beer today most of us would not consider drinking it unless it contained some amount of hops. That was not always the case, early on beer was not hoped so how is it that we started using it? Well the health benefits is one thing but a good guess, which many seem to agree on, is that it made the shelf life considerably longer. Imagine this, you are a brewer and you know that your brew is only good for a couple of weeks and then it starts to turn bad. Or if you made it really strong it could last a few more weeks but that was much more expensive due to the amount of grains used in the brewing process. Transporting it on ships made it difficult, which in turn was a problem for seamen since they ran out of good water to drink and they quite often fell sick. So if you could make a brew that lasted longer, that could be the brew that sailors could have as food source and you could export without turning bad wouldnt that be a terrific thing? Here is where hops come into the picture.
 

So how come people started using hops?

Well, mankind has always been the experimental type and trying all kinds of things regardless how odd they may seem. The brewers tried any kind of herb, additives and what ever you can imagine! Even dead animals, yes you read correct, even dead animals. And with that in mind, considering adding hops which was growing wild is not so strange. The Romans called it Lupus Salictaritus and considered it "growing wild among the willows like wolf among sheep.

Was there any drawbacks?

Well yes, of course there was. Mostly socially though, as I have mentioned in earlier articles it's a matter of taste and of what is considered a proper drink. Another thing is that there was something used before which was called gruit and was sold in specific locations. This meant that is was easy to tax it, for example the Archbishop of Cologne possed what was called gruitreicht (the right to collect taxes from gruit) fiercly opposed the use of hops since he would not get as much money of brewers changed from using gruit to using hops.

How to use hops when brewing

Basically hops have three different roles when used in brewing. The first part is bitterness and that is when it's added in the beginning of the boil so it boils for about an hour. What you get then is just bitterness and not any other flavor, what differs between different kinds of hops is the amount of bitterness. The next is both bitterness and flavor and that is when it's added after about 30 minutes. Using it that way you will not get as much bitterness but at the same time you will get some flavor that is specific to the particular kind of hops you are using. The last part is flavor only and that is when you add it at the end of the boil, or even after which is called dry hoping. The specific flavor, well that depends on the hops you are using.

As a side note, hops are quite closely related to Cannabis Sativa. But even though they are relatives they dont quite have the same effects on the human body, and no you cannot smoke hops. But this might explain some of the calming effects people considered hops to have throughout history and it was a common remedy to use hops for a troubled stomach.