Hops are the pine-cone shaped flowers of a climbing vine that is native to the temperature regions of North America, Europe and Asia. The plant has male and female bines, but only the female bines develop cones. In brewery, hops provide bitterness to balance the sweetness of malt sugars, as well as flavors, aromas, resins that increase head retention, and antiseptics to retard spoilage. It is the flower of the hop plant used in brewing. Hops pellets are prepared from leaf hops which have been hammer-milled into a powder. They contain all the vegetative and lupulin material of raw leaf hops and can be used as a full replacement for leaf hops in the brewing process and on average the equivalent amount of hops pellets can impart 10-15% more bitterness than whole leaf hops. Hops have three main ingredients of relevance to brewers: a-acids, b-acids and essential oils.
Benefits:
-Hop pellets oxidize slower and, ergo, have better storage potential. -Hop pellets take up less space and are easier to store. -Pellet hops are generally easier to split into abstract increments. -Pellets are easier to add to carboys during dry-hopping. -Hop pellets have a slightly higher utilization efficiency (10-15%)
Uses: -Mainly used for beer ,also boiled juice added dough and baked bread. In beer brewing, hops has an irreplaceable role:( flavor enhancers).
Saaz is inarguably an aroma hop, however, when used as an early addition it adds a delicate bitterness. Additionally, its high polyphenols aids in abating oxidation, resulting in a notably longer shelf life.
