Lesson 10 - Hops Final SAQ
This lesson allows you to test yourself on the material covered in all previous hop lessons and determine the level to which you have attained the outcomes.
Suggested Response - Q5
**Hops provide bitterness and aroma to beer, but they can also enhance packaged beer foam. How would you use hops, and the various hop products available, to improve the foam in a beer?
Response:
Iso-α-acids in hops are known to stabilise foam, so any hop product that increases the amount of iso-α-acids is likely to improve the stability of the foam. The reduced hop extracts are particularly beneficial to foam, with tetra-hydro Iso-extract being the best, followed by hexa-hydro Iso-extract. Rho-hydro Iso-extract has the least benefit towards foam and is in fact similar, or even less beneficial, than iso-α-acids.
The final foam potential can also be affected by the loss of foam during the brewing process, whereby fobbing results in the loss of foam proteins. The use of hop based antifoam, using the lipids and waxes from the hop cone, can reduce the amount of fobbing in the wort kettle as well as in the fermentation vessel. This in turn prevents the loss of foam potential.