exBEERiment | Impact Hop Steeping Temperature Has On Hop Water

Author: Steve Thanos

Of the various types of non-alcoholic beverages targeted at adults, hop water is one that appears to have captured decent interest from brewers and craft beer lovers, as it offers a familiar flavor without the inebriating effect. Given the relative novelty of this teetotling sipper, there remains many opinions regarding the best approach to making it, which has spurned much experimentation in recent years.

Similar to the dry hopping step when making hoppier styles of beer, the process of making hop water consists of adding hops to water then giving them some time to mingle before packaging. One variable of focus for makers of both beer and hop water is the temperature of the liquid when adding hops – while temperatures around 68°F/20° are believed to extract more aromatic oils, some evidence suggests cooler temperatures will reduce the extraction of unpleasant polyphenols.

Having recently begun to focus on my own health, my interest in delicious non-alcoholic beverages has increased, and hop water is an option I’ve found satiates my desire for hops while reducing my alcohol and carbohydrate intake. While recently preparing to make a batch of hop water, I wondered about the impact different hop steeping temperatures might have on the final product and designed an xBmt to test it out for myself.

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a hop water where the hops were steeped at 37°F/3°C and one where the hops were steeped at 68°F/20°C.

| METHODS |

Given the positive reviews I’ve heard from other contributors who make hop water, this recipe was largely influenced by them.

Fixin’ To

5 gallons/19 liters distilled water
15 g gypsum
7 g calcium chloride
113 grams/4 oz Amarillo

I made two 5 gallon/19 liter batches using store-bought distilled water that I placed in separate fermentation chambers to pre-chill, one controlled to 37°F/3°C and the other controlled to 68°F/20°C

The following day, I adding the waters to kegs then adjusted each with the same amounts of gypsum and calcium chloride such that they would have a slightly higher ratio of sulfate to chloride.

Next, I added the same amount of bagged Amarillo hops to each batch.

After a 24 hour steep, I removed the hops from both kegs, moved them next to each other in my keezer, and burst carbonated them overnight before reducing the gas to serving pressure. After a week of conditioning, they were ready to serve to tasters.

| RESULTS |

A total of 23 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the hop water where the hops were steeped at 37°F/3°C and 2 samples of the hop water where the hops were steeped at 68°F/20°C in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. While 12 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to accurately identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, 13 did (p=0.02), indicating participants in this xBmt were able to reliably distinguish a hop water where the hops were steeped at 37°F/3°C from one where the hops were steeped warm at 68°F/20°C.

The 13 participants who made the accurate selection on the triangle test were instructed to complete a brief preference survey comparing only the beers that were different. A total of 9 tasters reported preferring the hop water where the hops were steeped cool, 2 reported having no preference despite perceiving a difference, and 2 perceived no difference; not a single taster reported preferring the warm steeped hop water over the cool steeped version.

My Impressions: Out of the 5 semi-blind triangle tests I attempted, I correctly identified the odd-beer-out just once. To my palate, these hop waters were identical, presenting with a delightful sweet citrus note alongside hints of melon and peaches. Very refreshing!

| DISCUSSION |

As interest non-alcoholic adult beverages continues to rise, so to do the options, and one that has caught on with those who enjoy good beer is hop water, which is essentially sparkling water that’s flavored with hops. While the process of making hop is incredibly simple, opinions on certain techniques for achieving the best flavor abound, with one variable being the temperature at which the hops are steeped. Interestingly, tasters in this xBmt were indeed able to reliably distinguish a hop water where the hops were steeped at 37°F/3°C from one where the hops were steeped warm at 68°F/20°C.

While there’s no way to elucidate from this data what exactly made these hop waters distinguishable, it’s possible the existing information about cooler steeping temperatures restricting polyphenol extraction is at play. And while we don’t generally put much weight on taster preferences, it’s fascinating that a majority of those who were correct on the triangle test indicated liking the cool steeped version more, while no tasters preferred the warm steeped sample.

This is one of those rare instances where my own biased performance did not align with the blind taster data, which is always a bit confounding, though understandable considering the subjectivity of perception. Since I’m not generally accustomed to drinking what I brew/make alone and highly prefer sharing it with others, both the triangle test results and preference ratings have influenced me to adopt cold steeping when making future batches of hop water, especially since it requires no more work than warm steeping.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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