what is hops?
hops have been used to brew beer for around 600 years. it not only gives the beer its much appreciated noble bitterness, but also increases its shelf life. he is also responsible for the proverbial beer rest. hops have a sedating effect on the mind and body, meaning they have a calming effect and promote sleep.
the largest and best-known hop growing areas in the world can be found in the regions of hallertau, tettnang and saaz (formerly czechoslovakia). it grows up to 8 meters high on climbing bushes. in august you take it down and harvest its cone-shaped umbels. after drying, these are usually further processed into pellets. to do this, the umbels are freed from unnecessary foliage, e.g. the bracts, and branches, crushed and pressed into pellets. if 10 kg of leaves are sorted out of 100 kg of cones, you get 90 kg of type 90 hop pellets. if you sort even more precisely, you get 45 kg of type 45 pellets. the same amount of bitter substances is added if you add either 100 g of cones or 90 g of type 90 pellets or 45 g of type 45 pellets to the wort.
the name of the hop is usually made up of the growing region and the hop variety. an example of this is the halltau perle, which is grown in the hallertau and is of the perle variety.
