introduction | malt | hops | water | yeast | the beneficial effects

hops

Hops: an inflorescence of the female of a climbing plant; 1 or 2 grams are enough for a liter of beer.

Without doubt it has been hops that have lent an improved quality to beer that is still greatly appreciated.

Among their many other aromatic herbs, the ancient Babylonians sometimes used wild hops; the systematic use of hops however only came much later.

A document from the year 760 A.D. mentions an orchard near the Freising Convent in Bavaria where hops were cultivated. The first use of cultivated hops was documented by small family businesses that grew them for their own production. In 1275 hops first brought to beer its distinctive bitter aftertaste; thanks to the tannic acid contained in hops, beer also became more stable and easier to preserve.

In fact, it can be said that it was with this that the ancient ‘barley wine’ became the beer that we all know today. From that date, various German beer producers would take the lead in brewing beer but it was Munich in Bavaria that became the capital city of beer. Even today the beer schools in Munich and Weihenstephan are still the most famous and well-attended.

Curiosity:

In 1315 England was invaded by Dutch hop beer, which the English had not drunk up to that time; this created the great difference between ALE and BEER - for many years a law of Henry VI of 1454 actually prohibited the cultivation of hops in England. Only in 1598 was BEER, as documented, generally more accepted than ALE and consequently the producers of ALE began to introduce hops into their brews.