Exploring Hop Varieties with Discriminating Flavan-3-ol Profiles Likely to Improve Color and Colloidal Stability of Beers
Cécile Chenot,
Margaux Simon,
Alexandre Dusart,
Sonia Collin
Affiliations
Cécile Chenot
Unité de Brasserie et des Industries Alimentaires, Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology (LIBST), Faculté des Bioingénieurs, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud, 2 box L7.05.07, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Margaux Simon
Unité de Brasserie et des Industries Alimentaires, Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology (LIBST), Faculté des Bioingénieurs, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud, 2 box L7.05.07, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Alexandre Dusart
Unité de Brasserie et des Industries Alimentaires, Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology (LIBST), Faculté des Bioingénieurs, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud, 2 box L7.05.07, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Sonia Collin
Unité de Brasserie et des Industries Alimentaires, Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology (LIBST), Faculté des Bioingénieurs, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud, 2 box L7.05.07, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
While the Saaz aromatic variety remains classified as a total-flavanoid-rich cultivar, no inverse correlation was found between total flavanoids and the α-acid content when the dual-purpose varieties Citra, CTZ, Amarillo, Eureka!, Mandarina Bavaria, Mosaic, Polaris, and Sabro were considered. The levels of hop flavan-3-ol monomers, dimers, and trimers (quantitated by HPLC-MS/MS) appeared strongly influenced by variety and harvest year. On the other hand, the catechin/epicatechin ratio (and B3/B2 ratio) proved stable within the same variety through two successive harvest years. Among the nine herein-investigated varieties, Citra and Saaz displayed notable catechin/epicatechin ratios (>3.7 compared to <1.6 for the others), whereas Polaris exhibited the lowest monomer content (less than 800 mg/kg). These distinctive profiles could impact the colloidal and color stability of hop-forward beers.
