Breaking down, once more for the people at the back, exactly what are Cryo Hops, and why do our brewers love using them?
Cryo Hops are a patented invention from the experts at Yakima Chief. We like Yakima because not only are they 100% grower owned, and supporters of our Brewed to Give initiative, but they are market leaders in hop innovation. Basically, their hops rock, and so do they.
Q: WHAT DOES CRYO MEAN?
A: DERIVED FROM THE GREEK WORD ‘KRYOS’ MEANING FROST
Cryo Hops is an industry-leading, cryogenic hop-processing technology used to separate whole hop cones. The hops are preserved during the process using nitrogen-rich environments, displacing the oxygen. This reduces the oxidation of the extracted lupulin, the tasty part of the hop. Anyone who has had a too-old beer will know that oxidation is the enemy of brewing!
Q: WHY USE CRYO HOPS?
A: CONCENTRATED LUPULIN FOR INTENSE FLAVOUR AND AROMA
Cryo Hop pellets are designed to deliver big flavour profiles; less herbal and vegetal notes, more banging fruit, sweet and citrus flavours. This is because brewers can efficiently use large quantities of alpha acids and oils in brews, without the presence of vegetative material.
Q: HOW DOES THAT WORK?
A: FULLY PATENTED HOP-PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
The kiln dried, whole leaf hop is separated into two parts: concentrated lupulin and bract (leaf matter). The concentrated lupulin is then made into pellets, ready for brewing, and the bract is repurposed downstream.
Each part of the hop is preserved using liquid nitrogen and low temperatures throughout the process. The better the preservation, the better the flavour bomb later on!
Q: ANY BENEFITS BESIDES FLAVOUR?
A: ONLY 40-50% OF CRYO PELLETS NEEDED VS REGULAR T-90 PELLETS
Cryo Hop pellets are designed with efficiency in mind. They deliver more bang per pellet than the more commonly used T-90 pellet. There are *fewer* pellets used overall and therefore we are less shipping large boxes around the world.
With half the storage and shipping requirements, it also brings down our carbon emissions; helpful when we’re looking to hit net zero by 2040 as a brewery! (Check out our latest impact report here).
