the library

Hops

Herbs & floral· herb

What it is

Hops are the flower cones of Humulus lupulus, a climbing plant used in brewing beer.

What it tastes like

On the nose: spicy; the house adds piney, resinous, citrus pith ✳. Among its measured molecules: methyl 4-decenoate, beta-cubebene, α-Cadinene, α-selinene, beta-selinene.

Every one of its 15 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

• linaloolaromaalcoholreads as spicy, citrus taste (PubChem)Measured in 91 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.17% to 0.94% with a median of 0.42% — the only oxygenated monoterpene present in every variety, and the compound most often named as a hop aroma marker that survives into beer, so its small share of the cone's oil is worth seeing next to myrcene's 41% — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V23; identity from Table 3, peak V23, RI 1102, CAS 78-70-6, category oxygenated monoterpene)
• 2-undecanonearomaketoneMeasured in 9 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.01% to 1.22% with a median of 0.32% — a 122-fold varietal range, the widest of any universally present compound in the dataset, so it is the least category-typical member of this set and the most promising varietal discriminator among them — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V32; identity from Table 3, peak V32, RI 1295, CAS 112-12-9, category ketone)
• β-phellandrenearomaterpenoidreads as burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 18 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.30% to 1.46% with a median of 0.87% — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V15; identity from Table 3, peak V15, RI 1035, CAS 555-10-2)
• beta-pinenearomaterpenoidreads as terpene (PubChem)Measured in 55 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.44% to 2.49% with a median of 1.03% — the second-largest monoterpene after myrcene, but a fortieth of its size — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V6; identity from Table 3, peak V6, RI 983, CAS 127-91-3)
• myrcenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 68 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 14.08% to 67.10% of chromatographic area with a median of 41.44% — the largest single component of hop cone headspace in every variety measured, and on its own roughly two fifths of the total — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4 (Aroma composition, chromatographic area %, of hop cones harvested from 15 varieties cultivated in the Marche region), row V8; identity from Table 3, peak V8, RI 996, CAS 123-35-3, category monoterpene hydrocarbon)
• beta-cubebenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.44% to 1.91% with a median of 0.79% — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V41; identity from Table 3, peak V41, RI 1440, CAS 13744-15-5)
• beta-selinenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 8 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.36% to 5.69% with a median of 0.93% — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V46; identity from Table 3, peak V46, RI 1497, CAS 17066-67-0)
• caryophyllenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 50 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 7.44% to 25.54% of chromatographic area with a median of 14.20%. Its ratio to humulene is the classic hop-oil descriptor and both are measured here on the same fifteen samples, so that ratio is computable from this table without leaving the paper. — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V40; identity from Table 3, peak V40, RI 1432, CAS 87-44-5, category sesquiterpene hydrocarbon)
• β-farnesenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 12 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.47% to 2.92% with a median of 1.32%. Farnesene content is the traditional marker separating the Saaz/noble group from other hops, and its presence in all fifteen here at a six-fold range shows the difference is quantitative rather than presence-or-absence. — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V44; identity from Table 3, peak V44, RI 1486, CAS 18794-84-8)
• humulenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 26 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 11.58% to 46.10% of chromatographic area with a median of 22.35% — the second-largest component overall and the largest sesquiterpene — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V42; identity from Table 3, peak V42, RI 1468, CAS 6753-98-6, category sesquiterpene hydrocarbon)
• methyl 4-decenoatearomaMeasured in 1 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.07% to 1.00% with a median of 0.35% — the largest of the hop esters present in every variety, and part of the small non-terpene fraction that gives hop oil its fruity edge — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V34; identity from Table 3, peak V34, RI 1311, CAS 1191-02-2, category ester)
• α-selinenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 5 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.74% to 8.41% with a median of 1.55% — an eleven-fold varietal range, so one variety carries far more of it than the rest — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V48; identity from Table 3, peak V48, RI 1506, CAS 473-13-2)
• α-CadinenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 4 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.56% to 3.03% with a median of 1.81% — the largest of the minor sesquiterpenes and a five-fold varietal range, narrow by this dataset's standards — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V50; identity from Table 3, peak V50, RI 1532, CAS 11044-40-9)
• gamma-muurolenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 8 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.31% to 1.55% with a median of 0.85% — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V49; identity from Table 3, peak V49, RI 1524, CAS 30021-74-0)
• α-copaenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 18 of 341 ingredients.cite

  detected in all fifteen varieties, varietal means from 0.36% to 1.71% with a median of 0.90% — under a five-fold range across fifteen varieties, one of the most uniform compounds in the dataset — Mozzon et al. 2020, Foods (Table 4, row V39; identity from Table 3, peak V39, RI 1384, CAS 3856-25-5)