The effects of three mash separation systems on the isomerisation of hop alpha-acids

This study investigates the effects of wort composition from three lautering systems on hop utilisation at different hop boiling and dosing times. A response surface methodology was applied with 60 single tests at a 5 litre scale. The parameters, which were varied, were lautering system, boiling time without hops, boiling time with hops and alpha-acid dosage. It was shown that the wort composition from the different lautering systems requires different boiling times or enables the reduction in boiling time with hops. Although the pH and original gravity of the lauter tun and mash filter worts were similar, different boiling times were necessary to achieve the same concentration of iso-alpha-acids. Further, there were variations in fatty acid composition of the worts. In order to be able to assess the effects on a larger scale, six brews were performed in a 10 hL pilot brewery. The utilisation of hop bitter substances differed despite the same boiling time and the same alpha-acid dosage in relation to the total quantity of wort. In addition, no significant losses of hop bitter substances were observed in the wort from a continuous mash filtration system due to the process related higher dosage of alpha-acid. Both sets of experiments showed that the boiling times depend on the wort composition and increased as follows: novel continuous mash filtration system < mash filter < lauter tun. The results lay the foundation for calculating the optimal parameter settings for each brewery to optimise the hop isomerisation rate. (C) 2020 The Authors. Journal of the Institute of Brewing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institute of Brewing & Distilling