#beerhistory

[shorepointdist]

The origin of the Radler!

#beerhistory #history #radlerbeer #radler #beer #craftbeer #samadams #porchrocker #beerlover #beerlife #beerlovers #beerlove #craftbeerlover #beergeek #beernerd #beerme #beerstothat #beertime #historyfacts #historylovers #animation

[beerselfie]

#Repost @libationslady You ask, I deliver! WTF is a Trappist Ale?! Let’s start at the ‘Trappist’ before I delve into this tasty treat from Orval brewery 👉They’re all brewed by Trappist monks, or at least under supervision of Trappist monks. Trappist is an order of Cistercians and they’re pretty strict. 👉There are only fourteen breweries that can make Trappist ales, 6 are in Belgium 🇧🇪 👆each in 🇮🇹🇫🇷🇦🇹🇪🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇸 and 2 in 🇳🇴 👉They have their own authority and 3 of which are not approved any longer, so really 11 breweries depending on how you look at it. 👉This bespoke tradition first became available commercially in the 1930s. ORVAL 🇧🇪 isn’t super common in 🇦🇺 although it’s known only by the name of the brewery they make TWO beers there! 👉Only one beer makes its way out of the brewery (pictured here) 👉It’s uncommon for a Trappist beer to be known only by name (eg. Chimay and Westvleteren have color or style attributes!) 👉They also make🧀! It is common for these monasteries, I know I’m keen for a pairing! 👉It’s not only rare, but unique amongst Trappist beers with a relatively light ABV 6.2% and dry hopped with Hallertau, Styrian Goldings, Strisselspalt and dosed with sugar and a yeast blend including brettanomyces then bottle conditioned. 👉The brettanomyces character of this beer takes at least 6 months to present. 👉Brettanomyces is a really uncommon addition to Trappist beers, seriously bespoke! The bottle I’m drinking was purchased in 🇦🇺 in 2018 and has been cold stored since, it’s showing a brilliant blend of Brett tarty dryness and an abundance of traditional phenolics! I don’t have enough words to unpack HOW MUCH brett sets this beer apart from the style but please drop a comment if you have any questions and let me know if you also love ORVAL. 🐟 ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ #craftbeer #trappistbeer #orval #belgianbeer #girlswhodrinkbeer #craftnotcrap #abbeyale #beerselfie #picoftheday #instagood #malt #brettanomyces #sourbeer #orval #libationslearning #beerhistory #trappist #craftbeer #beerlearning #hops #history #beerhistory #beerleague #beerlearning https://www.instagram.com/p/CYzKCnJJvEY/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cincinnatimuseumcenter]

A Snapshot of Early Cincinnati Breweries. By: Sarah Staples, Helen Steiner Rice Archivist

Early immigrants, like Frederick Billiods, William Attee, Patrick Reilly, Peter Jonte, Thomas Wood and John Walker, opened breweries in Cincinnati that produced beers found in their native countries – France, England and Ireland – mostly traditional ales and porters. Keep reading: https://www.cincymuseum.org/2020/05/05/a-snapshot-of-early-cincinnati-breweries/

[husheduphistory]

Legacy Lost: The Tortured First Family of St. Louis Lager

Johann "Adam" Lemp arrived in St. Louis, Missouri in 1838, one of the thousands of new faces pouring into the country in the decades before the Civil War. He was originally from Germany and while in his home country he learned the art of brewing beer from his father, a skill he carried with him to his new home. Arriving in the United States, Lemp aspired to be a grocer but within a few years the entire trajectory of his life and the lives of his family made the first of many sharp turns. The first turn brought fortune to the Lemp name, but the others made it synonymous with tragedy.

While making a living as a grocer two of Lemp’s best selling products were his homemade vinegar and beer. The German population around St. Louis was booming and one thing that the region lacked was authentic German lager, a void that Lemp recognized and knew he was capable of filling. The light, golden drink was a welcome alternative to English ales and within two years Lemp was able to close his grocery store for bigger and better things. He built a small brewery, Western Brewery, at 112 South Second Street unofficially igniting the brewing industry in St. Louis and cementing his path to unimaginable wealth.

Lemp sold his beer in a small bar attached to his brewery but before long the demand for the beverage outgrew his buildings. The brewing operation needed more space and the solution came in the form of another structure that had been around since long before the Lemp family, St. Louis, or even Missouri, was born. Just south of the city limits were limestone caves and the cave’s climate combined with ice farmed from the nearby river provided the perfect atmosphere for the lager process. Lemp’s business thrived and in August 1862 Adam Lemp died a multi-millionaire, passing his empire to his son, William J. Lemp.

The 1860s and 1870s were hugely transformative times for the Lemp family. In 1864 William Lemp built a new plant for the brewery covering five city blocks and connecting to the caves where his family brand of beer was perfected. He continued to expand the company, becoming the largest single-owner brewery outside of New York City. In 1867 his son William Jr. was born. He would have five more children, but it was his fourth son Frederick, born in 1873, who was William’s favorite and who he planned to have inherit the family business. In 1868 William Lemp’s father-in-law had built a thirty-three room mansion close to the brewery and William Lemp and his family moved in in 1876. The mansion served as both a home and a satellite office with tunnels connecting the basement to the limestone caves. As the 1800s came to a close the Lemp family was the picture of wealth, success, and power. It was a prosperous, happy time for the Lemp family, just before it all crashed down around them.

The Lemp Mansion circa 1982. 

Postcard showing the sprawling Lemp brewery complex.

The first tragic blow to St. Louis’s most prominent family occurred on December 12th 1901 when Frederick, William’s favorite son and heir to the family business, unexpectedly died of heart failure at the age of only twenty-eight years old. The effect on William was instant, rendering him despondent and marking the beginning of a slow decline. After the death of Frederick the elder Lemp became disconnected, anxious, and he stopped going out in public, placing himself into a self-imposed and tormented solitude. The spirit of William Lemp was still broken on New Years Day 1904, the day his closest friend Frederick Pabst passed away. Lemp fell deeper into disconnect and became indifferent to the everyday operations of his business and family. On the morning of February 13th 1904 William J. Lemp Sr. walked into his bedroom and shot himself in the head.

William J. Lemp Sr. 

Newspaper story covering the suicide of William J. Lemp.

With the elder William Lemp and his brother Frederick gone the brewing business passed into the hands of William Jr., also called “Billy”, a man who most say was far better at partying and manipulation than running the family business. In 1899 William married Lillian Handlan and they welcomed their son, William J. Lemp III in September 1900, only four years before he was handed the brewery under the unfortunate circumstances of his father’s suicide. While Lemp cultivated the image of a hard partyer who did only what he pleased, his wife Lillian was coined with the nickname of the “Lavender Lady” due to her obsession with the color that took over her clothing, accessories, and even her horse’s harnesses. Lillian was surrounded by luxury, but it was forced upon her. Billy was forever hosting lavish late-night parties filled with friends, alcohol, and prostitutes, and he soon grew tired of his wife. Looking to keep her out of the picture Lemp began demanding that his wife shop on a near constant basis, giving her $1,000 a day and telling her that if she did not spend it he would never give her another cent. Finally, in 1908 Lillian filed for divorce from Billy citing desertion, cruelty, and indignities. The highly publicized divorce proceedings were a huge scandal in the St. Louis region and crowds gathered at the courthouse eager to hear the horrid details of the Lemp home. What prying ears could not pick up from outside the courthouse the eyes devoured from all the regional newspapers who dedicated their front pages to the ordeal. On day eleven in court Lillian, the Lavender Lady, appeared wearing solid black and before she left she was granted sole custody of the pair’s son.

William J. “Billy” Lemp Jr.

Lillian Handlan Lemp.

Billy Lemp built a less than flattering reputation for himself for many reasons but there is one part of his life that has never been able to be fully confirmed. Allegedly, one of Lemp’s many affairs led to a second son being born. The child was said to have Down Syndrome and because of this he was shuttered into the attic of the Lemp Mansion, never to be seen or heard. When interviewed in later years former employees of the family claim that there was in fact a secret son sequestered to living in the attic and servant quarters but there has never been any documentation found definitively proving his existence.

The Lemp family was beginning to enter even darker days but a small glimmer of happiness arrived in 1910 when Elsa, the youngest daughter of William Sr., married Thomas Wright, president of the More-Jones Brass and Metal Company. Amid the celebration there was a pallor of concern. Several years earlier in 1906 nine of the largest breweries in the St. Louis region combined to form the Independent Breweries Company and created a level of competition the family had never faced before. Billy Lemp continued to run the business as best he could, but he had no way of knowing the blows set to strike both his business and his family before the next decade arrived.

The first bit of bad news came in 1918 when Elsa and her husband first separated and then entered into a messy divorce in February 1919 citing cruelty and damage to her physical and metal wellbeing. This was unfortunate but the next hardship to hit the Lemp family extended far beyond their local courthouse, Prohibition had arrived.

The Lemp brewery was struggling before Prohibition but the movement officially hammered the nails into the business’s coffin. The family created a brand of non-alcoholic beer but already wildly wealthy, Billy Lemp saw no reason to even attempt to keep the brewery afloat. The employees of Western Brewery were made aware that their jobs were gone when they arrived at work one day to find the buildings locked. The closing of the brewery took a toll on Billy Lemp but he was not the only member of his family who was feeling themselves slip away. Elsa and her ex-husband Thomas reunited and remarried in March 1920. Within days, on March 20th 1920 Elsa, the wealthiest heiress in St. Louis, entered the bedroom of their home, sat in bed, and shot herself in the head just as her father had done sixteen years earlier.

Elsa Lemp Wright.

Newspaper story covering the suicide of Elsa Lemp Wright.

As the Prohibition years moved forward the Lemp family and their massive brewery complex continued to deteriorate. As the head of the business Billy was tasked with the liquidation of assets and he began to auction off the buildings and sell any trademarks. At its peak the Lemp brewery consisted of twenty-seven buildings, covered ten city blocks, and was valued at seven million dollars. On June 28th, 1922 it was all sold at auction to International Shoe Co. for $588,500. One piece of the ruined family legacy that they fiercely held onto was the family mansion. In a turn that closely resembled his father after the death of Frederick, after the death of the brewery Billy became reclusive, anxious, increasingly ill, and began to shun appearing in public. Six months after the sale on December 29th 1922 Billy went into his office on the main floor of the mansion and took his own life with a gunshot to the heart.

Newspaper covering the suicide of Billy Lemp.

With Billy, Elsa, and Frederick Lemp all deceased there were only three other siblings remaining to take over the family home. Charles, Edwin, and Louis all removed themselves from the brewery in its later years with Charles leaving in 1917 to go into banking and Edwin retiring in 1913 to live quietly in Kirkwood, Missouri dedicating his time to charitable causes. In 1929 Charles Lemp took up residency in the old family mansion where he lived with his dog, two servants, an unrelated married couple, and allegedly the hidden son of his brother Billy.

Charles may have been removed from the family home and business but he was not immune from the turmoil that had plagued his father and siblings. During his time in the mansion he became incredibly bitter an increasingly obsessive about germs, constantly washing his hands and never without a pair of gloves to protect himself. In 1931 his brother Louis died of natural causes and it is said that during Charles’s stay in the mansion Billy’s secret son died inside the home in his 30s. In April 1941 Charles penned an unusual letter to a St. Louis funeral home stating that in case of his death his body was to be taken directly to the Missouri Crematory with no change of clothing or bathing to take place. He went on to instruct that his ashes were to be put inside a wicker box and buried on his farm with no funeral or notice to the public about his death. Eight years later on May 9th 1949 he wrote another note reading: “St. Louis Mo/May 9, 1949, In case I am found dead blame it on no one but me. Ch. A. Lemp". After writing the note he first shot his dog in the basement and then walked up to the second floor of the mansion where he shot himself in the head. He was found the next day, still holding the gun in his hand.

Newspaper covering the suicide of Charles Lemp.

With Billy, Elsa, Charles, Louis, and Frederick gone the last remaining Lemp was Edwin. Quiet and reclusive, Edwin never moved into the mansion and after the death of Charles it was sold and turned into a boarding house. Edwin lived until the age of ninety when he died of natural causes in 1970. Among his last wishes was that all of the family’s collected art pieces, documents, and Lemp family artifacts be destroyed. A butler fulfilled his wishes, burning everything that remained and reducing it to dust along with the legacy of the Lemp family.

The Lemp mansion had a difficult existence after the demise of its founding family. Tenants were difficult to keep and the building fell into disrepair. It was not until 1975 that the building was purchased by a member of the Pointer family and turned into a restaurant and inn.

Today the Lemp Mansion still stands at 3322 De Menil Place in St. Louis, Missouri where it hosts private events, weddings, holiday events, tours and offers delicious dinners year round to hungry visitors. The site is intensely historic, but it is also allegedly one of the most haunted locations in America with regular sightings and experiences from both employees and visitors. For the brave of heart, the Lemp Mansion offers overnight stays and ghost tours where the tragic story of the Lemp family is explained, explored, and investigated.

When Adam Lemp arrived from Germany in 1838 he was just looking for a livelihood and instead found a route to power and fortune beyond his wildest dreams. The Lemp family had a meteoric rise in the United States, but the fall was absolutely devastating with the fortune, alcohol, and entire family, being washed away by their own blood.

The Lemp Mansion.

Relics of the Lemp brewery complex still standing today.

[thebrewstorian]

So long BridgePort Brewing Co.

When I was mulling over starting an archive dedicated to collecting the history of hops, brewing, and research in the Northwest I called two people 1. Peter Kopp, who was working on his book on hops in the Willamette Valley, and 2. Karl Ockert, who was Karl Ockert. 

Several years earlier I supervised his daughters when they were student employees in the University Archives and taught a class they took on archiving and historical research. I met Karl then and when they introduced him as a brewer I wondered what that even meant. Fast forward and I found out. 

I grew up in Eugene, Oregon and remember BridgePort in the hazy way that kids remember things. I knew my dad was excited about microbreweries, but I had no idea why. 

Now, for me the specialness of this first (successful) microbrewery is mixed with all the ways BridgePort has supported OSU and mixed with the kindness of Carole Ockert (my first OHBA oral history) and mixed with the connections Karl Ockert offered me is mixed with all the other stuff related to history-makers and a changing industry.

His daughter Ingrid, who is now an “Oregon State alum with a Princeton PhD and Historian of Science & Media, shared a really lovely remembrance on her Facebook page today. I’ve asked her if I could repost it here -- thanks Ingrid. 

Bridgeport Brewing has officially announced that it is ceasing operations. 

It's over.

My father no longer works there, but this was the brewery that he started in 1984. Six years before my sister and I were born. I spent a lot of my childhood in the brewery. I mean, I joke about growing up in a bar, but really, I grew up in and around bottling lines, the intense smells of fermenting hops coming out from the brew kettles. Looking at amber bottles. Slipping around the floors that were coated with God-knows-what. Dad worked a lot of late nights and weekends and we'd be there with him in the offices, entertaining ourselves until he was finished. Playing with the model brewing kettles and eating malt balls. There is a certain grief that I feel with this news - Bridgeport was always there, the older child, it felt like the older child.

And this was before craft beer was big. Before it had ascended a cultural status. Everyone thinks what their parents did was 'weird,' but I really did as a child. Back when we would sheepishly tell our friends that our dad made beer for a living and when our teachers at school would hound us to admit at "beer was a poison." (Ah, those 90s drug educational lessons). My first memory was being at a beer garden at Edgefield and wandering through a tent. It was weird to spend a childhood hanging out at bars, breathing in cigarette smoke, and hiding out in the legendary Bridgeport bathrooms to get away from the "noise" of the crowd.

It was only in the last five years or so, when I started to drink more, that I came to appreciate what my father and mother had helped to create. What it meant to be a brewer's daughter.

My father had stopped brewing for Bridgeport by that point and I had changed coasts. But I really felt pride to be able to talk to people at parties and say that, yeah, my father created that recipe that he was one of the pioneers of brewing in Oregon. That he and my mother had helped start the first microbrewery in Oregon. That he had rallied his friends to help make brew pubs LEGAL. (Can you imagine them NOT being legal?). My dad helped introduce IPAs to the United States.

The grief. It's strange to process it. It was just a company. Again, my father hasn't worked for Bridgeport for many years. But Bridgeport had always felt like a distant sibling. Our baby albums are filled with clippings of us as toddlers and news about Bridgeport. It felt like an older sibling. Someone who had grown distant, but who I could always visit if I headed back to town.

I visited the office buildings, on a lark, last spring. It brought back a wellspring of memories: the smell in the air, the brick walls. I'll miss it. I had hoped that I could bring my nieces and nephews there one day, and say, hey, your grandfather helped to start all this. But, in my mind at least, I'll still be able to walk around the ancient ropewalks, even when it's been converted into high end condominiums.

Still, sorry to see it go. Apologies for the moment of reverie. Just needed to process this.

Cheers.🍻

[momentoscerveceros]

INVENCIÓN DEL TAPÓN CORONA (CHAPA) William Painter, fue un prolífico inventor de origen irlandés afincado en Baltimore, que encontró la solución, diseñando y patentando, el 2 de febrero de 1892, un tipo de tapón que resistía el potente gas contenido en cada botella y que era fácil de colocar gracias a una máquina industrial también inventada por él. Pero poco después se encontraron con el problema de que muchos compradores (sobre todo de las zonas rurales) no tenían ni idea de cómo abrir las botellas, utilizando todo tipo de utensilios para ellos y rompiendo en multitud de ocasiones el cuello de la botella. #chapa #taponcorona #cierrebotella #cerveza #cervezaartesana #bier #birra #cerveja #pivo #biere #beerpic #beerinfluencer #beerbrandambassador #beersommelier #beerhistory #beertography #blackbeerconnoisseur #beertime #beerpassion #beergeek #beerstagram #beerpic #beersommelier #beerlovers #beeroftheday #beerlover #momentoscerveceros #fechahistotica https://www.instagram.com/p/CZe9N_WqFB6/?utm_medium=tumblr

[voldrinks]

Τί είναι μπύρα. - Voldrinks

[thecitiview-blog]

Sink your teeth into the barbarossa-braised pork shank with smoked cheddar mashed potatoes, green beans, tomato chutney and barbarossa demi-glace at Moerlein Lager house! @moerleinlh . . . #MoerleinLH #MoerleinLagerHouse #Thebankscincy #Cincinnati #craftbeer #cincybeer #yelpcincy #cincyusa #ChristianMoerlein #beer #moerlein #beerwithfriends #cheers #beerme #beerhistory #ohio #ohioriver #cheers #citiviewtravel

[beerselfie]

#Repost @womeninventedbeer “we do know that men were deliberately spreading rumors to force women out of the brewing business. for example, In 1413 christine colmere’s business was totally destroyed when simon daniel told all her neighbors that she had leprosy. a further example dates to 1641, this time of an unnamed widow, brewing at the ludlow castle garrison, who found her entire trade to be lost when a male competitor spread false rumors about herself and her business.” i was reading @braciatrix this morning and found it quite interesting 🧐 that not too much has changed in 600 years. has anyone ever lost a job, an opportunity, or even a friend because a man/someone else in the industry poisoned your name? kind of nice to know we have them so scared that they be acting like regina george. 😉 #womeninventedbeer #crushthepatriarchy #womeninbeer #beerwoman #beerisforeveryone #charlestonbeer #chsbeer #beerindustry #beerinfluencer #brewster #alewife #beerhistory #beerfacts https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg2IlaNrVSz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[aarathannan]

Before the German Purity Law “Reinheitsgebot” of 1516 it was common practice to use any kind of different spices, herbs, fruits and other plants. Hops was not yet well known at this time. Grut bier has roots in many cultures and each culture had it’s own “special ingredients": Egyptians, Native Americans, Arabian Tribes, Gaulles, Germanic Tribes and the Vikings. This interpretation of a traditional Grut Bier is spiced with Lorbeer (Bay Leaves), Ingwer (Ginger), Kummel (Caraway), Anis (Anise), Rosemarin (Rosemarie) & Enzian (Gentian). It is brewed with water, wheat & barley malt, “pollinated wild hops” and fermented using top fermenting yeast. . . . . . #gruitbeer #grutbeer #nohopsbeer #beerbeforehops #beerhistory #beerbaasha #torontobeerreview #aaravivekananthantoronto #ancientbeer #beersoftheworld https://www.instagram.com/p/CAQi84qpQKI/?igshid=u8gv2gdxeti6

[ottobot-prime]

The Original and first Heineken Brewery #heinekenexperience #DutchBeer #heinekenbrewery #heinekenadvertisement #BrewingBeer #BeerHistory #heineken🍺 #heinekengreenroom #amsterdam🇳🇱 (at Heineken Experience) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4LegijgQBL/?igshid=19ovefcm2i2q3

[pilgrimageofthehops]

In Sydney's oldest operating hotel with a brewery in the basement @lordnelsonbrewery enjoying some pints. My favorites were Mom Cheri the seasonal ale Brewers with cherries, and Nelson's blood the excellent porter. 2nd stop of the brewery tour . . . #beerhistory #englishpub #aussiecraftbeer #craftbeeraustralia #wanderlust #travel #craftbeercommunity #beerworld #craftbeerworld #craftbeerlovers #craftbeersydney #craftbeertravels (at Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Bf1rFlyP8/?igshid=clzqjw5ughii

[brewbudds-blog]

Shoutout to one of our #BrewBudds @stevesavarese for sharing his first experience visiting the @bostonbrewerytaproom 🍻 One of our favorite cities in the country and a must visit for any beer lover 💚 For any that haven’t been, make sure to take the tour and enjoy the complimentary tasting; some great history here 🍺 . . . #SamAdams #BostonBeer #Brewery #BeerTour #FreeTasting #InstaBeer #BreweryTour #BostonMA #Beer #BeerHistory #SamuelAdams #VisitBoston #JimKoch #History #BostonLager #BostonBrewery (at Samuel Adams) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuT8aXGlkyn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wqmdqxmj3u2k

[thebrewstorian]

A little history at the 2017 Aroma Hops Symposium

“Hops are much more important for beer than is generally estimated, even in brewery circles.” Verzele, 1986

The 2017 International Brewers Symposium on Hop Flavor and Aroma in Beer Aroma Hops Symposium may have kicked off with some social events Tuesday night, but Wednesday morning I was there for the history! 

And you can tell the site designers were thinking about it since some of our OHBA pictures ended up on the main page! Bonus points if you know who the second guy from the left in the right side picture is...  

I was there to hear Dr. Christina Schönberger, from Barth-Haas, talk about the History of Hop Aroma Research.

Before I even get to the next paragraph, I want to remind ALL of you that I am not a chemist or a scientist in any way. So this post will be a summary and I hope will give you some ideas for doing your own deep dive into the history of aroma research. 

And Barth-Haas has those amazing online historical reports online!

I recommend that everyone who wants to know about the global hop market check it out because they date to 1911.  

Schönberger framed her talk as a series of questions, so I’ll follow in this post. 

When did people begin to refer to hop varieties rather than the regions or growing areas? In the 1912 report she noted that hops were identified by the growing regions and cities where hops coming from; she called these the "Old land varieties." By 1949 the areas have changed, so not just reporting from the old land, but she also found numbers for other countries (eg Japan, New Zealand), and also calling out specific states in the US and regions in England. 1969 was the last mention of areas, and they were replaced by varieties. While today  we have more than 250 hop varieties – all unique (some more or less) – given that the Fuggle was introduced by Richard Fuggle in 1875 and that by 1900 there were already 20 varieties grown in the UK, this is odd. What impact does this have on historical research into what people were using to brew? Well if you are looking for specific reference to a variety and don't find it, my conclusion is that a lack of variety specificity doesn't mean an absence of specific varieties being used. It may just be that the specific varieties hadn't made it into the general lexicon of brewing recipes.

What about levels of hop dosing? Again thinking about historical research, I've heard lots of assumptions about how innovative the craft brew hyper hopped beer are, and while Schönberger acknowledged that it isn't easy to find concrete records from which to generalize about the actual levels of hop dosing, but she used those global hops production reports from Barth and then divided them by rates of beer production. Again, while this isn't totally accurate, it gives us an idea. In 1900 she finds that people were using a lot of hops, with recipes calling for 4-5 lbs in IPA. Not surprising for people who have looked at beer history, the hopping load decreases significantly over the 20th century - especially in the US where we see the deepest dip in 1985. And of course for those of you who have looked around at beer descriptions in the last 30 years, you know that certainly in the US we've had a big increase in the use of hops, but worldwide there are still fewer hops overall.

What were the early aroma hops research projects? She found that by early 1900 the bulk of the aroma research focused on trying to separate oils from hops. Next followed identifying aroma compounds in hops, and then work to identify or judge the sensory importance of hop aroma compounds in beer based on variables such as kettle, late, or dry hopping to assess the influence hops have on the final hop aroma in beer based on when they were added. She also noted that this early worked was shaped by different cultural approaches to hop aroma research (early research leaders were the UK, US, Germany, Belgium) with researchers from different backgrounds or with a different relationship with beer and hops. Like much of history, people complicate things and mean we don't have easy stories!

Early researchers were also just asking different questions. In looking at the popularity of deep aroma research, she found that really there wasn't much going on in 1970s/1980s, but since 2007 (when there was a hops symposium here at OSU) the numbers of publications increased. Additionally, varietal research basically started after 2007, and since then there has also been a focus on dry hop aroma.

I wanted to make a big list of all the important publications in early hop aroma research, but I didn't type quite quickly enough... Nonetheless, I think this gives you a pretty good idea of topics, researchers, and significant periods of research. In the earliest research (early 19th century), aroma research was strongly connected to developing distillation methods to obtain hop oil. And you can Google most of the names in combination with the dates and find information online if you’d like to know more. 

In 1819 Hanin gave the description of the volatile portion of hops. He reported that the yellow powder (lupulin) of hops was tasty, odorous, resin-like, and inflammable.

In 1822 Payin and Chevalier found that if they distilled that lupulin they got an oil that had the characteristic odor of hops.   

In 1853 Wagner studied the hop oil and was the first to write about terpenes in hop oil, which he compared to camphor. As a side note, Wagner also gave drops of the oil to a rabbit and found that, despite what others thought, it did not have narcotic properties. 

In 1877 Kuhnemann also distilled hops with steam and obtained an oily substance he called "hop oil."

Flash forward to the 20th century and by the 1960s scientists are looking at what’s in the beer (compounds). 

There was an important publication by Howard in 1956, and I think it had to do with blending up the hops and doing something with extraction??

In 1964 Buttery developed GC-MS, which is a sensory evaluation of hop aroma still used today. 

In 1976 Tressl identified the components (terpenes) removed by yeast and filtration (and I think some other compounds I missed).

In 1981 Sharpe and Law wrote about hop oil components, specifically hydrocarbons, oxygenated compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, and looked at methods available to the brewer for adding hop character to beer. 

There was a lot of activity in the 1980s, with early publications by Val Peacock in 1980 and 1981 where he talks about hop aroma in beer, compares US and European hop aroma, and looks at geraniol in the Cascade hop. 

In 1982 Meilgaard catalogs 850 compounds, and develops primary, secondary, tertiary flavor compounds.

In 1983 Tressel did work to identify work on tricyclic sesquiterpenes.

In 1985 Foster and Nickerson looked at "hoppiness potential." 

In 1986 Verzele did a centenary review "100 Years of Hop Chemistry and its Relevance to Brewing" in the Journal of the Institute of Brewing. 

In 1988 Peacock and Deinzer (I think while they were both at OSU?) wrote about the "fleeting nature of hop flavor compounds."

In 1992 Engel and Nickerson identified 250 hop aroma compounds to quantify the “hoppiness” of a given hop sample. You might have heard of the Aroma Unit? Read more about it online. 

In 1994 there was an EBC Symposium on hops, which was fabulous because both the presentations and later discussions are included. The monographs aren’t online and it doesn't look like we have them in the library here. It was also in 1994 that Westwood said not to believe that there is a single hop aroma oil compound because it downplays the subjective assessment and sensory work. 

In 1998 Collin and her team did an essential hop oil analysis based on varietal discrimination, I think with the goal of differentiating between varieties in pellets? 

In 2000 Schieberle and Fritsch looked at compounds, and also debated some findings in other publications.  

In 2002 Goiris Aerts wrote about the spicy hop character of beer in threshold studies.

In 2005 Kishimoto examined the behavior of hop aroma terpenoids during the boiling process. This might have turned into a doctoral dissertation in 2008?   

In 2007 the first International Brewing Symposium was held in Corvallis, and that really kicked off deeper studies on aroma hops.

What about the future? She'd like to see more studies on the correlation of aroma compounds and sensory descriptors, changes of flavor quality depending on concentration/perception, interaction of hops and beer aroma compounds, biology of flavor perception, enzyme/yeast contribution to hop aroma, potential sulfur compounds, more key aroma components, dry hop aroma stability, variety specifics and meaning for brewing or beer style, and impact of harvest time on hop flavor. We'll check back in in 2027 to see whether these have happened!

[thymemachinecuisine]

Our final post from our trip to #Denmark and #Sweden. Great place for #foodies!!! Our final stop was the Carlsberg Brewery. Fascinating place for history of beer, science, and the Industrial Age. Go to : www.thymemachinecuisine.com #foodhistory #beerhistory #beer #carlsberg #carlsbergbrewery (at Carlsberg Brewery)