August 2nd, 2019 marks International Beer Day – a day for beer lovers everywhere to raise a toast to their local brewers and bartenders and appreciate the art of the hops.
The day was founded in 2007 in Santa Cruz, CA and occurs on the first Friday of August. It has since grown to become a global celebration seen in pubs, microbreweries, and backyards alike. Something definitely worth toasting, is the recent boom in microbreweries around the United States.
According to the Brewer’s Association (BA) small and independent brewers collectively produced 25.9 million barrels in 2018 and gained a 4 percent total growth. This increased the craft’s overall beer market share by volume to 13.2 percent (see below info-graphic for more details).
The microbrewery boom is only expected to grow more in 2019. According to BA there were 7,346 craft breweries operating in 2018 and at the closing of the year there were 1,049 new brewery openings and only 219 closings—a closing rate of 3 percent (see Forbes stats chart below).
For more information on the microbrewery boom and where the trend is heading, read more at the Brewer’s Association website: https://www.brewersassociation.org/
Phenomenex associates love a great glass of beer. So what better way to celebrate International Beer Day than to analyze it!
We did a Rapid Analysis of Hop Acids in Beer using our Strata™ -X Solid Phase Extraction product and Kinetex® 2.6 µm Core-Shell Technology Column (see full technical application below).
Iso-alpha acids, derived from hops, are the compounds responsible for beer’s bitter taste. During the beer brewing process compounds known as alpha acids are extracted from the hops and isomerized to form iso-alpha acids. The conversion of alpha acids into iso-alpha acids takes place when the hops are added to the wort (unfinished beer) and boiled. The amount and type of isoalpha acids formed is dependent on a number of factors including the boiling time, the variety and age of the hops, and the pH of the wort. The bitterness derived from iso-alpha hop acids is a primary flavor attribute of beer and accurate determination of beer bitterness is of great importance to the brewer. Therefore, to maintain a consistent product, brewers must carefully monitor the levels of iso-alpha acids throughout the manufacturing process and in the final beer product.
Iso-alpha acid levels are typically monitored using reversed phase HPLC. Until recently, these analyses have been performed using columns packed with fully porous silica particles, with run times of 15-20 minutes or longer. By switching to HPLC columns packed with Kinetex core-shell particles, these analyses can be significantly improved and performed in a fraction of the currently accepted analysis time.
Curious what resulted from this analysis? Click the following link or the image below to read more: CLICK HERE
Need more reasons to celebrate International Beer Day? Check out our article “Could Alcohol be Better than Exercise in the Long Run?”