Georg Drexler (1), Victor Algazzali (2), Tim Kostelecky (3), Christina Schoenberger (1), Elisabeth Wiesen (1), Mark Zunkel (1); (1) Barth Haas Group, Nuremberg, Germany; (2) John I. Haas, Germany; (3) Barth Haas Group, U.S.A.

Sensory
Poster

The craft brewing industry has made it very important to expand sensory beer methods with regard to the contribution of hops. With more than 200 hop varieties and various product forms and all kinds of addition methods in the brewing process, the flavor contribution of hops is incredibly manifold. This presentation suggests a tasting form that can be used for hops and hoppy beers using 12 different categories to describe all kinds of different hop flavors. The development of this tasting form is described and examples for the training to use this form are given together with a general description of flavor recognition mechanisms. This tasting form could be an industry-wide approach to speaking the same language about hops.

Georg Drexler was born in 1979 in Pfaffenhofen right in the Hallertau, the world`s largest contiguous hop growing area. After successfully completing high school and finishing his apprenticeship as a banker, he worked in the banking sector for a short time. In 2002 he decided against pursuing a career in banking and enrolled at Technische Universität München Weihenstephan. His diploma thesis, “The influence of the hop harvest date on flavour stability of dry hopped beers,” was a joint project of the Boston Beer Company (U.S.A.) and Joh. Barth & Sohn (Germany). After 6 months of internship at Spaten-Löwenbräu Brewery in Munich, he graduated as an engineer in brewing and beverage technology in summer 2008. He was hired by Joh. Barth & Sohn, a member of the Barth-Haas Group, as technical manager, where he focused on providing technical support to breweries regarding hop products and their applications. In 2010 he was appointed as technical manager for Barth Innovations, the European Hops Research and Development Centre of the Barth-Haas Group. Georg Drexler also lecturers at the Barth-Haas Hops Academy, where hop enthusiasts can increase their knowledge about hops—whatever they are interested in.

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