Hops are an important component of a Westmalle Trappist beer. This beer is well known for its ‘hop scent’.
Only the unfertilised cones of the female hop, humulus lupulus, are used for brewing beer. The active ingredient is lupulin, a yellow powder between the bracts of the hop cone.
Faithful to its centuries old tradition, Westmalle brewery always adds real hops to the brew. These hops are stored in large bales at a temperature of 0 to 2° Celsius.
Hops give beer a bitter flavour and a strong aroma. And they also have a preserving effect. The brewer has to try to achieve an ideal ratio between the hop and the wort, a good ‘marriage’ as he calls it. He thus takes the properties of the different hop varieties into account. And he determines the precise time at which the hops have to be added. As that also makes quite a difference.
