What are Auxiliary Bitter Compounds in Hops and how do they Affect the Quality of Bitterness in Beer?

Abstract

The term “auxiliary bitter compounds”  in hops refers to all bitter compounds in the hop resin which are transferred to the beer and are not iso-α-acids. The majority of these substances are considered desirable from a sensory perspective. The ratio of the non-specific EBC bittering units (spectrophotometric method) to the specific iso-α-acids (HPLC method) serves as an indicator for the amount of auxiliary bitter compounds in beer. The evaluation of various existing data demonstrates: adding larger amounts of aroma hops over several additions not only influences the aroma but also serves to improve the harmony of the beer bitterness.