Dry Hopping and its Effect on Beer pH

Abstract

Dry hopping is a method to add large amounts of hop flavor and aroma into beer that otherwise cannot be added. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect that dry hopping beer has on finished beer pH. Four commercial beers and six hop varieties were used to determine the effect on finished beer pH, if there was any correlation between the hop attributes analyzed and the pH change during dry hopping, and whether there was a correlation between the beer attributes analyzed and the pH change during dry hopping. It was determined that there is an increase in beer pH during the dry hopping process. Results showed that a mean pH increase of between pH 0.040 ± 0.003 and 0.056 ± 0.006 at a rate equivalent to 0.5 lb./bbl. of dry hops added. When adding dry hops equivalent to 3.0 lbs./bbl. there was a mean pH increase of pH 0.233 ± 0.022 and 0.332 ± 0.031. There was no significant correlation between the hop attributes analyzed and the increase in beer pH during dry hopping, and there was no significant correlation between the beer attributes analyzed and the increase in beer pH during dry hopping.