Combined recovery of energy and hop aroma during hop drying

摘要

For more than 1000 years hops are cultivated in Central Europe [1]. Since 1516 the Bavarian and later German purity law allows the use of water, barley and hops only to produce beer. The rising demand for beer was followed by an increasing need for hops. Green hops as they are harvested cannot be stored because the high water content will lead to growth of microbes. As a result the quality of hops is decreasing. The water content of the green hop cones has to be reduced from approx. 80 % after harvest to less than 12 % [2].