Changes

The flavor and aroma compounds found in leaf/pellet hops is are different than the hop -derived flavor and aroma compounds found in finished beer (other than in the case of dry hopping). The brewing process (particularly boiling), and fermentation greatly affect the composition of flavor and aroma compounds that are found in beer. For example, boiling wort and hops isomerizes non-bitter alpha acids into bitter iso-alpha acids. During the boiling of the wort, many compounds found in hops are evaporated, such as many of the various sulfur compounds found in hops. The terpene hydrocarbons which make up most of the hop oil content in hops (myrecene, humulene, and caryophyllene) are completely removed by fermentation. It is believed that these terpene hydrocarbons stick to the yeast cells and fall out of solution during fermentation <ref name="Praet_2012">[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1373716311001636 Biotransformations of hop-derived aroma compounds by Saccharomyces cerevisiae upon fermentation. Tatiana Praet, Filip Van Opstaele, Barbara Jaskula-Goiris, Guido Aerts, Luc De Cooman. 2012.]</ref>.

A "biotransformation" is any change in a chemical's structure that is initiated by a living organism <ref>[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotransformation "Biotransformation". Wikipedia. Retrieved 05/10/2019.]</ref>. It has been hypothesized that biotransformations of some kind are taking place in beer during fermentation and explain changes to hop compounds during fermentation and beer storage. Some carbonyl compounds found in hops (citral, geranial, nerol, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citronellal citronellal], and methyl ketones) can be used as a food source by yeast during fermentation. ''Cyclic ethers'' such as linalool oxides, karahana ether, hop ether, and rose oxide (aroma of roses <ref>[http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1035651.html "(Z)-rose oxide ". Good Scents Company. Retrieved 12/29/2016.]</ref>), increase after fermentation and have been identified as secondary metabolites produced by yeast during metabolism from hop derived precursors. ''Esters'' found in hops can be converted into ethyl esters by yeast during fermentation; for example , geranyl esters found in Cascade hops can be hydrolized hydrolyzed into geraniol (flowery). The terpenoid [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citronellol citronellol] (citrus and floral <ref>[https://eic.rsc.org/magnificent-molecules/citronellol/2000020.article "There are no flies on Emma Stoye". Emma Stoye. Education in Chemistry website. 06/01/2016. Retrieved 01/10/2017.]</ref>) can be esterified by yeast fermentation into citronellyl acetate (fresh, rosy, fruity odor reminiscent of geranium oil <ref>[https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/p-6034-citronellyl-acetate.aspx "Citronellyl acetate". Perfumers Apprentice website. Retrieved 01/10/2017.]</ref>). Yeast strains differ in their ability to convert these compounds. For example, one study found that lager yeast was able to form acetate esters of geraniol and citronellol, but ale yeast was not <ref name="Praet_2012" />.

Terpenes and terpenoids (monoterpene alcohols) can also be transformed by fermentation. Studies have found that geraniol and nerol can transform into linalool by a strain of ''S. cerevisiae'', as well as nerol and linalool into alpha-terpineol, which can then by be further transformed to terpin. Geraniol can also be converted into citronellol, and the content of geraniol and citronellol can be increased in finished beer by increasing the initial content of geraniol, which is found in higher quantities in some varieties of hops (Citra, for example). Linalool, nerol, and alpha-terpineol gradually decrease during fermentation and aging (perhaps being transformed into [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ether ethers], which is a class of organic compound that contains an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups), while nerol and citronellol gradually increase. Geraniol also decreases during fermentation, but not as drastically as linalool. It has been hyptothesized hypothesized that the bioconversion of geraniol into ctironellol citronellol could be by means of glycosidic activity (although another study found that glycosidic activity in ''S. cerevisiae'' is not very strong). Post-fermentation dry hopping preserves linalool and alpha-terpineol, and limits citronellol to trace levels <ref name="Praet_2012" />.

[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2050-0416.2010.tb00428.x Takoi et al. (2012)] used Citra hops with a high content of geraniol added late in the boil, and reported a steep decline on geraniol during the first three days of fermentation with a lager yeaststrain. Linalool had a gradual decline, but ended up at higher levels than geraniol in the finished beer. Citronellol had a sharp increase during the first three days of fermentation, and then remained at a stable level until the end of fermentation. However, after storing the beer at 15°C (59°F) for 1 week, the amount of citronellol more than doubled. This indicated that active fermentation may not be required for the transformation of geraniol into citronellol (the yeast was filtered before packaging the finished beer, after a storage time of 6-8 days at 13–15°C and then at 0°C for 2–3 weeks). Interestingly, Takoi et al. (2012) also showed that coriander seeds, which also have high levels of linalool and geraniol, have a nearly exact same effect on beer, with a beer made with 0.5 g/L of coriander seed resulting in 20 ppb of citronellol and a beer made with 0.75 g/L of coriander seed resulting in 30 ppb of citronellol. The Citra beer had a citrus and "green" aroma, while the coriander beers had a very floral aroma with a slight citrus impression. They also conducted a sensory experiment with different levels of geraniol and citronellol added to linalool to see if small amounts of these would effect affect the flavor of a large dosage of linalool, and the results confirmed that small increases of geraniol and citronellol increased flowery and fruity flavors even in the presence of high dosages of linalool <ref>[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2050-0416.2010.tb00428.x The Contribution of Geraniol Metabolism to the Citrus Flavour of Beer: Synergy of Geraniol and β‐Citronellol Under Coexistence with Excess Linalool. Kiyoshi Takoi, Yutaka Itoga, Koichiro Koie, Takayuki Kosugi, Masayuki Shimase, Yuta Katayama, Yasuyuki Nakayama, Junji Watari. 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2050-0416.2010.tb00428.x.]</ref>. The data for the Citra beer is shown below:

[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261475199_Screening_of_Geraniol-rich_Flavor_Hop_and_Interesting_Behavior_of_beta-Citronellol_During_Fermentation_under_Various_Hop-Addition_Timings Takoi et al. (2014)] continued their research into monoterpene biotransformations. They determined that some varieties of hops have higher concentrations of geraniol (floral flavor) than others, which when used in beer, can lead to higher citronellol levels (citrus flavor) in beer that wasn't present in the hops or wort. They found that while traditional German hops such as Saaz and New Zealand hops contain very little geraniol, American hops such as Bravo, Citra, Cascade, Mt. Hood, Mosaic, Chinook, Apollo, Amarillo, and others contain relatively large amounts of geraniol, with significant variations from different crop years. In this study, they measured the amount of linalool, geraniol, and citranellol citronellol in beers that were dry hopped at different time points: before yeast was added (labeled "pre-yeast" in the table below, and represents something similar to whirlpool hop additions), 3 days after yeast was added, and at the end of fermentation. For each of these timings, they tested three different hop varieties that contained high levels of geraniol: Cascade, Bravo, and Mosaic. Overall, the amount of linalool in the finished beers werenwasn't effected affected by the timing of the dry hop. The amount of citronellol was also not effected affected by the timing of the dry hop except for the Bravo hops where the post-fermentation hopping resulted in about half the amount of citronollel citronellol than it did for the pre-fermentation and 3-day fermentation dry hop timings (see the bar graph based on the data from Takoi et al. 2014 below). The timing of the dry hop had the largest effect on geraniol: the earlier the dry hop, the less geraniol was present in the finished beer for all three hop varieties, with hops added pre-fermentation producing the lowest amount of geraniol and hops added post-fermentation producing the most geraniol in the finished beers. As in their previous study, citronellol increased during the first three days of fermentation, remained relatively stable for the rest of fermentation, and then increased again during storage. Geraniol dropped significantly during the first three days of fermentation in the case of the pre-yeast and 3-day dry hop timing, and increased slightly during storage. This data indicates that while earlier dry hopping reduces geraniol, only certain varieties of hops have an increase in citronellol depending on the dry hop timing. It's been suggested that the transformation of geraniol to citronellol involves unknown mechanisms that are relatively complex, particularly because the rate of the disappearance of geraniol does not map onto the rate of increase in citronellol, and when post-fermentation dry hopping there is a high amount of free geraniol but not a corresponding increase in citronellol during storage <ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261475199_Screening_of_Geraniol-rich_Flavor_Hop_and_Interesting_Behavior_of_beta-Citronellol_During_Fermentation_under_Various_Hop-Addition_Timings Screening of Geraniol-rich Flavor Hop and Interesting Behavior of beta-Citronellol During Fermentation under Various Hop-Addition Timings. Takoi, Kiyoshi & Itoga, Yutaka & Takayanagi, Junji & Kosugi, Takayuki & Shioi, Toru & Nakamura, Takeshi & Watari, Junji. 2014. DOI: 10.1094/ASBCJ-2014-0116-01.]</ref>.

Sulfur -based compounds known as ''thiols'' have also been shown to be produced by yeast fermentation from hop derived precursors (suspected to be S-glutathione). So far, science has found that these include the volatile thiols 3-sulfanyl-4-methylpentan-1-ol (3S4MP; grapefruit) and 3-sulfanyl-4-methylpentyl acetate (3S4MPA; passionfruit, grapefruit). These thiols were found in beers dry hopped separately with Amarillo, Hallertau Blanc, and Mosaic hop varieties. The amounts of these two thiols were higher than expected based on the content of these thiols in the hops alone <ref name="Cibaka_2016" />. See also this [https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1373899592638251/ MTF thread speculating on how ''Brettanomyces'' might produce thiols].

In general, different yeast strains have a large impact on how hops are perceived in the final beer, including both perceived bitterness and flavors. For example, POF+ (phenolic positive) strains of ''[[Saccharomyces|Saccharomyces cerevisiae]]'' tends to mask the hop -derived aromas in dry hopped beers <ref name="Sharp_Presentation" />. A beer hopped with the Tradition hop variety produced fruit flavors when fermented with Abbaye ale yeast, and woody/spicy flavors when fermented with US-05. When the beer was brewed with Citra hops, with US-05 the beer had sweet fruits/citrus flavors and more bitterness, but when fermented with the Abbaye ale strain the beer had a more one dimensional sweet fruit/floral flavor and less bitterness <ref>"Influence of yeast strain on hop aroma development in dry hopped beers." Christina Schönberger, Elisabeth Wiesen, Benedikt Matsche, Barth Innovations Yves Gosselin, Stephan Meulemans, Fermentis. Presentation slides at 35th Congress EBC.</ref>.

Hops contain glycosides, which are flavor compounds that are bound to a sugar molecule. In their bound form, glycosides are flavorless. Studies on hop compounds elude to the possibility of compounds being produced by the glycosidic activity of ''S. cerevisiae'', however direct evidence of glucosidic activity in ''S. cerevisiae'' is lacking. Daenen (2008) reviewed the glycosidic activity of many strains of ''S. cerevisiae'', and found that only a few strains expressed any real glucosidic activity and none that exhibited exo-beta-glucosidase which would be required to break glycosidic bonds in the beer/wort. Daenen did find that enzymatic activity from some strains of ''Brettanomyces'' can efficiently release these bound compounds and release their flavor and aromatic potential <ref name="Praet_2012" />. Beta-glucosidase enzyme can also be added to beer to enhance the breakdown of glycosides and intensify hop -derived flavors and aromas. For example, one study showed an increase in citrus, orange, grapefruit, and tropical pineapple in a Cascade dry hopped beer that had beta-glucosidase enzymes added to it <ref>"Optimizing hop aroma in beer dry hopped with Cascade utilizing glycosidic enzymes (presentation slides)." Kaylyn Kirkpatrick from New Belgium Brewing Co. Young Scientist Symposium, Chico, CA 2016.</ref>. There is also some evidence to support that there is higher glucosidase activity in seeded hops, which are generally not used in the brewing industry <ref>"Seeded and "Unseeded Hops - a Quality Comparison (presentation slides)." Martin Zarnkow. EBC 2015.</ref>.