Omni Hop Profiles provide brewers sustainability benefits without sacrificing varietal-specific flavors and aromas.

Between hop farming and the actual brewing process, the sustainability of brewing has always left something to be desired. Hops require specific environmental features and no small amount of resources. They need lots of moisture in the spring, warm summer temps, and brewing beer requires plenty of energy to heat and cool water, wort, and beer.

The brewing industry isn’t likely to ditch hops for another plant ingredient anytime soon, though. It doesn’t feel like a stretch to say they’ll never abandon the plant that’s become a cornerstone of beer tradition. Honestly, we don’t blame them. It’s hard to imagine a hoppy IPA without the hops.

Sure, pellets offered benefits over whole hops, and hop extracts expanded on those benefits. However, these benefits often come at the expense of varietal-specific flavors and aromas. Plus, there’s still room for sustainability improvement. Fortunately, the next evolution of sustainable hop products is here.

Read on and learn how Omni Hop Profiles offer brewers much-needed sustainability benefits while providing rich, varietal-specific flavor and aroma year after year.

Omni Hop Profiles are created using terpenes and other compounds from sustainable botanicals to formulate, replicate, and standardize the flavor and aroma of any hop. This living hop record eliminates seasonal flavor drift, supply inconsistencies, and the worry that climate change will wipe out your favorite hop. Brew with Omni for the flavor and aroma of your preferred hop year after year.

Sustainability Issues in Brewing

While brewery size, location, and beverage requirements can influence resource use, things like water, electricity, and natural gas are a necessity. When you look at the brewing process, it’s not hard to see why. From generating hot water and steam, powering equipment, refrigeration needs, and more, brewing requires considerable resources. 

Plus, shipping and storing whole hops and/or pellets has a very real impact on carbon footprint. The weight exacerbates the already significant amount of fuel needed for transportation, and they also take up a lot of space. The logistics of shipping and storage alone are expensive and make sustainability efforts that much more difficult.

That’s not to say there aren’t breweries taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. A case study from the Brewers Association explained how Deschutes Brewery implemented energy-saving strategies with new equipment.

In the brew house, energy recovery reduces the need for steam. All of the heat for the brew house comes from steam supplied by two new, energy-efficient natural gas boilers. Heat lost from the boiling wort (unfermented beer) in the brew kettle is recovered and used to pre-heat future batches of wort with a vapor condenser on the exhaust stack. This translates into less energy demand, lower operational costs, and faster brew times.

Case Study

Energy Usage, GHG Reduction, Efficiency and Load Management Manual

Over the last several years, there have been many energy-saving initiatives throughout the brewing industry. While that’s a move in the right direction, hops as an ingredient still poses significant sustainability issues.

Climate change has not only made growing hops more difficult but it’s also made the entire process significantly more expensive. The cost of utilities and fuel have risen, water shortages make it difficult to supply adequate moisture, and environmental changes impact crop yield and alpha acid content. 

Combine that with acreage issues and pandemic-related demand fluctuations, and you’ll get issues like the current centennial hop shortage. With so many variables, it’s easy to catastrophize the state of brewing and hop farming. After all, if hops can’t be grown sustainably or affordably, then all the energy-saving initiatives in the world won’t give breweries the ingredients they need for their beer.

Fortunately, advancements in hop products are giving brewers a more efficient, sustainable alternative to whole hops and pellets.

The Sustainability Evolution From Whole Hops to Hop Extracts

The acceptance of pellets like T90 and T45 shows that brewers are willing to incorporate more efficient ingredients as long as they honor hop flavors and aromas. Compared to whole hops, pellets are more shelf-stable, have a slightly higher utilization rate, and provide a more consistent aroma and flavor (which makes for simpler dosing). They aren’t without their drawbacks, though.

Pellets can dissolve into trub, which can block or damage equipment if not properly handled. They also absorb liquid, which means yield loss and a waste of sellable beer. Plus, the pelletization process loses some delicate aromatic compounds, and over-boiling or over-dosing can cause unwanted grassy flavors. 

So, while pellets offer some sustainability benefits, they’re not perfect. That’s why the use of hop extracts was initially so exciting. They lack the biomass of previous methods, have no yield loss from absorption, are simple to ship and store, provide simple dosing, and require a significantly smaller amount than whole hops and pellets. Again, however, hop extracts are a work in progress when it comes to sustainability.

While these products offer efficiency benefits, it’s at the cost of varietal-specific aromas and flavors. As a result, they’re mainly used as bittering agents. They can also contain undesirable plant compounds that stick to the tank and require additional time and water to clean. Many require refrigeration before opening, and then they must be warmed before use.

Brewers are understandably picky when it comes to their ingredients. While ingredients that offer sustainability and efficiency benefits are desirable, brewers aren’t likely to prioritize those features over flavor and aroma. This is where Omni Hop Profiles knock it out of the park.

The Hop Extract Sustainability Breakthrough | Omni Hop Profiles

Omni Hop Profiles take the sustainability benefits of hop extracts to the next level. Aside from its ease-of-use, Omni offers significant logistical cost-savings, labor-savings, and a remarkable reduction in the environmental footprint needed to create hop products. Plus, brewers don’t have to sacrifice flavor and aroma for these benefits, either. 

• Doesn’t rely on ingredients prone to seasonal flavor drift.
• As a liquid, Omni lets you reduce or eliminate some biomass waste streams.
• Lower CO2 emissions from less packaging, lighter shipping weights, and transportation cost savings. 
• A drastic reduction in total hop material to impart flavor & aroma.

Imagine a 1,000 lb order of T90 pellets. That means shipping, unpacking, refrigerating, and ultimately using a total of twenty-two 44 lb boxes. The Omni equivalent is just 4 gallons - minimally packaged in lightproof glass and aluminum bottles. There are no boxes, foil, or other junk to throw away. 

This reduces the shipping, storage, waste, and labor requirements by an order of magnitude compared to whole hops or T90 pellets.

What’s more, we source Omni Hop Profiles from sustainable botanicals. Specifically, we use terpenes extracted from various botanical sources, including byproduct hop oils from CO2 hop extractions. This byproduct is usually discarded or made into fertilizer, but we have the equipment and expertise to extract compounds that were previously missed.

While we’re immensely proud that the foundation of Omni Hop Profiles is based on upcycling, we take things even further. Using next-generation technology, we chemically map and clone the aromatic profiles of hop varietals to formulate, replicate, and standardize the flavor and aroma of hops. This allows us to consistently replicate the smell of any hop from any place at any time.

• Varietal-specific and not an averaging of other oils.
• Doesn’t require workflow modifications, which means no additional labor.
• No yield loss. Omni is a liquid, so there is nothing to soak up potential beer.
• Requires only a fraction of the dosing you’d typically need.
• 100% utilization rate. Immediately disperses into a solution.
• Doesn’t require refrigeration before opening and can be used at room temp.

Essentially, Omni Hop Profiles are a true living record of specific hop samples that can be recreated forever. There will be no more seasonal flavor drift, supply inconsistencies, or worrying that climate change will wipe out your favorite hop. When you brew with Omni, it’s just the consistent flavor and aroma of your preferred hop year after year.

How Does Omni Compare to Whole Hops or Pellets?

Even when brewers use whole hops, things like shortages and seasonal flavor drift can make it difficult to dial in desired flavors and aromas. With Omni Hop Profiles, that’s not a problem, and it never will be.

Omni offers consistent, scalable flavor and aroma year after year because we don’t rely on ingredients prone to seasonal flavor drift. Plus, it’s more shelf stable, it requires only a fraction of the dosing you’d typically need, and it won’t impact yield since it doesn’t absorb liquid volume like traditional hops. 

It’s also significantly less expensive. Shipping, storage, waste, and labor requirements are reduced by an order of magnitude compared to whole hops or T90 pellets.

With a dosing equivalency of 0.5 oz = 1lb T90, you can replace up to 70% of your cold-side hopping bill by using Omni. 

How Does Omni Compare to Other Hop Extracts?

Where most hop extracts are used as bittering agents, Omni Hop Profiles don’t contain acids and are built entirely for aroma. Compare these to the flavor of other options, and it’s like night and day.

On top of that, Omni has no undesirable plant compounds. That means it doesn’t stick to the tank and won’t require additional cleaning steps. It can also be used at room temperature and doesn’t require refrigeration before opening. 

Industry Impact of Omni Sustainability Benefits

The ability to create a true living hop record means we can capture the flavor and aroma of rare or endangered varietals. Once a varietal has entered the hop graveyard, there’s very little anyone can do to recreate those lost aromatics. With Omni, the industry will have access to them forever.

Omni can also create entirely new hop flavors and aromas that won’t require multiyear breeding programs. We can use our analytical capabilities to customize something that’s never existed before. 

Maybe you want a Citra® with more citrus, a danker version of Strata®, or a profile based entirely on your palate. Whatever the case, Omni exponentially expands the brewing industry’s access to classic, limited, endangered, and entirely new hop flavors and aromas.

Omni Hop Profiles Revolutionize Brewing Sustainability

Some brewers truly are artists. The time they spend balancing ingredients and modifying their processes is staggering. Having to do all of that while considering the economic and environmental sustainability of their operation adds an entirely new layer of complexity that your average beer lover might not always appreciate.

At Abstrax, we see it. We see all of the hard work, the unpaid labor, the creative genius, and we want to make it easier for you to keep doing what you do best… brewing great-tasting beer.

Whether you’re trying to keep brewing your most popular hazy IPA amidst a shortage or trying to craft the next best hop water or NA beer, Omni Hop Profiles just make brewing easier.