John I. Haas, Inc. (HAAS®) and BarthHaas® are proud to announce their innovative new hop flavor product – HopKick® – is available for worldwide sale and distribution.
HopKick is a 100% hop-derived aqueous extract that is clear, flowable, variety specific, and true-to-type. HopKick is designed for addition to the cold side of beverage operations to achieve the greatest impact of flavor and aroma in beverages, beer, and beyond. It’s currently available in Citra®, Mosaic®, El Dorado®, and Centennial hop varieties.
“We’ve been seeing this wave of seltzers, Ready to Drink cocktails (RTDs), hop waters, teas, and other products that are really blurring category lines,” said Shaelyn (Shae) Maloney, HAAS Brewing Solutions Specialist. “It’s as if brewers are moving towards becoming beverage companies, and we’re also seeing beverage companies break into the alcohol space. We wanted to develop a product that could fill that gap for those flavor applications while providing the quality, variety-specific hop flavors we’re known for.”
In non-brewing applications, like seltzers, teas, and RTDs, HopKick helps to enhance the beverage’s existing flavors even at low dosage rates. At higher dose rates, you enjoy variety-specific, true-to-type hop flavor and aroma.
Maloney explains, “At higher dosage rates, you get a true-to-type flavor addition. Citra HopKick tastes like Citra T-90 pellets, Mosaic HopKick tastes like Mosaic. But when you have lower doses, you get this interesting flavor modulation.” She continued, “Take watermelon flavor, for instance, which is often artificial and one dimensional. When you add a little bit of HopKick, like El Dorado—which is often described as watermelon Jolly Rancher®—it takes those watermelon flavors and makes them a little bit more juicy and natural, more complex.”
HopKick contains no hop solids and eliminates beverage losses associated with the liquid absorption of traditional hop pellets, which makes it a highly efficient flavor and aroma product. Plus, HopKick is a water soluble hop essence derived from a liquid hop extraction process and contains only hop-derived components, so it makes for a natural “clean-label” ingredient that won’t add cloudiness or color to a beverage, just great hop flavor.
“The brewing industry continues to be a dynamic environment. As category convergence continues our core customers are increasingly finding innovative ways to adjust their product portfolios to be better aligned with consumer preferences.” said Josh Vigansky, HAAS Director of Business Development. “HopKick is a fantastic, all-natural hop product that helps brewers and beverage companies stay on-trend with changing consumer preferences, allows new ways to create compelling flavor combinations that are new and exciting, and supports a continued interest on health and well-being. We’re really excited to see what brewers do with it.”
Early brewing trials showed that brewers’ interests in HopKick were high, and that they are excited to use it. Amy Cartwright, Founder of Independence Brewing Co. in Austin, Texas, ran one of the early trials. “We found HopKick enhanced the aroma of [our] hop water and smoothed out some of the bitterness. The aroma enhancement is excellent. We liked that the flavor did not add perceived bitterness.” Their newest water product – named “KAW!” – uses HopKick for these very reasons.
Continually striving to provide innovative new products in the hops industry, John I. Haas and BarthHaas are excited to offer HopKick to brewers worldwide. To learn more about the benefits of using HopKick, visit johnihaas.com/hopkick.
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