No. nectar® is a unique pellet type with raw hops being processed to highly enriched hop pellets. All hop varieties can be processed to nectar®.

Raw hops are concentrated into a highly enriched, oily and resinous powder and processed into pellets. During this process, more than half of the previous mass consisting of bracts, strigs and other non-relevant substances are removed. Our unique and fine-tuned method of pelletisation makes the production of highly-concentrated nectar® pellets possible. For example, variety Ariana with an alpha acid content of 8,5% in raw hops can be pelletised to nectar® with 18 % alpha acid with oil contents doubling as well.

• Beer output is considerably higher than with P90 or P45 due to very little trub
• Cleaning time of tanks is greatly reduced
• Finer beer aroma. Existing recipes can easily be fine-tuned
• Elimination of differences in beer quality (crop years, harvesting time) -> easier repeat accuracy of the brewing process
• Natural impurities are removed with the bracts; hygienisation
• Ingress of unwanted substances of natural and unnatural origin mainly occur in the bracts and/or adhere to them. They are also removed in the pelletising process (example: nitrate).
• Packing volume is reduced by half, thus making handling and shipping easier and less expensive.

nectar® can be processed to soft pellets only. These pellets are soft, yet solid enough to let the brewer handle them as he is used to with other pellets. Hops2Brew’s pelletising plant has been producing soft pellets since 2015 so as to preserve the ingredients as much as possible. The production of nectar® is only possible with the extensive knowledge we have acquired. nectar® is produced with a diameter of 10mm. The advantage of this size is a distinct preservation of aroma oils. In case your dosage system only allows for 6 mm pellets, we can also produce these, of course.

Hop pellets type 45 only determine a specified concentration of alpha acid. In that process, a minimal degree of enrichment is achieved. For example, variety Perle from a low-alpha crop year can be typically standardised to 8 % whereas processing to nectar® leads to an enrichment of 2 – 2,5 times the alpha acid. The major importance in this process, however, is to concentrate aroma oils as carefully as possible. Accordingly, alpha acid concentration rises in the product, too – these two parameters make this product unique (see chart above). Therefore, we do not want to compare nectar® with branded products like cryo, lupomax, bbe etc.. Instead, it is up to the brewer to check all parameters in the comparison of the products. We are certain that the price-benefit ratio of nectar® is outstanding.

Polyphenols have many positive effects in beer. With higher hop dosage, however, this might be too much of a good thing leading to undesired side tastes or astringent bitterness. This occurrence is often described as grassy, herbal, scratchy, over-hopped or with terms like “hop burn” etc. With nectar®, the brewer can further intensify the aroma without running that risk. In the book “The new IPA”, numerous scientific studies on that topic have been covered. The result: there is a correlation of too high polyphenol contents with the occurrence of “hop burn”. The findings for strongly hopped beer styles can be successfully transferred to less strongly hopped beers, too.

At each point! For bitter or aroma dosage, in the whirlpool and of course for dry hopping. In the latter, nectar® can show its full potential !

Yes. In the legal sense, it is natural hops. Furthermore, the product nectar® has been certified within the framework of the Hops Act. As is the case with all products from Hops2Brew, an accompanying certificate is enclosed to the product. Additionally, we can provide all certificates requested for shipment to foreign countries.

Yes. All of Hops2Brew’s hop products come from farms that have sustainability certificates.

Yes, in Hops2Brew’s own lab as well as one of the external laboratories. Due to the vicinity to the Hop Research Centre in Huell, we also use their competence with regard to hop analytics. Nevertheless, our own laboratory is essential for processing and quality monitoring of nectar®.