At the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, after years of intensive R&D, John I. Haas Inc. and the Barth-Haas Group announced that its innovative bittering hop product FLEX is now available for worldwide sale and distribution.
What is FLEX?
FLEX is a 100 percent all-natural hop product crafted to be pourable at room temperature and to provide brewing flexibility and improved brewhouse efficiency. Even though it’s made using sophisticated processing technology, the John I. Haas crew says FLEX is just like fresh-squeezed hops. It’s convenient, easy to dose and typically offers brewers better than 10 percent increase in alpha acids utilization, when compared to hop pellets.
“Wort that’s bittered with FLEX provides a very clean canvas for aroma hops” said Virgil McDonald, head brewmaster at the John I. Haas Innovations Brewery. “We’ve been working closely with a number of brewers on FLEX, and the beers we’ve tasted have this great bitterness that is really clean and bright when you compare it to most other bittering alternatives.”
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A critically important aspect of FLEX is improving process utilization. Whole hops and hop pellets are mostly vegetal material, which acts like a sponge and can result in significant wort loss, especially in today’s hop-forward IPAs. FLEX is a pourable liquid, so there’s no process loss, no waste handling or disposal of spent hops. And unlike CO2 extracts, FLEX doesn’t need to be preheated or pre-mixed with other liquids before it’s added to the kettle.
“As the craft brewing industry grows more competitive, the demand for more profitable and sustainable brewing practices has increased,” said Dr. Alex Byelashov, vice president of innovations at John I. Haas. “FLEX is a simple-to-use product that was developed by listening to brewers and understanding what they need to improve quality and efficiency.”
“Brewing great beer is our passion and our commitment,” said Tim Matthews, head of brewing operations at Oskar Blues Brewing Co. “We’re also focused on bringing greater efficiency into our entire brewing and production processes. FLEX enables us to deliver on our brewing and business-related goals. It’s a great product.”
John I. Haas Haas is a leading vertically integrated hop grower, supplier and breeder, with a world-class innovations center and research brewery located in North America. As a member of the Barth-Haas Group, Haas has the global reach to offer the products, tools, services and supply assurance needed to brew successful beers.
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