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Hops

138 bytes added, 14:32, 17 July 2017
updated the Intro paragraph
[[File:Jester King aged hops.jpg|thumbnail|upright=2.0|[http://jesterkingbrewery.com/home-for-our-aged-hops Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas aging their own hops in an old barn. Image provided by Jeffrey Stuffings.]]]
'''Hops''' are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the female [https://www.reference.com/science/difference-between-monoecious-dioecious-6273de1768bd915f dioecious] (meaning that they have separate male and female plants) plant ''Humulus lupulus'' <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hops "Hops". Wikipedia. Retrieved 06/10/2017.]</ref>, and are used in brewing for flavor as well as for antimicrobial properties. Although bitterness from boiling hops is generally not desired in sour beers, sour and funky brewers can use hops to help regulate lactic acid bacteria and control acid production to desired levels, especially in aged [[Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer|mixed-fermentation]] or [[Spontaneous Fermentation|spontaneous fermentation]] beers. Additionally, it may be argued that the earthy bitterness from aged hops is desired for lambic based styles (see [[Hops#Aged_Hops_in_Lambic|Hops in lambic]] below). Potentially other mixed fermentation styles can benefit from some degree of bitterness either from aged or fresh hops such as saisons, farmhouse ales, and experimental styles. So while the mantra for sour beer is that "bitterness and sour don't work together", there are certainly exceptions to this rule. Brewers who are interested in rapid acid production using quick/kettle souring techniques such as [[Sour Worting|wort souring]] may wish to limit or avoid hop use before acidifying so that sufficient acid is produced quickly.
==Hop Composition==

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