METHODS FOR MODIFYING A HOP FLAVOR PROFILE
A method of purifying a hop raw material includes subjecting the hop raw material to a first processing step to form a hop oil extract substantially free of lipids, waxes, flavonoids, and plant matter, collecting the hop oil extract, and optionally subjecting the hop oil extract to a second processing step to yield a purified hop oil product.
1 . A method of producing a hop raw material extract, the method comprising:
contacting the hop raw material with a non-aqueous solvent to form a solution;
subjecting the solution to a first processing step to form a hop extract; and
subjecting the hop extract to a second processing step to yield a purified hop oil product,
wherein the second processing step comprises distillation.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-aqueous solvent comprises hydrocarbon, a terpene, an alcohol, or a combination of any two or more thereof.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-aqueous solvent comprises a non-polar solvent selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, isoprene, or a combination of any two or more thereof.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the non-polar solvent comprises butane.
5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the non-polar solvent consists of butane.
6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the non-aqueous solvent further comprises diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, or a combination thereof.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first processing step comprises winterizing or freezing to generate a solid phase and an extract phase.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first processing step comprises winterization comprising cooling the solution to a temperature of about 20° C. to about −80° C. for a time period of about 5 min to about 1 h to form a cooled solution.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first processing step further comprises filtering the cooled solution and collecting the extract phase.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first processing step further comprises removing at least a portion of the non-polar solvent from the extract phase to form a hop extract.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the removing at least a portion of the non-polar solvent comprises heating, rotary evaporation, column separation, or devolatilization.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the distillation comprises wiped film distillation, rolled film distillation, falling film distillation, molecular distillation, or vacuum distillation.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the distillation comprises wiped film distillation.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the distillation is conducted at a temperature of about 60° C. to about 150° C.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hop oil extract and/or the purified hop oil product has a higher purity of at least one terpene compared to the hop raw material.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hop oil extract and/or the purified hop oil product has a lower content of at least one terpene compared to the hop raw material.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the at least one terpene comprises myrcene, humulene, or caryophyllene.
18 . The method of claim 1 further comprising blending the purified hop oil product with a terpene, a terpenoid, or both a terpene and a terpenoid; wherein the terpene or terpenoid comprises α-bisabolol, borneol, camphene, camphor, β-caryophyllene, γ-3-carene, caryophyllene oxide, α-cedrene, β-eudesmol, fenchol, geraniol, guaiol, α-humulene, isoborneol, limonene, linalool, menthol, myrcene, nerol, cis-ocimene, trans-ocimene, α-phellandrene, α-pinene, β-pinene, sabinene, α-terpinene, α-terpineol, terpinolene, α-guaiene, elemene, farnesene, germacrene, guaiol, pinanol, selina-3,7(11)-diene, eudesm-7(11)-en-4-ol, or valencene.
19 . A method for producing a hop oil extract, the method comprising:
mixing a hop oil raw material with a non-polar solvent;
cooling the mixture to form a cooled mixture comprising a solid phase and an extract phase;
separating the solid phase from the extract phase, wherein the separating comprises filtering the cooled mixture; and
removing the non-polar solvent from the extract phase to yield a hop oil extract.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the non-polar solvent is butane.
21 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising subjecting the extract phase to wiped film distillation after the separating step.
22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein:
the cooling comprises winterizing or freezing the mixture; and
removing the non-polar solvent comprises at least one of heating, distillation, rotary evaporation, column separation, or devolatilization.