Beer Ingredients
Hops!
Hops are the female flower clusters or seed cones of the hop vine Humulus lupulus,[13] which are used as a flavouring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today. Hops contain several characteristics that brewers desire in beer: they contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt; they provide floral, citrus, and herbal aromas and flavours; they have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms; and they aid in "head retention", the length of time that a foamy head will last. The acidity of hops is a preservative. Flavouring beer is the sole major commercial use of hops.
