WASHINGTON D.C., April 5, 2017 – Continually striving to provide innovative new products in the hop industry, John I. Haas, Inc. and the Barth-Haas Group announce the launch of FLEX™, a flowable hop product that provides both brewing flexibility and improved brewhouse efficiency. FLEX™ is the result of sophisticated hop processing technology that greatly improves ease-of-use, and because it’s concentrated, results in lower shipping and storage costs compared to pellets, additionally impacting brewers’ bottom lines.

FLEX™ is a CO₂-extracted hop product that is flowable at room temperature. This easy-to-dose extract provides a pourable and convenient method of bittering, giving it significant advantages over hop pellets or powders. FLEX™ does not need to be pre-heated or pre-mixed with other liquids before the addition into the kettle. The product’s low viscosity enables brewers to avoid the inconveniences of standard hop resin extracts and improve operational effectiveness.

“As the craft brewing industry grows ever more competitive, the demand for more profitable and sustainable brewing practices has also increased,” said Dr. Alex Byelashov, Vice President of Innovations at John I. Haas. Mark Bossert, Director of Research and Development at John I. Haas adds, “FLEX™ is simple to use as a liquid hop extract but also provides effective beer bittering performance at a cost savings when compared to traditional hop pellets.”

“Brewing great beer is our passion and our commitment, and we’re also focused on bringing greater efficiency into our entire brewing and production processes,” said Tim Matthews, Head of Brewing Operations at Oskar Blues. “FLEX™ enables us to deliver on our brewing and business-related goals. It’s a great product. The proof is in the beer.”

FLEX™ is a reliable concentrated extract containing approximately 60% alpha acids. Having the alpha acids in a liquid form results in a more effective bitterness utilization, showing an improvement over pellets by 10%-30%. This product also eliminates the potential for wort retention in hop solids, reducing wort losses and thereby improving efficiency.

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