Hops and Potential Nigerian Substitutes

Hop plants are vital to the brewing industry. Hop extracts give beer its bitter taste, improve foam stability, enhance aroma and flavour, and act as antiseptic towards microorganisms. Hop plants are grown throughout the temperate regions of the world. Nigeria is in tropical region and since beer production in Nigeria has never declined with ready market as consumption rate continues to increase, the importation of hops becomes inevitable resulting in the spending of huge amounts of scarce foreign exchange by the brewing sector. This work investigates the potential of some Nigerian plants for use as hops in beer brewing. If the result becomes positive, brewing industries in Nigeria will no longer depend on imported hops. This level of raw material freedom will confer definite economic advantages to the Nigerian brewery industry. The economic importance of such raw material freedom is considerably significant and forms a reasonable boost for research in this area. This book is recommended for teaching and research in the areas of Natural Sciences and Engineering in the universities and other tertiary institutions and should be especially useful to professionals in the brewing sector.