More hops doesn’t always equal better beer — or better business. When you rely solely on traditional pellets and whole cone, beer lost to absorption drives up your COGS and shrinks what actually makes it to market.
Enter Spectrum® from BarthHaas and Incognito® from John I. Haas, two flowable, 100% hop extracts designed for high-impact flavor. Both products are the best part of the hop without the vegetative material. They look a little too similar at first glance… What’s the difference?
The functionality! Spectrum® and Incognito® have different, complementary functions. Incognito® is for hot-side application, designed to maximize flavor in the whirlpool. Spectrum® is for cold-side application, designed for dry-hopping.
Both products can be used as a replacement for T90s, but since both are 100% hops, they work seamlessly in tandem with T90 pellets, complementing those traditional flavors without the process loss. This can help brewers who need to supplement an extra hit of flavor while saving beer, or simply want to layer in different varieties. In fact, we’ve heard that using Incognito with T90 pellets can even be beneficial — the floating liquid binds onto pellet matter for layers of flavor complexity in the whirlpool.
Unlike other hop oils on the market, both Incognito® and Spectrum® are 100% hops, preserving the full hop profile rather than isolating a single fraction or relying on added carriers. Spectrum® still contains additional fractions of hops like resins and polyphenols that add dimension to hop flavor, designed to completely dissolve in cold beer. And whirlpooling with soluble extracts like Incognito® can extract those haze-positive hop polyphenols too.
An added bonus about Spectrum®: it can be used to reduce hop creep, a slow secondary fermentation that can occur after dry hopping. Amylolytic enzymes found in hops are starch-degrading, breaking down long-chain, unfermentable dextrins into fermentable sugars, giving any remaining yeast fuel to restart the process. Because Spectrum® doesn’t contain these enzymes, hop creep is no longer an unwelcome surprise to your finished beer.
With no special equipment required to dose, Spectrum® and Incognito® have similar T90 replacement rates. These are the first recommended rates for each product, with adjustments recommended to achieve desired results:
Spectrum®: 1:5–1:8 replacement ratio (1 kg of Spectrum per 5–8 kg of T90 pellets)
Incognito®: 1:6 replacement ratio (1 g/L in the whirlpool per 6 g/L of T90 pellets, or ~1.5 lb/bbl)
Be sure not to dose either product straight from cold storage! Both are flowable at room temperature, so brewers often set out their extracts for at least 30 minutes prior to dosing, even setting the jug in some hot water to warm it up a bit more. A little gentle agitation is key.
Compared to pellets, Spectrum® and Incognito® are cheaper to ship and cheaper to store, taking up less space in the shipping truck and the cold storage than traditional T90s. With less material for similar results, the result is reduced costs and emissions for your brewery.
Tl;dr: Spectrum® is for dry hopping, and Incognito® is for the whirlpool. Use one, or both — minimize those process losses without sacrificing hop flavor and beer loss.
For questions or help dialing in a recipe, reach out to brewing.solutions@johnihaas.com.
Spectrum® Available In: Azacca®, Bru-1™, Cascade, Citra®, Eclipse®, El Dorado®, Galaxy®, Mosaic®, Vic Secret™
Incognito® Available In: Centennial, Chinook, Citra®, Ekuanot®, El Dorado®, Mosaic®, Sabro®, Dolcita™
