Hop Products Australia (HPA) has officially opened its brand-new pelleting, packaging and cold storage facility, Hop Central.
For the past decade, HPA has undertaken capital expansion projects aimed at enhancing varietal diversity, ensuring supply reliability, and improving product quality – culminating in the opening of Hop Central as the final piece of this complex puzzle.
Located in Myrtleford, in Victoria’s high country, the $20m project is described by HPA marketing manager Grace Irwin as both empowering and “a once in a generation investment.”
“Hop Central is a highly efficient operation that will reduce the spread of analytical data across pellet lots, retain a higher percentage of oils in the finished product, and minimise residual oxygen in the final packaging. This translates to more consistent performance in beer, low cost-of-use relative to impact in beer, and greater storage stability,” she said.
The state-of-the-art facility uses a range of advanced technology including cold chain bale shipping and storage, temperature-controlled production rooms, and modern packaging equipment.
Irwin said this ensures maximum impact on beer by preserving the bittering, flavour and aroma potential of HPA’s hops for their entire shelf life.
“The purpose-built facility operates according to rigorous manufacturing, packaging, storage and distribution standards that have set us up for Food Safety System Certification. This assurance builds trust and confidence in HPA’s promise to deliver the highest possible quality, with the lowest possible flavour variability year after year,” said Irwin.
Hop Central uses inline near infrared (NIR) analysis, which has a higher analytical throughput than physical or chemical analysis method.
“HPA is the only hop grower in the world with this level of resolution, which aids data handling and decision making. This includes creating homogenous pellet lots based on the whole-crop averages for oils, alphas, moisture and Hop Storage Index (HIS), so we can deliver great Galaxy® for everybody in the galaxy,” said Irwin.
In addition, a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system allows the HPA team to see every step of the process from any screen throughout the facility.
The system monitors all inline measurements and alerts the operator if there is a deviation from our specifications.
Irwin said this ensures any potential concerns are addressed in real-time and enhances the team’s traceability capabilities.
The HPA’s new facility supports the company’s commitment to experimentation and offering choice and diversity beyond their six proprietary hops, which Irwin said customers will be able to experience soon.
“This year, we produced limited pellet lots of three leading experimental hops from our breeding program, one of which will be commercialised in the coming years.”