The elucidation of the “hoppy aroma note” in beer has always been a challenging task. The main reason without any doubt is the lack of sensitive and selective analytical methods. In the brewery industry, organoleptic panels very often identify a hoppy note in beers, but analytical evidence cannot support their observations. Two new sampling techniques, namely stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE)[1] and headspace sorptive extraction (HSSE)[2] were evaluated for the enrichment of hop derived solutes in beers.
Both techniques offer an effective and easy-handling enrichment of important organic solutes from the aqueous or gaseous (headspace) matrix. The high amount of sorbent coated on the bars (24 μL on a 1 cm bar coated with a 0.5 μm dimethylpolysiloxane fi lm) results in excellent sensitivities due to a more favourable phase ratio (PDMS/sample) than in solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) using 100 μm coated fibers.
