Organic solvents originally used for preparing hop extracts

1 Organic solvents originally used for preparing hop extracts 

In Germany, one hop extract plant is operating with ethanol, as is a small plant in Spain. The advent of carbon dioxide has thus, in the space of ten years, almost entirely replaced organic solvents for the extraction of hops. 

3 Advantages of compressed CO2 over conventional organic solvents for the extraction of hops extraction plant utilising this solvent 

Many of the extraction characteristics of CO2 compare favourably with those of organic solvents and there are other reasons for preferring carbon dioxide. 

Consumers, and therefore producers and suppliers, of food and beverages have become aware of the diverse nature of the ingredients and processing aids involved in their preparation. They have been encouraged to look favourably upon the natural and to view with suspicion the artificial or synthetic . As a component of the atmosphere and a product of yeast fermentation, carbon dioxide finds ready acceptance compared with all other organic solvents except ethanol, which is seen as equally natural . Ethanol, however, attracts the attention of excise authorities and, if not the payment of duty, considerable paperwork. 

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