YCH DynaBoost™: Everything You Need to Know About the New Flowable Hop Product

Photography courtesy of Yakima Chief Hops

Schilaty says YCH has a robust pipeline of R&D products that aim to fill in gaps in the brewhouse, such as with flowable hops. Like all their innovations, YCH DynaBoost™ began on a lab scale to run trials.

“If things look promising, we scale up production,” says Schilaty, adding that YCH DynaBoost™ has been in the pipeline for around three years and that she has personally been involved in its R&D for two years.

We’re huge fans of their R&D system and how they ask brewers for feedback,

Samuel Pecoraro - Von Ebert Brewing

YCH DynaBoost™ is a flowable aroma hop extract that brewers can use in conjunction with T-90 pellets. It’s varietal specific and has twenty percent total oils.

“It’s fragrant, and it will definitely impact the flavor, too,” Schilaty says. “There are still alpha acids in there, so you will get some bitterness, too.”

Schilaty says that, to evaluate the efficacy of YCH DynaBoost™, they conducted side-by-side brew trials, replacing around half of the T-90 additions with the same varietal.

“We did a tetrad test to see if you could taste the difference, and people couldn’t,” she says. “So that’s how we knew it would be impactful.”

Currently, YCH DynaBoost™ comes in the Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Sabro varietals. Schilaty says several more varietals will be available once the product is branded and launched (the soft launch happened late last fall).

In addition to running trials on their three-barrel pilot system, Schilaty says they partnered with nearly a dozen breweries, who conducted surveys after using the product.

“We like to use their [measurable] numbers better than our pilot R&D system [to generate data],” she says. “We usually aim to partner with five to ten breweries for R&D. This was a bit bigger.”

Pecoraro says Von Ebert has partnered with YCH on many projects, putting a premium on trying out new products to find new ways to push their limits.

“We’re huge fans of their R&D system and how they ask brewers for feedback,” Pecoraro says.

Von Ebert has been using CO2 extract for late kettle and whirlpool additions for years. That method is standardized by alpha acid. YCH DynaBoost™ is a bit different.

“YCH DynaBoost™ attracted us because it’s standardized by oils,” Pecoraro says. “It’s more varietal specific and consistent across the board, and I have been a big fan ever since.”

YCH approached Von Ebert in the middle of last year to test YCH DynaBoost™, and Pecoraro got on board. He says Von Ebert has played around with Simcoe, using it in their Volatile Substance and Citra in their Sector 7 thus far. As a brewery that leans heavily on Mosaic, Pecoraro says they will likely get around to using that and other varietals.

Photography courtesy of Yakima Chief Hops

Pecoraro says they focus a lot on pre-dry-hop aroma.

“We want to make sure we get as much impact there as possible,” Pecoraro says. “We saw higher flavor and aroma impact with YCH DynaBoost™ than CO2 extract.”

He adds, “The aroma and flavor impacts were increased pre-dry hop and identifiably true to brand versus a muted general hoppiness.”

“It’s about flowability and solubility; increases yield; it stores easily; and it’s a small footprint,” Schilaty says.

Schilaty says in developing YCH DynaBoost™, YCH assesses the market and tries to improve on what issues they hear from brewers. She says this product has exceptional flowability.

“We are really proud that this is truly flowable at room temperature,” says Schilaty, adding that it can flow nicely right out of the fridge, but it’s more challenging to achieve consistency when poured cold. “Because of that [flowability], it’s integrating into the wort better.”

It’s about flowability and solubility; increases yield; it stores easily; and it’s a small footprint,

Yakima Chief Hops - Tessa Schilaty

In Pecoraro’s experience, YCH DynaBoost™ is a bit easier to use.

“Flowability is an afterthought. It doesn’t seem to need any special treatment,” he says. “It’s way more flowable and easier to use than CO2 extract.”

Schilaty adds, “Side by side, we noticed [YCH DynaBoost™] doesn’t drop to the bottom of the kettle, and you don’t need to continue to add wort to get all the product out.”

Another benefit Schilaty sees from YCH DynaBoost™ is an increase in yield.

“Seventy-five percent of the breweries surveyed said they noticed a measurable increase in yield,” Schilaty says. “That means up to a five percent increase in yield compared to the same beer without using YCH DynaBoost™.”

Pecoraro adds, “Obviously, yield is a big added bonus.”

Photography courtesy of Yakima Chief Hops

Schilaty says YCH designed the product for the brewers to use during the whirlpool phase.

“But brewers get creative and have been trying it on the cold side,” she says.

On its product page, YCH recommends taking out the YCH DynaBoost™—which you should store in cool temperatures—at the beginning of your brew day, and by the time it needs to go into the whirlpool, it will have “maximum pourability.”

Schilaty adds, “We did some cold side [additions] where we plopped it into the fermenters. The beers tasted great, but the brewer had to spend some time on fermenter cleanup, but the beers turned out well.

Photography courtesy of Yakima Chief Hops

Yakima Chief Hops says to substitute with T-90 pellets at a one to ten clip.

“It’s easy math,” says Schilaty. “For every ten grams of T-90 pellets, you use one gram of DynaBoost™.”

Pecoraro says they follow the recommended YCH dosage.

“I do think that the consistency is key here,” he says, reiterating that the product is standardized by oils. “YCH DynaBoost™ is consistent.”

Pecoraro says he uses about half of their hot-side additions with flowable products. But they don’t completely replace T-90 pellets.

For every ten grams of T-90 pellets, you use one gram of DynaBoost™.

Yakima Chief Hops - Tessa Schilaty

“A lot of that is building polyphenols, and if we use too much, we lose a little mouthfeel,” he says. “We trialed way more and felt fifty percent worked well. We defaulted to that for all flowables.”

Schilaty says she doesn’t see YCH DynaBoost™ tied to any particular style.

“It can be used for any recipe where they use hops in the whirlpool,” Schilaty says. “I think in a beer that you’re going to heavily dry hop, I reckon you’ll be able to use a bigger percentage of DynaBoost™ in the whirlpool.”

She adds, “If you’re just trying to brew something like a lager and be more cost-efficient, it will work [as well].”

Pecoraro sees benefits of YCH DynaBoost™ across the board.

“Any hop-forward beer would benefit from a consideration of YCH DynaBoost™,” he says. “Outside of that, an American stout, Cascadian dark ale, big hoppy red beer … a West Coast pilsner too, there would be an application.”