Hopzoil also: Hopzoil MAJIK

Steam-distilled fresh-hop oil. No solvents. Liquid dry-hopping in MAJIK water-soluble form.

Manufacturer
Glacier Hops Ranch + Green Acre Farms (joint distribution)
Released
2016

What it is, in plain English

Hopzoil is fresh-hop essential oil — produced from wet hops straight from the field at harvest, steam-distilled with no chemicals or solvents. It comes in single-variety and blend formats (3C's = Cascade/Centennial/Chinook, Citrus Fruitbomb, West Coast Fusion, Dank & Stormy, Citrone). The MAJIK format is water-soluble (no ethanol or emulsification needed), meant for cold-side addition after fermentation but before carbonation. Brewers use it for 'liquid dry-hopping' — replacing or supplementing pellet dry-hops with a few mL of concentrated oil.

The technical version

Wet hops are steam-distilled minutes after picking, capturing the volatile aromatic compounds before they can degrade. The result is pure essential oil — no solvent residue, no plant matter, just terpenes and other volatile aromatics in concentrated liquid form. The MAJIK format adds emulsifiers so it disperses cleanly into beer.

How brewers use it

Cold-side application only — heat will boil off the volatile terpenes. Add post-fermentation, pre-carbonation. Tiny doses: a few mL per BBL is typical. Can fully or partially replace pellet dry-hops. Eliminates dry-hop trub entirely (no plant matter to clog filters or absorb beer). Storage is shelf-stable (lightproof bottles, no refrigeration required for MAJIK). Note: oil products can affect head retention if overdosed, since they thin the foam-stabilizing protein layer.

Who uses it

Hop water producers (faster than steeping pellets, no filtration needed), seltzer makers, and breweries who want to add varietal hop character without adding hops. Notable for non-alcoholic beer applications where dry-hop time would be problematic.

Tradeoffs
Hopzoil captures a particular slice of hop character — the steam-volatile fraction. It doesn't deliver the full polyphenol or biotransformation profile that comes from real pellet dry-hopping. Best as a complement, not a full replacement, for traditional hopping in beer (versus hop water/seltzer where it works on its own). Expensive on a per-mL basis but cheap on a per-batch basis given how little you use.

References

Explore more

→ All advanced hop tech

→ Hop varieties

→ Malt guide