Commission Regulation (EC) No 1850/2006Show full title

ANNEX II Methods referred to in Article 4(2) and Article 5

A. SAMPLING METHOD

The following procedure shall be used to take samples of hop cones for determining the moisture content and, where applicable, the extraneous matter content:

1. Sampling

(a) Packed hops

A weight of hops proportional to the weight of the package shall be taken from the number of packages specified in Article 5. Enough samples should be taken to ensure that there are enough cones to be representative of the package.

(b) Hops in a loose pile

Take equal portions from five to ten different places in the pile both at the surface and at various depths to constitute a sample. Place sample in the container as soon as possible. To avoid rapid deterioration, the quantity of hops must be sufficiently large to be highly compressed when the container is closed.

The sample must weigh at least 250 g.

2. Mixture

The samples must be carefully mixed to be representative of the consignment.

3. Sub-sampling

After mixing take one or more representative samples and place them in a waterproof, airtight container such as a metal box, a glass jar or a plastic bag, except where only the extraneous matter content is to be checked.

4. Storage

Except during transport, samples must be stored in a cold place. Care should be taken to allow the samples to return to room temperature inside the container before opening for examination or analysis.

B. METHODS FOR CHECKING THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF HOPS

1. Method (i)

Samples for moisture content should not be ground. It is important that they should be exposed to the air only for the minimum time necessary for their transfer from the container to the weighing vessel (which must have a lid).

Apparatus

Balance sensitive to 0,005 g.

Drying oven electrically heated and thermostated to 105 to 107 °C (the efficacy of the oven should be checked by the copper sulphate test).

Metal dishes 70 to 100 mm in diameter, 20 to 30 mm deep and provided with well-fitting lids.

Ordinary desiccators, suitable for accommodating the dishes and containing a desiccant such as indicator silica gel.

Method

Transfer 3 to 5 g of hops to a dish and close the lid before weighing. Weigh as quickly as possible. Remove the lid and place the dish in the oven for one hour exactly. Replace the lid, place the dish in a desiccator to cool for at least 20 minutes and then weigh the dish.

Calculation

Calculate the loss of weight as a percentage of the original weight of hops. The maximum deviation for individual estimation is 1 %.

2. Method (ii)

Method using either an electronic weighing machine which dries the hops with infra-red rays or hot air, or an electric measuring apparatus, which registers on a scale the degree of humidity of the sample taken.

C. METHOD FOR CHECKING THE EXTRANEOUS MATTER CONTENT

1. Determination of the leaf, stalk and waste content

Sieve five 100 gram samples (or one 250 gram sample) using a 2 to 3 mm sieve. Collect the lupulin, waste and seeds and separate the seeds by hand. Place the samples on one side. Transfer the contents of the 2 to 3 mm sieve to a 8 to 10 mm sieve and sieve again.

The hop cones, leaves, stalks and extraneous matter are collected by hand from the sieve while cone leaves, seeds, lupulin waste and some leaves and stalks pass through. All this is sorted by hand and divided into the following groups:

1.

leaves and stalks,

2.

hops (cone leaves, hop cones and lupulin),

3.

waste,

4.

seeds.

Whereas it is extremely difficult to separate the waste and the lupulin precisely it is possible, using a sieve with a mesh size of 0,8 millimetres, to determine approximately the relative proportions of the waste and the lupulin.

When estimating the proportion of lupulin, it should be taken into account that the density of the lupulin is four times greater than that of the waste.

The various groups are weighed and the percentage which each group represents in the weight of the original sample is determined.

2. Determination of the seed content

Place a 25 g sample in a metal container with a lid and heat in a drying oven for two hours at 115 °C in order to neutralise the sticky resin.

Wrap the dried sample in coarse cotton cloth and rub vigorously or beat mechanically in order to detach the seeds from the hops. Separate the dried and finely fragmented hops from the seeds with a grinder or a 1 mm metal sieve.

Separate any items remaining with the seeds using either a sloping surface covered with emery paper or any other method which gives the same result, i.e. retains the stems and other matter and permits the seeds to roll off.

Weigh the seeds and determine the percentage of seeds relative to the weight of the original sample.