The excellent engineering and process know-how from NATEX complemented with the individual abilities of selected suppliers for the supercritical CO2 core equipment allowed the efficient realization of an innovative turnkey project – the world’s largest hops extraction plant with an annual capacity of approximately 10.000 tons of raw hops.

This industrial CO2-extraction-equipment which is mainly producing extract for the beer industry consists of eight state-of-the-art 550 bar high-pressure extractors with an internal volume of 4.500 liters each and enables to produce hops extract efficiently and with high quality continuously. Technical innovations make the hops processing plant more energy efficient and therefore more sustainable. The supercritical CO2 extraction process of hops was already used from Hopfenveredlung St. Johann GmbH since 1980 and is ready for another 40 years of operation. For extraction preparation, the raw hops is pelletized before it is filled into the vessels. The CO2 then extracts the soluble compounds which can vary depending on the exact strain of hops or the extraction conditions. The typical hops extract has honey-like viscosity and is very green. It is rich in alpha acids and allows for easy dosing in the beer production process.