Beer history

Thiol chemistry explains modern hop aroma

Research identified polyfunctional thiols, perceptible in parts per trillion, as responsible for much of the tropical and blackcurrant character of modern hops — and showed that yeast releases many of them from bound precursors.

2000 – 2020Well attested

What was going on around it

An event on its own is a date. These are the periods it belongs to, where the argument about what changed is actually made.

Modern beer
The technical frontier moved from process to ingredient and perception — hop chemistry, yeast selection, haze and the removal of alcohol — while the industry that produced it consolidated again.

Why it matters

Turned biotransformation from folklore into a mechanism, and led directly to yeast strains bred to release more of it.

How well this is established

Certainty	Well attested. Broadly agreed across sources, though the precise dating or detail may vary between them.
When	2000–2020. Recorded as a period rather than a date because it happened over time.

Styles this shaped

New England IPA6–7.5% ABV
Hazy, soft and intensely aromatic: tropical and stone fruit hop character with deliberately low bitterness and a full, juicy body.

Either side of this

← 1998: Cask Marque begins accrediting cellar quality · 2002: Small brewers’ relief is introduced in Britain →

See the whole sequence on the beer history timeline.

Last reviewed 2026-08-16.