Spotlight: Dr. Tom Shellhammer
Each year, the Brewers Association hands out awards recognizing a few individuals who have made important contributions to brewing and the beer industry. This year, the organization cited two Oregonians, and today we’re going to discuss Oregon State University’s Dr. Tom Shellhammer, this year’s recipient of the Recognition Award.
In their announcement the Brewers Association writes, “For more than two decades, Shellhammer’s research has advanced the understanding of hop chemistry, beer flavor, and quality. His work integrates analytical chemistry and sensory science to address practical challenges faced by brewers and hop growers, improving consistency and product quality.”
Below is Dr. Shellhammer’s official scholarly biography, which covers in broad strokes his many achievements and contributions. In some ways, however, his sterling resume understates his contribution to the field of American brewing. His research has gone hand-in-glove with craft beer’s transformation over the past 15 years and work at his lab has been instrumental in informing brewers who have created a whole new idiom in beer focused on the intense flavors and aromas of American hops—many of them grown just up the valley from Corvallis.
Until the sometime around 15 years ago, large domestic breweries funded and guided hop research. Much of this focused on the aspects of hopping that was relevant to those breweries, particularly hop bitterness. Tom’s early work reflects that orientation: “The bitter qualities of reduced and non-reduced iso-α-acids,” “The human bitterness detection threshold of iso-α-acids and tetrahydro-iso-α-acids in lager beer.” Those were written in 2009, around the time Citra hops debuted. Soon, American breweries would begin making beers that took advantage of hops’ lush flavors and aromas rather than their bitterness. And over that time, Dr. Shellhammer’s research would shift to respond to this new development in brewing.
Throughout the 2010s, brewing went through a remarkable metamorphosis, as brewers experimented in entirely new methods of pulling those intense, fruity flavors and aromas from American hops. They started using unorthodox techniques to coax out these flavors, but the process was one of trial and error. As these techniques advanced, Dr. Shellhammer began doing a series of ground-breaking research to explain what chemical processes were underway.
Today brewers speak of hop thiols, biotransformation, glycosides, and dry-hop enzymes as if they were chemists. Tom was one of the researchers behind this giant leap forward in the way we understand beer. He helped brewers identify the chemistry behind the sensory aspects of their beers, how to maximize those qualities, and how to avoid some of the unintended consequences of these new techniques.
Throughout his career, Dr. Shellhammer has been a hands-on researcher, responsive to the questions brewers raised and engaged directly with hop growers and commercial breweries. We were able to see that first-hand last year. Our executive director, Jeff Alworth, had approached Dr. Shellhammer about investigating fresh hop beers. He generously led a study into this question, working with four Oregon breweries and Coleman Agriculture, an Oregon hop grower. You may have even participated in one part of it, a public survey we dubbed “Drink Beer for Science” last year. It was the kind of hands-on research Tom does that we hope will help boost our already booming fresh hop season. Next week, Dr. Shellhammer will be presenting that work along with participating brewers and growers (and us!) at the Craft Beer Conference.
Dr. Shellhammer is one of those pillars of the brewing community who has helped make Oregon a special place for beer. His work has informed breweries around the world, and we’re delighted by that, too. (Just remember, world, he’s an Oregonian!) So congratulations, Tom, you certainly deserve this award.
Biography, Dr. Tom Shellhammer
Dr. Shellhammer is the Nor’Wester Endowed Professor of Fermentation Science in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Oregon State University where he leads the brewing science education and research programs. His brewing research investigates hops, beer quality and the origins of hop aroma and flavor in beer. He teaches senior/graduate level courses on brewing science and technology as well as others on the history, economics, technology and culture of wines, beer and spirits. He is a former President of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, the former President of the District NW Master Brewers Association of the Americas, and served on the Board of Examiners of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling for over 16 years. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and the Institute of Food Technologists. Dr. Shellhammer received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in 1996 and worked as Assistant Professor of Food Science in the Department of Food Science and Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering at The Ohio State University prior to joining Oregon State University in 2001.
