Apparatus for cooling hops comprises a cooling chamber, charging means for hops to be cooled at one end of the chamber, discharging means for cooled hops at the other end of the chamber, a gas-permeable surface within the chamber for supporting a bed of hops, means for conveying hops deposited on said surface by said charging means towards said discharging means, means for maintaining a bed of hops of predetermined depth on said surface and means for passing cold gas through the bed of hops on said surface. In order to reduce adverse effects on the cooling conditions, both the charging and discharging means are constructed as air locks. The gas-permeable surface and the means for maintaining the bed of hops at a predetermined depth are preferably both endless mesh screen conveyor belts. Means for cooling and recycling gas may be associated with the cooling chamber and the whole apparatus may be integrated in a continuous lupulin recovery process.