Are English Hops just Cr@p?

[far9410]

When you open this post you can almost smell em!

[TC2642]

Must say, while I use British hops now and then for a classical style I think the new world hops have over taken them by leaps and bounds but I am a bit of a hophead and I really enjoy the range of flavours that NZ, US and Aussie hops give.

[scuppeteer]

they're reasonable but hardly high quality compared to a lot of us and nz hops ive had bits of pipe and bricks, and branches and twigs abound in most 5kg bales, theyre picked late so theyre full of seeds which block filters and exchangers no matter how much you circ

they have their place but they dont put a big silly grin on me face like i get when i open up a bale of nelson sauvin

Interesting then that your website only tells us what English hops are in your beers and you omit to say the others!?!

I'll send you a bottle of my IPA when I brew it again and you can decide what hops are quality.

As for branches and twigs, I believe you will find they are bine and laterals! All hops are picked depending on their ripening range some are early (Bramling X), some are mid (Admiral) some are late (Target). Each variety will produce a different amount of seeds so it is not dependant on when they are picked. If you have issues I suggest you need to improve your hop filters!

If you have ever been near a real Hop Garden, then you will know how much bloody hard work goes into getting a good crop each year, only for people like you to say English Hops are poor quality!

Apologies if I offend Critch but English hops are very dear to my heart.

[weiht]

I think every hop has its place... No doubt US and NZ hops have recently been the hop of choice for many brewers, and im not surprised as some are really great. In fact, if Nelson Sauvin were american, it wld have caught on bigger than citra n simcoe.

However, if ur looking for that earthy bitterness then ur never gg find it in those hops. Nothing can reproduce that fuggles earthiness in my books!!! I mean, the same fuggle plant in US or slovenia just doesnt taste the same. Likewise for goldings.

My fav hop for bittering is still fuggles, altho i have to use more of it than say warrior or magnum, nothing can reproduce that firm earthy bitterness.

I just hop UK hop growers are trying harder to bred more interesting new world hops as well.

[LowLife]

Kent goldings are one of my favorite hops! Goldings grown here just dont taste the same.

[pantsmachine]

They are all great! Freshest possible and silverfoil vac packed essential. I am aging a few new world hops type beers to see how they do. The outcome at 1 year is great, looking forward to year two.

[raiderman]

theyre full of seeds which block filters and exchangers no matter how much you circ

they have their place but they dont put a big silly grin on me face like i get when i open up a bale of nelson sauvin

as a fully paid up unreconstructed man and his boiler brewer aside from a pipe wiv some holes drilled in it which serves as hop filter I don't run to fancy filters and exchangers, Im not entirely sure what an exchanger is or what I'd do with one, but I am starting to wonder what happens if i treat goldings like citra? can I get all my ebu's by late hopping and get a huge aroma or will it be crap?

[phil55494]

Buxton Brewery don't think so, brewing a second batch of their English Pale Ale. If its as good or better than last years version then it will be a very good beer indeed

[Padalac]

anyone ever tried growing their own hops at home/plot?

[scuppeteer]

anyone ever tried growing their own hops at home/plot?

Many of us do on Jim's, I currently have 4 varieties. Soon to be 6 or 7. And yes, it is well worth the effort.

[Padalac]

sounds fun, what time would i have to get the thing planted in order to get a decent crop this year? i'm thinking of getting a plant and brew a few single hop beers in summer. If I were to use a single english hop variety to make an IPA, a mild, and maybe a porter, what variety would be best to use? I'm guessing it has to be a dual purpose hop or? I like the idea of EKG but can it be deployed single hop in this manner?

[Rookie]

sounds fun, what time would i have to get the thing planted in order to get a decent crop this year? i'm thinking of getting a plant and brew a few single hop beers in summer. If I were to use a single english hop variety to make an IPA, a mild, and maybe a porter, what variety would be best to use? I'm guessing it has to be a dual purpose hop or? I like the idea of EKG but can it be deployed single hop in this manner?

You can't go wrong using EKG in any British style beer.

[gnutz2]

sounds fun, what time would i have to get the thing planted in order to get a decent crop this year? i'm thinking of getting a plant and brew a few single hop beers in summer. If I were to use a single english hop variety to make an IPA, a mild, and maybe a porter, what variety would be best to use? I'm guessing it has to be a dual purpose hop or? I like the idea of EKG but can it be deployed single hop in this manner?

I have an EKG on the back of the house on it's second year now, i think we're getting into planting season pretty soon so think about buying a plant now

[critch]

they're reasonable but hardly high quality compared to a lot of us and nz hops ive had bits of pipe and bricks, and branches and twigs abound in most 5kg bales, theyre picked late so theyre full of seeds which block filters and exchangers no matter how much you circ

they have their place but they dont put a big silly grin on me face like i get when i open up a bale of nelson sauvin

Interesting then that your website only tells us what English hops are in your beers and you omit to say the others!?!

I'll send you a bottle of my IPA when I brew it again and you can decide what hops are quality.

As for branches and twigs, I believe you will find they are bine and laterals! All hops are picked depending on their ripening range some are early (Bramling X), some are mid (Admiral) some are late (Target). Each variety will produce a different amount of seeds so it is not dependant on when they are picked. If you have issues I suggest you need to improve your hop filters!

If you have ever been near a real Hop Garden, then you will know how much bloody hard work goes into getting a good crop each year, only for people like you to say English Hops are poor quality!

Apologies if I offend Critch but English hops are very dear to my heart.

you aint looked too hard pal, jade, styrian, cascade, rakau- all new world hops american pale ale"packed with american hops" iron men "packed with new zealand hops" ive got two beers there that mention english hops roscoe and williamson that by the way is the old roscoe badge,i dont use fuggles in it any more i also do a simcoe pale ale as a special....

ive been brewing all grain for a long time in the start i could only get those nasty youngs hops packs- horay for the internet, an entire world of possabilities came along!

i look forward to your ipa ,ill send you some of mine, a shipwrecked and an imperial ipa should make you smile

im sticking with my discription of branches and twigs,(and by the way i also mentiond half bricks and copper pipe!) something that is bloody rare in us and antipodian hop bales and by the way my filters are spot on thats why my exchanger dosent clog up with em!

ive done (and am doing) the farams hopwalk in september, a fantastic experience, still dosent change the fact that english hops are some of the most expensive to produce for indiffering quality. farams reject tons of english hops a year

farams are doing their damndest to change this with new and exciting ENGLISH experimentals, if i buy english hops i only buy from farams i do use english hops in a few of my beers im aware of what heavy hopping with both goldings and fuggles does(the cambrinus range is great and exclusively english hopped)

not offended in the slightest old boy,but i still prefer a good dose of c varietals or saazer derivitives though......

[simple one]

I (unfortunately) agree with you Critch. I have found it hard to get hold of top quality UK hops. Even experimented with using plugs exclusively for English beers. Then switched to pellets too.
Have found dirt, stones, and good size twigs in UK hops. And the oil and sticky-ness seems to be always very low.... although I have found it is getting better than it used to be.

The best UK hops for me are the home grown ones. I haven't seen a packet of hops that can replicate a freshly dried home grown flower.