I would be interested in people opinions on hopping. At around £5 per 100g plus shipping for leaf hops it is quite expensive (relatively speaking). I have the following questions:
1. For bittering should I use a high alpha acid hop (thinking of reduced cost) followed by my late flavour and aroma hop?
2. Could I use (again for bittering) some of the cheaper leaf hops (not vacum packed) at £3.50 per 100g followed by my premium quality hops?
3. If I am using hops for bittering does it matter which one I use if the flavour and aroma is souly from the late hopping?
Many Thanks.
Mick
Which Hops
-
Dr. Dextrin
Re: Which Hops
Are you in the UK? You should be able to get hops cheaper than that. I nomally pay about £3 for 100g, £4 for the more unusual varieties.
-
Mick21
Re: Which Hops
I live in Belfast N Ireland so shipping is always an issue. I would be interested in any alternatives for hops.
-
mysterio
Re: Which Hops
Try Barley Bottom for hops.
1) Yes that is a good way to save money. Also think about brewing beers that don't require a lot of hops. If you're pulling out all the stops to brew the best beer possible I would still stick with Goldings/Fuggles. A couple of years ago I bought a kilo of Pacific Hallertau for 20 quid (8% AA) and just bittered everything I brewed with it, whatever style of beer.
2) As long as they're relatively fresh, yes, but with caution. If they smell cheesy at all I wouldn't. Fresh ingredients is probably the most important factor to a good pint
3) You do get some small amount of flavour from bittering hops. But it's slight, you're more likely to get some flavour carrying through from the US hops because they have high oil contents. Looking at Barley Bottom, Pacific Gem are 14% AA and £3 only. Pilgrim about 9% for £3.29 if you want a British hop.
1) Yes that is a good way to save money. Also think about brewing beers that don't require a lot of hops. If you're pulling out all the stops to brew the best beer possible I would still stick with Goldings/Fuggles. A couple of years ago I bought a kilo of Pacific Hallertau for 20 quid (8% AA) and just bittered everything I brewed with it, whatever style of beer.
2) As long as they're relatively fresh, yes, but with caution. If they smell cheesy at all I wouldn't. Fresh ingredients is probably the most important factor to a good pint
3) You do get some small amount of flavour from bittering hops. But it's slight, you're more likely to get some flavour carrying through from the US hops because they have high oil contents. Looking at Barley Bottom, Pacific Gem are 14% AA and £3 only. Pilgrim about 9% for £3.29 if you want a British hop.
-
steve_flack
Re: Which Hops
If you want a high alpha hop that has little flavour of it's own then Magnum is a good choice (if you can find it). Brouwland in Belgium stock it and one of our Polish members on here goes to Poland quite a lot and has got hops from there for people. IIRC Magnum is one of the ones he can get.
-
thankyousam
Re: Which Hops
I got some for my Sierra Nevada APA from the Home Brew Centre Grimsby for a few pence less that £3.50. They do have a £10 (before P&P) minumum spend though for online orderssteve_flack wrote:If you want a high alpha hop that has little flavour of it's own then Magnum is a good choice (if you can find it).
-
Rookie
- Falling off the Barstool
- Posts: 3670
- Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:30 pm
- Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Re: Which Hops
Mick21 wrote:I live in Belfast N Ireland so shipping is always an issue. I would be interested in any alternatives for hops.
Different spices and herbs can be used for flavor and aroma, I'm not sure which (if any) would have the same preservative qualities of hops.
I brew a blonde ale with low bittering that I finish with some rosemary and lemon zest that is really good. If I didn't know it was rosemary I'd think it was finished with a hop that I didn't recognize.
A good starting place would be any herbs or spices that you like in food.
I'm just here for the beer.
-
Mitchamitri
Re: Which Hops
Buy Randy Moshers book "Radical Brewing" (a tenner off amazon) - tells you all about "other" hop alternatives such as coriander, ginger, cardamom, and how much to use.
-
mysterio
Re: Which Hops
Basil & Oregano beer anyone 
Only spices i've used are coriander, black pepper and orange peel, they complement beer quite well in small amounts.
Only spices i've used are coriander, black pepper and orange peel, they complement beer quite well in small amounts.
-
Mitchamitri
Re: Which Hops
got any local breweries who will sell you some loose hops?
Got space to grow yer own?
Got space to grow yer own?
-
DarloDave
Re: Which Hops
5 pounds for a packet of hops isnt even that expensive. Your beer still works out about 20p a pint.
-
Mick21
Re: Which Hops
If I could brew for 20p a pint then the price of hops would not be an issue! I have seen various discussions about price and am content that I am in the 30-40p/pint range. As I said before shipping to Northern Ireland is at least £9 with barley bottom charging £12.50 or so. I do order all my supplies in bulk and next time will buy more hops. I realise the wording of my initial post was a perhaps misleading when I referred to alternatives for hops I meant suppliers rather than herbs and spices, although the replies were quite interesting. There are 3 microbreweries in Northern Ireland so I could possibly approach them. Unfortunately I don't have the space to grow any hops. Many thanks for the enlightening posts and will certainly try some of the suggestions.