Are English Hops just Cr@p?

[raiderman]

i brewed with moteuka at the weekend and even the finest new zealand has to offer came with bits of leaf and a 5'' bit of briar, it'll all add to the character! Having said that when I next order some hops I'm going to do a single english all late hopped sorta golden ipa type thing. I was thinking fuggles - why the downer on them critch?

[gnutz2]

Well just got another packet of EKG from a different supplier and i'm not really impressed

Not having much luck with them.

[borischarlton]

How much experience with different hops and brewing with them have you got??

If your opening a pack of EKG and expecting something like Cascade then your always going to be disappointed. Uk hops are not cr@p, they are just different, and of course they would be considereing the different climates and conditions they are grown in.

Rob

[gnutz2]

How much experience with different hops and brewing with them have you got??

Rob

Been brewing a year and done about 30 batches of ag.

If your opening a pack of EKG and expecting something like Cascade then your always going to be disappointed. Uk hops are not cr@p, they are just different, and of course they would be considereing the different climates and conditions they are grown in.

Rob

You may have a point there, maybe i'm expecting too much.

[Beer O'Clock]

Each hop should be taken on merit regardless of origin.

The problems with taking them on merit are poor packaging and presentation, poor quality (of some) from suppliers, and last but not least our expectations.

I know from my own experience (and I am still learning) that until you try a particular hop in various applications, you really can't be too critical because you haven't tried it at it's best or found it's most favorable use. In home brewing terms this can take a very long time. I have tended to focus on particular beer styles and use hops in a particular way. Last year I made an American PA using English hops. I brewed it as a Hop Bomb and wasn't disappointed. However, It's very much a personal taste thing.

I have made no secret of my love for New World hops. But would I criticise traditional varieties as a whole? Not a chance.

As for Critch ? Well, the demands and requirements of commercial breweries is a whole seperate argument. Consistency of quality and cost of wastage is far more important than it is for home brewers. We disguard far more readily than a commercial brewer can afford to.

[critch]

as i said i do use english hops and there is a market for theyre use but the best beers ive brewed dont use em, you can get adequate results from em, as said, but i find their flavour uninteresting to my palate - especially fuggles(waits for the sky to fall in....)

the innovation shown by american(cant wait for the neo mexicanas to be avilable over here ) and antipodean growers is amazing!

now we can grow flavoursome hops over here the entire point is most growers DONT!ive tried the experimentals farams are trying to get growers to cultivate overhere and just arent interested, theyre fekkin mind blowing ,tropical fruit, apricot, melon, heavy,heavy floral tones theyre there for the taking but uk growers arent interested in developing new varieties, lets face it styrian goldings are mutated fuggles and theyre great!, all it takes is a bit of conviction and vision which sadly english growers on the whole dont possess"moi faamlies grown fuggles for'unnndreds of years"is one answer i recall...............(most are more interested in selling them as hop pillows or decoration than as a beer ingredient!) farams reject entire farms cos of wilt and mildew, yes our climate plays a part, this is why farams spend so much money breeding new varietals that are immune and on the whole get rejected by the growers for the soddin' safe option, not because theyre inferior but because the growers will take the safe way out, and grow fuggles,"cos theres a market...."

and then the fekkers stick half bricks and copper pipe into bales that wreck farams vac-pac machinery and if they do get through it, rip me off by having bales that are 1/2 a kg light

i go through close to 40kg of hops a week(sometimes nearly 50kg)so im pretty confident i speak the truth when i say 5kg of centennial or its ilk is easier and better to work with than 5kg of wgv.........


its just like when the japs started to import motorcycles and cars into the uk and loads of guys said"well they wont last, thats not solid english engineering......." too right because they worked and the buggers invested in development.......


*rant over*

[weiht]

Great insight there critch.. Always thought that it may just be UK climate producing less fruity n interesting hops. It always seem as tho the fruitier new world hops happens to grow in places that produces great new world wines (NZ AUS US). Same characteristics maybe, so are we looking at south africa soon for new hops?

[raiderman]

I've just finished a citra/simcoe brew. Awesome, fabulous aroma. But this thread has made me think about english hops, so I found around 250g of challenger goldings cascade and citra -which all went in over the last 15m with the challenger first and the goldings at the end Challenger and cascade work well, there was only 30g of citra which can't do any harm, so it will be interesting to see what effect the goldings have

[zgoda]

The only problem I have with British hops is the quality of T90 pellets. Compared to others (german, slovenian or domestic) I see much of other organic material, definitely not 100% hop flowers.