Sterling vs. Saaz

I'm looking into getting a pound of either, and from what I've read they are similar in character. I'm swaying toward Sterling as they are a little better in "longer" term storage (say 6 months in a freezer). Thoughts?

Nobody seems to know and I'm no exception. Consider my lack of reply a courtesy 'bump' for your thread.

I've had Saaz in the freezer for 6 months with no issues as far as I can tell.

I've used Saaz and love it. Seems to be a nice neutral bittering hop for a lot of ales. Either way, you can't go wrong in terms of storage.

I've tried both and I would say that they are rather different. Saaz is going to be lower AA, and spicy. Sterling is a little higher AA and has a much more perceptable floral character - maybe even slightly citrus-y, though nothing like cascade.

Both are clean aroma/flavor hops, and good choices either way. I'm planning on ordering both myself, though I'd say that Sterling is probably a little more versatile as it could work well in alomost any style.

I would agree with Madtown Brew. They might be from the same heritage they are different. If you can only get one then Sterling would be more versatile and you will not have to use as much.
Now if you want a nice Czech pilsner then saaz is the way to go. You cannot sub them for that style of beer IMHO.
I have used Sterling in a Czech pilsner and a Helles and they worked better in the Helles.

I came to the same conclusions and ordered the Sterling. Seems more versatile for both lagers and ales, especially for my schedule of beers through next year.

Almost 10 years later, but what the heck. Just purchased a pound of Sterling and I'm planning a hoppy Sterling pale ale (4-5 oz / 5 gal). Haven't decided yet if I want to pair it with something like Cascade, or do single hop. I've used Sterling at lower hopping levels before in saison (1 oz / 5 gal), and I perceived lemon-spice aroma. I see these working well for the full gamut: lager, Belgian, kolsch, US pale/IPA. I may just do the single hop to see if it has enough depth to support a beer on it's own. Shall report back.

I think people really overestimate how much the quality of well kept hops drop off with time. I've used 2013 hops I got for $5/pound off YVH and got plenty of flavor out of them.

Well I ended up adding 2 oz Sterling and 2 oz Cascade to my pale ale (split at 10 and FO + hop stand). The Cascades were a bit low on aroma sadly, but the smell from the sterling hops coming off the fermentor is fantastic. Super citrusy and spicy... way more pungent than expected.

Bosh said:

I think people really overestimate how much the quality of well kept hops drop off with time. I've used 2013 hops I got for $5/pound off YVH and got plenty of flavor out of them.

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It's very variety dependent. Add to that you generally don't know how the hops have been treated via distribution or how long the distributor or seller has had the hops and it's a real crap shoot at times.

For example I brewed a mild and when I opened the EKGs they had a moderate cheese aroma. So I opened a pack of magnum that was purchased at the same time. For what it is worth I had them for about nine months. And I tossed the EKGs and calculated to use the magnum hops.