Stupid question - Kent Goldings and EK Goldings the same?

I know they probably are the same, but I just wanted to make sure, since I have 1 oz of hop plugs in my fridge marked Kent Goldings and the recipe I'm about to use calls for East Kent Goldings.

Thanks!

Well...Yes and no....There's actually an interesting discussion about it on Basic Brewing radio...

They are they same type of Hops, i.e. Goldings (and they can be used interchangeably so yes)....BUT Kent, or East Kent, is the area they were grown in...

The argument (someone from East Kent wrote to the Basic Brewing guys) is that if you grow Goldings from a rhizome in Arkansas..although they are Goldings, they are no longer kent goldings but they are Arkansas Goldings.

It's just semantics and nothing more....Some were grown in "East Kent" while the others were grown in Kent proper....That's all.

Use your Kent Goldings with no worries.

The difference between Kent Goldings and East Kent Goldings is mostly, but not quite, semantic.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/hops said:

Golding is a group of aroma-type cultivars originating in England. Over the decades, the group has been changed and widened. Mostly they have been named after villages in East Kent, (Petham, Rothersham, Canterbury, Eastwell) or hop farmers, who grew them (Amos's Early Bird, Cobbs).

English Goldings grown in East Kent are a premium hop called East Kent Golding and should not be confused with U.K. Goldings, which are grown in other parts such as Kent, Worcestershire, Hampshire and Herefordshire. The cultivar grown in the USA (Oregon and Washington State) is a Canterbury Golding.

The premier English aroma hop. Superb in English-style ales, and lend a unique character to fine lagers as well. This hop has a unique spicy aroma and refined flavor. (alpha acid: 4.0-6.0% / beta acid: 2.0-3.0%)

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USDA ACCESSION No.: 21680 East Kent Golding, also called Kent Golding
This hop is sometimes also called Canterbury Golding, named after the town in the Kent region of England. Some people in the hop trade think that Canterbury Golding is different from Kent Golding, but chemically and in brewing, they are identical.

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There will be some variation depending on where they were grown, but not much.

I think this is a terroir thing more so than a semantic issue.

East Kent (Canterbury to Dover) is very heavy in limestone.
Kent has a clay soil.
My understanding is that Kent Goldings is closer to UK Goldings (grown anywhere but Kent) and U.S. Goldings including Arkansas Goldings, than it is to the very close geographically East Kent Goldings.

I know here in Georgia, if I grow an onion from Vidalia in Macon, my onion will quite different from a Vidalia Onion.

I found this thread because I am about to brew a Scaldis Noel from Clone Brews which calls for both East Kent Goldings and Kent Goldings. I was told by Northern Brewer that they were the same. After more research, I believe the NB doobie was wrong. I'm trying to figure out if I want to use NB Kent Goldings in both slots, or if I want to substitute. It doesn't help that I am unsure what NB is actually selling since they repackage and I don't know from which source they get their Kent Goldings. If Hop Union, then it is East Kent Goldings.

Nice necropost. Almost 7 years gone.