Vendor Hop Listings

This might be a dumb question, but why is there a wide AA% variation between the various vendors for the same hop variety? Is there that much difference from one harvest to another or between their suppliers?

I am trying to build a couple of recipes and do some price comparisons but I'm getting 9.5% on one site, 7.5% on another, and 6.5% on the third. It's really throwing off my calculations.

I don't 'know' but surmise...

The way one onion is hotter than another; one tomato is tastier than another; the way one mango is more delicious than another... plants and their fruit/seeds/etc are affected by soil, weather, water, genetics and TLC.

B

remember, AA only maters for the early hop additions. the late hop additions are for flavor and aroma, not bitterness.

here is a free calculator if you don't already have one. be sure to set the boil size and batch size correctly. http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe

if you end up with any extra hops as a result of the varying AA, just add them at flameout and you get more hop aroma (unless it would be bad for the style of beer you are brewing).