Domestic Saaz sub

[giraffe]

Ive been brewing alot of czech style lagers of late, and been using alot of sterling as a saaz sub. (I live in the pacific nw, it just feels wrong to import hops from the czech republic, when so many hops grow in a 100 miles of my house) Sterling is mostly Ok, but in large quantities it tends to give, while not unpleasant, a distinct pineapple taste; which can be a little out of place.

Does anyone know of any other domestic subs for saaz? Im not seeing any with my searching.

 

[fantomlord]

take a look here:

http://www.brew365.com/hop_substitution_chart.php

says Vanguard...I'm not familiar, so I don't know if that's good advice.

 

[giraffe]

Not really, vanguard is more a hallertau sub. It also has no farnesene oil.

 

[WI_Wino]

What about saaz hops grown in the US?

 

[GuldTuborg]

Try a mixture of Sterling and Santiam, and thank me later. It isn't spot on, but it's close and very good.

The other option, as suggested, is to look for US grown Saaz. They are available.

 

[JKaranka]

Saaz is really hard to substitute. The only cheaper substitute I can get hold of are Lublins from Poland, but that's just the same hop grown in a different terroir.

 

[giraffe]

I just got a lb of santiam in last week, Ill definately try mixing it with sterling when I brew tuesday, and see how it goes.

Maybe i should try domestic saaz again, I used it once a few years back, and thought it was crap, but who knows, the hops could have just been old.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Maybe i should try domestic saaz again, I used it once a few years back, and thought it was crap, but who knows, the hops could have just been old.

It's probably worth a shot. In another thread, there was some good discussion about phoenix hops. Some guys hated them, and pitched beers using those. Some other guys liked them well enough. It turns out most (maybe all?) the guys who hated them bought from the same source. More than likely, it was just a bad or poorly stored crop. It does happen, unfortunately.

Hope the sterling/santiam combo works for your palate. Let us know how it works when you've tried them out.