Experience with Northwest Hop Farms?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C

cn_187

New Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Messages
2
Reaction score
1
Anyone have experience buying by the from northwesthopfarms.com?

I'm located in Ontario and I have been trying to find a good bulk-priced online vendor in Canada for simplicity's sake.

Placed an order a couple days ago and it's en route now.

I picked up quite a variety including a few grown locally in British Columbia.
 
A bit late on the input but they have been an absolute dream to deal with for me. Quick responses, great prices, and fantastic overall customer service.
 
I've used them once. Got what I ordered in a timely manner. Can't complain about that :)
 
I just found Northwest Hop Farms online and their prices are great. Huge variety too. Can someone let me know if they cryo pack their hops, or are they just vacuum packed?
 
rhys333 said:
Can someone advise. I tried calling the number on the website but it went straight to VM and the greeting was just "John".
Click to expand...

I just received some hops in 1-pound packages from them.. Package says... '' Nitrogen Flushed Vacuum Sealed ''
 
I placed an order on Monday night, and the package was in my mailbox this afternoon. My first order of hops online.... 10 pounds of hops in 1-pound packs, total price for hops, taxes, and shipping ... less than $50 :)
 
sixt3 said:
10 pounds of hops in 1-pound packs
Click to expand...

You're not messing around.

I got four pounds and paid $80 with shipping. Calypso, Bravo, Amarillo and EKG. Still a good deal at $20/lb for nitro flushed mylar packs when compared with other outlets.
 
Last edited:
I have purchased from them in person previously and had no complaints. The owner seemed like a good guy and gave me some free beer too. Cheers
 
Well, I don't know what's going on with Northwest. I placed an order nine days ago and they charged my card, but no shipment as of today. Also, they haven't responded to either email or phone messages.
 
Hmm, I ordered and (finally) received 6 lbs of "lupulin powder" from this supplier in early June. Appears I may have received ground up pellet hops, will have to dissolve and check like amounts of powder vs pellets and see what I've got prior to dry hopping tomorrow. One of my pet sayings is "stick with the original", so back to YCH.
 
Just as a follow-up, I did eventually receive my hops from Northwest. They were repackaged well in mylar and seem fresh enough. However, I'm not convinced that I received the varieties I asked for. The EKG in particular seemed harshly bitter the three times that I've used it. Drinking an English brown right now that's supposed to be hopped to 30IBU, but it seems more like 50 and very coarse tasting.

I won't be shopping at Northwest again. I think the prices are too good to be true.
 
I still have a bunch of pounds from Northwest Hop Farms that I don't know what to do with. They are low quality, the lupulin powder might be just ground up hops. I also have some from another BC hop farm that I can't recall the name that are not very good.
 
I Ordered 10lbs of 1/2lbs bags, and brewed 3 differents beers with theses, im not convinced that the hops i received are exactly what i ordered. The beers doesnt taste close to what they previously taste with hops sourced localy, even if the freshness of those is often doubtful. The ones i ordered on northwest are all 2019...

Where do you source your hops? Locally here in quebec the retailers sell undated resealed hops that are poorly stored. The best place for me right now is OBK, the last one i ordered was all fresh 2019 stuff but the selection of variety is not that big and the price is not that good (compared to northwest if we forget the quality)
 
spitfire3 said:
I Ordered 10lbs of 1/2lbs bags, and brewed 3 differents beers with theses, im not convinced that the hops i received are exactly what i ordered. The beers doesnt taste close to what they previously taste with hops sourced localy, even if the freshness of those is often doubtful. The ones i ordered on northwest are all 2019...

Where do you source your hops? Locally here in quebec the retailers sell undated resealed hops that are poorly stored. The best place for me right now is OBK, the last one i ordered was all fresh 2019 stuff but the selection of variety is not that big and the price is not that good (compared to northwest if we forget the quality)
Click to expand...


I'm using Prairie Brew Supply. Decent prices and he has a local selection for some varieties. I placed an order on a Tuesday and it was at my door by Friday.
 
fwiw, I made my first (and likely last) purchase from Northwest Hop Farms almost two weeks ago. The hops have yet to arrive, and I have no idea when they will (if ever). They ship out of Canada - which means customs - and they use the worst rated shipper in North America (Purolator - 1 Star! Probably got that because the ratings won't allow "No Star") and it totally has showed this week.

This mistake won't happen again.
 
I am a frequent NW customer. When I’m looking for obscure varieties, they are often the only supplier. And I’ve always gotten exactly what I’ve ordered. Quality has been good.

The criticism on shipping time is fair, though. They’re slower to ship than most other places I order from, and the shipping itself takes longer (and customs gets involved.) If speed is a priority, there are better vendors.
 
Well, my 2022 EKG T90 order finally arrived, 15 days later. One of the bags had lost its vacuum.
Noticed it immediately, scribbled a "use first" note to myself, then opened it. Smells like musty dirt, zero hop aroma.
I know, EKG ain't exactly Citra, but I have a few ounces of same year EKG remaining that smells like hops.

Then I looked closely at the heat seal strip and realized it had never been sealed - there's a pencil diameter tunnel through the seal line that's been there since...Fall of 2022?

nwhy_unsealed_ekg.jpg


One pound of hops destined for the compost pile...
 
day_trippr said:
Well, my 2022 EKG T90 order finally arrived, 15 days later. One of the bags had lost its vacuum.
Noticed it immediately, scribbled a "use first" note to myself, then opened it. Smells like musty dirt, zero hop aroma.
I know, EKG ain't exactly Citra, but I have a few ounces of same year EKG remaining that smells like hops.

Then I looked closely at the heat seal strip and realized it had never been sealed - there's a pencil diameter tunnel through the seal line that's been there since...Fall of 2022?

View attachment 840425

One pound of hops destined for the compost pile...
Click to expand...

I got the sense that the guy was scamming me, the one and only time I purchased from NW. The order took forever to arrive, the hops definitely weren't the varieties I ordered (they were incredibly harsh, high aa), and I got ghosted when I called to seek answers.
 
I ordered a few pounds from them, and won't ever again.
https://neerdowellblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/john-d-briner-new-scameroo-northwest.htmlhttps://www.pressreader.com/canada/stockwatch-daily/20180719/281496457065797https://www.securitieslawyer101.com/2015/criminal-charges-john-briner/
As part of his plan, Mr. Briner began soliciting customers and employees of Chilliwack Hop Farms, the suit complains. After his resignation, he allegedly continued contacting those customers and telling them that Chilliwack Hop Farms was no longer in business and that Northwest Hop Farms was its successor.Jul 19, 2018
Click to expand...


The first sales rep we had at Chilliwack, John Briner, ended up leaving the company and started his own hop company and seemingly stole the client list (or at least our contact details were affected). He was very unprofessional in my experience beyond this. This whole thing seemed to be a huge blow to Chilliwack. We dealt with Chilliwack once after John was gone, I was no longer on the file but I know it was an improvement.

We had two large club buys with them (one through John Briner, one after he left). and they did come eventually. Over a month each time I believe it took, but they were big orders, cross country shipping, and they packaged into 1# packages for us. Price and selection drove the decision to go with them.

The prices were arguably too good to be true, and I’ve heard some theories and rumours behind that... I won’t repeat as I can’t confirm, but the quality in my personal experience hasn’t been amazing. We’ve switched suppliers.
Click to expand...

I will say, this all stems from years ago, and perhaps he's a different man now. But wish I'd known of this history before buying from him, as character matters a lot to me. Nevertheless, to be honest I'm suspicious of the hops I received. Sucks because he ostensibly carries very difficult to find hops.
 
As cranky as I am about this it's just one data point. I let the company know all the gory details including the picture. I'll see what happens next. They could go a ways towards redemption, who knows...

Cheers!
 
elproducto said:
I order from them all of the time, shipping is random and slow but I expect it.

Quality has never been an issue.
Click to expand...
My experience with them has only been once, about 9 months ago. I had no knowledge of the past experiences of others, It did take a bit of time, but coming from Canada and cross-country I wasn't exactly expecting next-day delivery. The packaging and quality seemed fine and the two beers turned out well and both won awards in competition. But they were literally the only place I could find Northdown and Challenger hops. Given the bad experiences others have had, I'll likely be avoiding them in the future, even though I'm relatively pleased with the service being "O.K."
 
day_trippr said:
Well, my 2022 EKG T90 order finally arrived, 15 days later. One of the bags had lost its vacuum.
Noticed it immediately, scribbled a "use first" note to myself, then opened it. Smells like musty dirt, zero hop aroma.
I know, EKG ain't exactly Citra, but I have a few ounces of same year EKG remaining that smells like hops.

Then I looked closely at the heat seal strip and realized it had never been sealed - there's a pencil diameter tunnel through the seal line that's been there since...Fall of 2022?

View attachment 840425

One pound of hops destined for the compost pile...
Click to expand...
That would tick me off... I've been avoiding them but was tempted to order a pound of First Gold, glad I didn't. Is that an IBM issue spring hook?
 
day_trippr said:
Yup. And there aren't many folks still around that would recognize that tool! 😁

Cheers! :mug:
Click to expand...
I was a CE (aks SSR) for 5 years until I couldn't take their BS any longer. You could still order the spring hooks from Mechanicsburg when I left in 2020. Sorry to derail. Back to NWHF...
 
Brooothru said:
My experience with them has only been once, about 9 months ago. I had no knowledge of the past experiences of others, It did take a bit of time, but coming from Canada and cross-country I wasn't exactly expecting next-day delivery. The packaging and quality seemed fine and the two beers turned out well and both won awards in competition. But they were literally the only place I could find Northdown and Challenger hops. Given the bad experiences others have had, I'll likely be avoiding them in the future, even though I'm relatively pleased with the service being "O.K."
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm being a judgmental a$$hat. Everyone can screw up and make amends and perhaps the guy has been on the straight and narrow since then. I should state I have no complaints on the hops received - I can see how what I said could convey that - I was referring to suspicions based on his past behavior, which probably isn't merited. And yes, Northdown, Bramling Cross and First Gold are tops in my pantry, so I'd hate to have to move on. We have Challenger on hand all the time at our store. All Yakima Chief, iirc. In fact, about to brew a Coniston's Clone with all Challenger from him (except I'm using 1469 - nothing like the Ward's on its way from Brewlabs, which is putatively the yeast used in either the Bluebird draft or bottled, can't recall which).
 
Gadjobrinus said:
Maybe I'm being a judgmental a$$hat. Everyone can screw up and make amends and perhaps the guy has been on the straight and narrow since then. I should state I have no complaints on the hops received - I can see how what I said could convey that - I was referring to suspicions based on his past behavior, which probably isn't merited. And yes, Northdown, Bramling Cross and First Gold are tops in my pantry, so I'd hate to have to move on. We have Challenger on hand all the time at our store. All Yakima Chief, iirc. In fact, about to brew a Coniston's Clone with all Challenger from him (except I'm using 1469 - nothing like the Ward's on its way from Brewlabs, which is putatively the yeast used in either the Bluebird draft or bottled, can't recall which).
Click to expand...
Where'd you order Brewlab slants from that will ship to the US?
 
Brewskey said:
Where'd you order Brewlab slants from that will ship to the US?
Click to expand...
I ordered the Yorkshire from The Malt Miller. I also contacted Alison, and asked about a couple of strains not on the Malt Miller's site, HH and the Ward's. Here was her reply.

Hi Paul we can still supply but the more regular strains are sold through the Malt Miller as their delivery network is much better. Let me know if you do require any slopes.

Kind regards,

Alison
Click to expand...
 
Gadjobrinus said:
I ordered the Yorkshire from The Malt Miller. I also contacted Alison, and asked about a couple of strains not on the Malt Miller's site, HH and the Ward's. Here was her reply.
Click to expand...

Gadjobrinus said:
I ordered the Yorkshire from The Malt Miller. I also contacted Alison, and asked about a couple of strains not on the Malt Miller's site, HH and the Ward's. Here was her reply.
Click to expand...
Good to know. Thanks
 
I stopped by the LHBS this afternoon and they were selling Northwest Hops at $21-25/lb (CAD). Decent price, considering that's in-store retail. I asked if they'd experienced any problems with service or product quality and they said that they had not. Maybe the guy has cleaned up his act... or offers more reliable service to businesses.
 
To more or less close my contribution to this thread: Northwest Hop Farms sent me a replacement for the unsealed pound of 2022 EKG T90 pellets. Even sent an extra pound, which they did not need to do. So I will give "Phil" thumbs up for the effort.

Sadly, however, BOTH BAGS arrived in a flaccid state, and it only took seconds to find voids through their heat seal lines that ensured they were never sealed and have been exposed to some degree to atmosphere ever since.

I cannot recommend purchasing hops from this company...
 
day_trippr said:
To more or less close my contribution to this thread: Northwest Hop Farms sent me a replacement for the unsealed pound of 2022 EKG T90 pellets. Even sent an extra pound, which they did not need to do. So I will give "Phil" thumbs up for the effort.

Sadly, however, BOTH BAGS arrived in a flaccid state, and it only took seconds to find voids through their heat seal lines that ensured they were never sealed and have been exposed to some degree to atmosphere ever since.

I cannot recommend purchasing hops from this company...
Click to expand...
That's a bummer, man. But thanks for the followup. Northdown, First Gold. Please make yourselves known.☹️
 

Similar threads

Werner
Northwest Hop Farms (BC Canada)
Replies
2
Views
3K
alkata
A
CallMeKiupid
Kiupid's Mead Guide for Beginners (like me)
Replies
3
Views
1K
Barzahl
B
b-boy
Buffalo Group Buy - Fall 2019
Replies
26
Views
3K
b-boy
b-boy
Wreck99
Charlotte Area (Rock Hill, SC - Carolina Brew Supply) Grain Buy #2
Replies
4
Views
3K
Misplaced_Canuck
Misplaced_Canuck
b-boy
Buffalo group buy for January/February 2018
Replies
22
Views
3K
shibby38
S
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top