Hop quality from different US regions

[Smellyglove]

I don't know where to start as to googling this topic.

I don't brew with a very wide variety of hops, but this goes especially for Cascade and Columbus.

I didn't brew in 2016, and didn't catch the 2015 harvest before I took a pause.

Last year I got some really terrible Columbus hops, used them once, then waited for 2016 crop. Tame, lame and sub-par comparing to what it was in 2014.

Cascade 2016, same thing. I popped a bag last week and I'm tasting the beer now. Citra, cascade and columbus. It's pretty much not very good. At all. Not very much freshness, dull, and in the background-ish. I also got some onion from the bag of cascade.

I know there were some bad hop growing conditions at least in 2015 in some regions in the states.

As a homebrewer, would I be able to differentiate between different hop growing regions in the US? Could it be that I'm getting hops from a "worse" region? I (we, the HBS I work at) use one distributor, which is one of the biggest in EU afaik, so at least that source is the same.

This is about the regions, not about how I handle my hops

 

[Upthewazzu]

Pretty much the only region growing those hops is the Yakima Valley in Washington state. There may be a relatively small amount grown in Oregon or Idaho, but I doubt you'd see much at the homebrew level from those states.

I will agree with you that the 2016 Citra hops I got from YVH were definitely lacking compared to years' past. Probably a result of the weather during the growing season.

 

[Smellyglove]

Right. I haven't been able to find how much acreage of different hops are grown where.

 

[soccerdad]

subscribed

 

[Upthewazzu]

Right. I haven't been able to find how much acreage of different hops are grown where.

Here you go: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/hops/hops-12-16-2016.pdf. 75% of all hops come from Washington state.

The 2017 report should be out in the next few weeks.

 

[aprichman]

You could probably get regional hops at a good LHBS. I live in Oregon and most of the hops come from Yakima but our town also has a multiple acre farm that grows experimental hops for the USDA and our local university. The hops are freely available if you know the right people.

 

[Smellyglove]

Here you go: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/hops/hops-12-16-2016.pdf. 75% of all hops come from Washington state.

The 2017 report should be out in the next few weeks.

Great! Thanks!

It seems like at least Cascade is struggling a bit. Acreage is up, yield is down. To me it's just numbers, but maybe there's something about quality behind them. The difference between acreage and yield seem to go up and down dwpending on cultivar.

Can these numbers, maybe at least remotely tell something about quality? My guess is that happy plants yields the most (within same cultivar), and happy plants shows itself from its best side.

 

[MaxStout]

Subbed.

 

[Upthewazzu]

Great! Thanks!

It seems like at least Cascade is struggling a bit. Acreage is up, yield is down. To me it's just numbers, but maybe there's something about quality behind them. The difference between acreage and yield seem to go up and down dwpending on cultivar.

Can these numbers, maybe at least remotely tell something about quality? My guess is that happy plants yields the most (within same cultivar), and happy plants shows itself from its best side.

This guy's blog is pretty informative. Keep in mind, he runs a hops distributor so he has an agenda, but it's good stuff nonetheless.

 

[Smellyglove]

This guy's blog is pretty informative. Keep in mind, he runs a hops distributor so he has an agenda, but it's good stuff nonetheless.

Once again. Thanks. I've never come across this kind of blogs/info in my googling. Very interesting read. "Behind the scenes"

 

[brewcat]

2016 harvest is over a year old. That could be most of the problem. Storage conditions matter.

 

[triethylborane]

Cascade 2016, same thing. I popped a bag last week and I'm tasting the beer now. Citra, cascade and columbus. It's pretty much not very good. At all. Not very much freshness, dull, and in the background-ish. I also got some onion from the bag of cascade.

This is about the regions, not about how I handle my hops

You popped a bag of cascade 2016 last week and are now tasting a beer brewed with it? I think your "hop handling" is in play.

 

[Phunhog]

I have often wondered if we as homebrewers get subpar hops in general. It seems like our “market” would be full of lesser quality hops.

 

[triethylborane]

It seems like our “market” would be full of lesser quality hops.

Do you have any reasoning for this?

 

[Smellyglove]

2016 harvest is over a year old. That could be most of the problem. Storage conditions matter.

When I first brewed with the 2016 Columbus, I opened a bag of 2014 Columbus which I had stored in the freezer, so see if that was any better, the aroma of the 2014 was still way beyond the 2016. Even if the original bag had been opened once, then i vacuum sealed it and tossed it in the freezer.

 

[kevin58]

Hop growing is beginning to boom again in New York State ...and we're seeing a growing industry in my home state of Michigan along with growth in the barley farming and malting industry as well. It's to the point that except for yeast, I can make an all Michigan product.... and do.

https://www.michiganhopalliance.com/

http://www.pilotmalthouse.com/