British Golden Ale Miraculix Best - Classic English Ale

[Miraculix]

Order from Stocks Farm, HOME - Stocks Farm. They have Target, Pilgrim, Phoenix, Goldings, as well as Jester, Oliveira ad others. They ship to the US and offer both T-90 and whole cone.

Whole cone 4 life!!!!

 

[bwible]

Thank you, I’ll have to look around again

[edit] As usual, you guys are the best. I just ordered a pound of First Gold and filled in some others I was after. Thanks again

 

[bwible]

There are SO many new hops now, I don’t know how anybody can keep up.

Jester and Olicana are 2 that are new to me. What I found on a web search says they are more “new world” and have those “tropical” flavors. I guess thats whats being bred into all the newer hops now.

I understand that British beer is taking on more American character these days. And I get it - People like NEIPA. But if I wanted American hop flavor I would just use American hops. I’m in America. I can get all the American hops I want. If I wanted tropical flavor I’d be buying all the New Zealand hops like so many other people.

Thats the whole point of buying British hops for these beers. They are not American or New Zealand hops. I’m trying to brew approximations of beers I can’t easily get here that aren’t supposed to have American and New Zealand flavors.

I said before its funny how everybody always wants what they don’t have. Me included.

 

[Miraculix]

There are SO many new hops now, I don’t know how anybody can keep up.

Jester and Olicana are 2 that are new to me. What I found on a web search says they are more “new world” and have those “tropical” flavors. I guess thats whats being bred into all the newer hops now.

I understand that British beer is taking on more American character these days. And I get it - People like NEIPA. But if I wanted American hop flavor I would just use American hops. I’m in America. I can get all the American hops I want. If I wanted tropical flavor I’d be buying all the New Zealand hops like so many other people.

Thats the whole point of buying British hops for these beers. They are not American or New Zealand hops. I’m trying to brew approximations of beers I can’t easily get here that aren’t supposed to have American and New Zealand flavors.

I said before its funny how everybody always wants what they don’t have. Me included.

We are definitely on the same page here. If I want an English beer, I want that continental, noble hop character, not American fruit punch. Unless I want a little tiny bit of that as well... which is rare, but I am toying around with the idea of brewing a MB with cluster or cascade.

Anyway, my workaround if I do not have UK hops is Saaz or Mittelfrüh. If I do not have those, I use Perle. Basically all these noble hops do very well in English bitters, they all have a bit of unique traits, but the overall picture of these is quite similar to me so I have no problem of using any German variety that is also used traditionally for late additions, as a replacement for a British hop, or whatever else comes from the same direction (Perle).

Edit: Probably even Magnum or CTZ should work here.

 

[DBhomebrew]

We are definitely on the same page here. If I want an English beer, I want that continental, noble hop character, not American fruit punch. Unless I want a little tiny bit of that as well... which is rare, but I am toying around with the idea of brewing a MB with cluster or cascade.

Anyway, my workaround if I do not have UK hops is Saaz or Mittelfrüh. If I do not have those, I use Perle. Basically all these noble hops do very well in English bitters, they all have a bit of unique traits, but the overall picture of these is quite similar to me so I have no problem of using any German variety that is also used traditionally for late additions, as a replacement for a British hop, or whatever else comes from the same direction (Perle).

Edit: Probably even Magnum or CTZ should work here.

Plenty of historical precedent for non-UK hops in Ron's treasure trove. German nobles, US Cluster, etc. And that's before British brewing production outpaced UK hop production.

 

[bwible]

We are definitely on the same page here. If I want an English beer, I want that continental, noble hop character, not American fruit punch. Unless I want a little tiny bit of that as well... which is rare, but I am toying around with the idea of brewing a MB with cluster or cascade.

Anyway, my workaround if I do not have UK hops is Saaz or Mittelfrüh. If I do not have those, I use Perle. Basically all these noble hops do very well in English bitters, they all have a bit of unique traits, but the overall picture of these is quite similar to me so I have no problem of using any German variety that is also used traditionally for late additions, as a replacement for a British hop, or whatever else comes from the same direction (Perle).

Edit: Probably even Magnum or CTZ should work here.

Perle is one of my all time favorite hops. It is so versatile I use it in everything from American Pale Ales to lagers, etc.

Willamette could fill in for Fuggle. I’m not sure there’s any good substitute for EKG or First Gold, except swapping those 2 out for each other. I wonder how things like Liberty, Crystal, or Mt. Hood would work. Those are the American “noble hop” substitutes.

 

[Miraculix]

Perle is also my one hop on a lonely island hop. I also literally use it for everything

 

[Miraculix]

Plenty of historical precedent for non-UK hops in Ron's treasure trove. German nobles, US Cluster, etc. And that's before British brewing production outpaced UK hop production.

Yep, that is where my cluster idea came from. To my knowledge the American hops were mainly used for bittering additions though, as this grapefruit/lemon-ish aroma that we nowadays like, was considdered an off-flavour at that time (at least that's what I read...).

 

[cire]

A few years back I used Liberty to good effect in British Style beers. Also many noble European hops are regularly in my ales which, without exception, work well.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I’m in America and have been finding British hops hard to come by lately. First Gold is one of my favorites and nobody here has it. And we NEVER see things like Bramling Cross. Most of the places here have the very basics. Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Target, Challenger. And thats it.

I feel lucky when I can find Progress, Pilgrim or other British hops. I don’t know if its because we’re at the end of a year waiting for a new harvest or what. I mostly blame it on the American haze craze

It's no one thing. The British hop industry has had a tough time of it lately, partly because of the fashion for Citra-Mosaic bombs but also British beer is unusually dependent on draught sales in pubs - on-sales have only just dipped below 50% here, whereas in eg Germany about 20% of beer is sold in bars. So lockdowns have hit the beer industry harder here than in some other places, which has meant a lot of beer not being made and overhangs of stock at wholesalers etc. I also get a bit of a sense that retailers have been caught out a bit by the speed of the switch to Citra-Mosaic, which has left them with lots of stock of British hops - I'm seeing a lot of 2019, even the odd 2018 still for sale (except for cool new kids like Harlequin which TMM has 2021), whereas US hops are almost all on 2020. So I suspect they've not been replenishing in the same way, and things like Northdown are getting hard to find at the moment.

But you also have the general problems with international freight due to the pandemic, and the specific problems of the UK imposing trade sanctions on itself thanks to Brexit, all the import/export people have been focussed on important stuff like maintaining supplies of drugs and water treatment chemicals from Europe rather than handling the odd shipment of hops.

 

[z-bob]

Styrian Goldings is not a “real” British hop either. How many recipes is that in? Many.

I’m in America and have been finding British hops hard to come by lately. First Gold is one of my favorites and nobody here has it. And we NEVER see things like Bramling Cross. Most of the places here have the very basics. Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Target, Challenger. And thats it.

I feel lucky when I can find Progress, Pilgrim or other British hops. I don’t know if its because we’re at the end of a year waiting for a new harvest or what. I mostly blame it on the American haze craze because every store is buying everything from New Zealand for the haze heads over and above everything else. I can’t count the number of those hops, but I pretty much have 4 British hops to choose from.

I buy the 4 oz packs of hops from Farmhouse; they have lots of interesting ones and they have some UK hops available, including Bramling Cross, Fuggle, and Golding. (I have way too many packs of hops in the freezer) No First Gold, but there might be something like it, I didn't read all the descriptions of the ones I've never heard of
Hops, 4 Oz and 1 Lb packs - Page 2 (farmhousebrewingsupply.com) HTH

 

[eshea3]

Hopgrowers are, like most businesses, hardly altruistic. They grow what sells, which is usually dictated by futures contracts with breweries, not home brewers.

Olicana and Jester are products of Faram's Research Project and have been around for more than a few years. With many British brewers chasing those more modern hop varietals, it is hardly suprising that British growers want to be in on the action. But acreage devoted to hop cultivation in England is decreasing, cask ale is declining, and more modern style have eclipsed the older styles in the homebrewing community. It will be interesting to see how long these older varieties remain economically feasible.


Many American hops are closely related to German and English hops, so if you can't obtain the "real thing" you might want to investigate things like Willamette, Mt. Hood, US Goldings, Galena, Cluster. It is, after all, what English brewers would have done.

 

[Miraculix]

At the end, some hops might end in a niche market, but a niche market is still a market.... Yes, looking at you chevallier malt!

 

[eshea3]

At the end, some hops might end in a niche market, but a niche market is still a market.... Yes, looking at you chevallier malt!

Without a doubt. Cluster is still around

 

[Broothru]

I buy the 4 oz packs of hops from Farmhouse; they have lots of interesting ones and they have some UK hops available, including Bramling Cross, Fuggle, and Golding. (I have way too many packs of hops in the freezer) No First Gold, but there might be something like it, I didn't read all the descriptions of the ones I've never heard of
Hops, 4 Oz and 1 Lb packs - Page 2 (farmhousebrewingsupply.com) HTH

Glad to know I'm not the only person to be afflicted with "hopsitosys": the compulsive need to obtain and store in mechanized refrigeration units copious amounts of the vegetal byproducts of humulus lupulus. Sufferers display a conscious awareness of the futility of the syndrome, and yet persist in behaviors which result in an excess inventory of frozen consumable samples, many of which will go unused past their expiration, in dark recesses of common freezers, much to the chagrin of their significant mating pair partner. There is no known cure for this malady.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Getting another batch of pub ale ready for a brew this weekend. I ordered some of the proper grains for this recipe this time so should be darn close to the original.

 

[z-bob]

Glad to know I'm not the only person to be afflicted with "hopsitosys": the compulsive need to obtain and store in mechanized refrigeration units copious amounts of the vegetal byproducts of humulus lupulus. Sufferers display a conscious awareness of the futility of the syndrome, and yet persist in behaviors which result in an excess inventory of frozen consumable samples, many of which will go unused past their expiration, in dark recesses of common freezers, much to the chagrin of their significant mating pair partner. There is no known cure for this malady.

Thanks, I did not know there was a name for it

 

[Broothru]

Getting another batch of pub ale ready for a brew this weekend. I ordered some of the proper grains for this recipe this time so should be darn close to the original. View attachment 760683

Coincidental post. I've got two 600ml repitches of Pub that I'm bringing back from deep slumber. They're just about done with the 1.020 starter and are about to get combined in a 5L Erlenmeyer along with 1L of 1.040 SG. They'll spin there for a few days on an identical Maelstrom stir plate. Whatcha' gonna brew with all that yeast?

 

[Miraculix]

Coincidental post. I've got two 600ml repitches of Pub that I'm bringing back from deep slumber. They're just about done with the 1.020 starter and are about to get combined in a 5L Erlenmeyer along with 1L of 1.040 SG. They'll spin there for a few days on an identical Maelstrom stir plate. Whatcha' gonna brew with all that yeast?

Very good beer of course!

 

[Miraculix]

Glad to know I'm not the only person to be afflicted with "hopsitosys": the compulsive need to obtain and store in mechanized refrigeration units copious amounts of the vegetal byproducts of humulus lupulus. Sufferers display a conscious awareness of the futility of the syndrome, and yet persist in behaviors which result in an excess inventory of frozen consumable samples, many of which will go unused past their expiration, in dark recesses of common freezers, much to the chagrin of their significant mating pair partner. There is no known cure for this malady.

I think I might got infected as well. At the moment, I got the desease under control, only have like five hops in my freezer. But I had a recent push and bought a pack of Rottenburger, which is an old school German variety that was supposed to be extinct but survived on one single farm in form of a 40 year old plant that was kept for decorative purposes and got discovered by accident.

...I am mentally strong. But I am not THAT strong to resist stuff like this

 

[bwible]

I have 3 full grocery store plastic bags in my freezer. The big ol’ bag of American hops, the big ol’ bag of British hops, and the big ol’ bag of German hops.

 

[Miraculix]

I have 3 full grocery store plastic bags in my freezer. The big ol’ bag of American hops, the big ol’ bag of British hops, and the big ol’ bag of German hops.

You Sir, might have a problem

.... And it certainly is not hop shortage

 

[bwible]

Yeah I have more hops than grain. And I just ordered some more. I have to get another sack. Maybe this weekend.

 

[Miraculix]

Yeah I have more hops than grain. And I just ordered some more. I have to get another sack. Maybe this weekend.

As long as you don't start smoking the hops, it's all good

 

[eshea3]

I think I might got infected as well. At the moment, I got the desease under control, only have like five hops in my freezer. But I had a recent push and bought a pack of Rottenburger, which is an old school German variety that was supposed to be extinct but survived on one single farm in form of a 40 year old plant that was kept for decorative purposes and got discovered by accident.

...I am mentally strong. But I am not THAT strong to resist stuff like this

On my trips overseas, I carry a copy of an email from US Customs telling me it is ok to bring hops into the country for personal use.

 

[Miraculix]

On my trips overseas, I carry a copy of an email from US Customs telling me it is ok to bring hops into the country for personal use.

Don't even start digging into old Polish hop varieties... you'll need more luggage then .

 

[balrog]

There is no known cure for this malady.

Uh oh

Thanks, I did not know there was a name for it

That's why God invented the internet

At the moment, I got the desease under control

...and you can stop at any time. Mm-hmm.

I have 3 full grocery store plastic bags in my freezer

I have 149.9 oz. Just bought a pound of lupomax, so that should count as 32 maybe.


Please don't anyone tell the wife.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Coincidental post. I've got two 600ml repitches of Pub that I'm bringing back from deep slumber. They're just about done with the 1.020 starter and are about to get combined in a 5L Erlenmeyer along with 1L of 1.040 SG. They'll spin there for a few days on an identical Maelstrom stir plate. Whatcha' gonna brew with all that yeast?

I do 15 gallon batches

 

[Broothru]

I do 15 gallon batches

Ahhh, now I see. I'm building for three 5 gallon batches, so I guess we have parity.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

That we do, I'm debating to save some off the starter or harvest from my conical... I somehow forgot that step on my last batch so I need to make sure I save some one way or the other.