NorthernBrewer - hops came with no alpha acid percentages printed, wth?

[Bobby_M]

I noticed the AA% ommision the day I received the first of those two orders, but never paid it any mind. I'm not a dataphile brewer like some here, but I can understand how that kind of issue could upset someone that's doing a lot of heavy brewing for competitions.

I think there's a pretty wide gap between using hops with ambiguous alpha acids and being a dataphile. Understanding approximately where your IBUs are going to land is pretty basic stuff.

 

[Northwest Hops]

Is this something new or just a mistake? I haven't brewed for a year,took a break and focused on some other stuff and am starting back with two beers so this is my first order in a while. I emailed them but figured I'd ask here if this is something new and if so for God sakes why?

The NB we have for sale is 7.5% so it should be around there. Not making excuses but it sounds like it's down to human error, nothing sinister we all make mistakes but how you deal with it matters. Hope they reply soon

 

[Tomahawk47]

Same thing happened to me. I posted about it April 12th. When I emailed for the per cent alpha acids, they did give them to me with an apology and the same excuse the OP got.

 

[Broothru]

German hallerrau shouldn’t be higher than 5% AA so you could use 5-6% in your calculation but but you’ll have to be ok with getting less ibus incase they are closer to the typical 2-3%

Sadly German hops AA% has dropped drastically in the last couple of harvests. Hallertau, Perle, and others are down 30% or more from previous years. Some are blaming climate change. Friability of some Continental grains also appears to be affected, and yields are down.

Even wine producers in France are buying up land in Central England and replanting vineyards with varietals that have been native to French terroir for centuries, if not millennia.

Coincidence, or canary in the coal mine?

 

[Spartan1979]

Sadly German hops AA% has dropped drastically in the last couple of harvests. Hallertau, Perle, and others are down 30% or more from previous years. Some are blaming climate change. Friability of some Continental grains also appears to be affected, and yields are down.

Even wine producers in France are buying up land in Central England and replanting vineyards with varietals that have been native to French terroir for centuries, if not millennia.

Coincidence, or canary in the coal mine?

I brewed Monday with a recipe that calle for Tradition, Spalt and Perle. The alpha acids were so far down from what they were a couple of years ago that I substituted Magnum in for the Perle. I took second with this beer at NHC in 2019. I don't know that I can duplicate it any more.

 

[tracer bullet]

I brewed Monday with a recipe that calle for Tradition, Spalt and Perle. The alpha acids were so far down from what they were a couple of years ago that I substituted Magnum in for the Perle. I took second with this beer at NHC in 2019. I don't know that I can duplicate it any more.

When I've had AA's change a lot, I've tried working things backwards... for basically any late or dry additions (anything other than 60min boil), I keep those the same amounts as before. And then I make up for it with the boil hops amounts (more boil hops or less) to try and arrive at the same overall IBU in the end.

May be a consideration. I think I've been somewhat successful at least.

 

[Spartan1979]

When I've had AA's change a lot, I've tried working things backwards... for basically any late or dry additions (anything other than 60min boil), I keep those the same amounts as before. And then I make up for it with the boil hops amounts (more boil hops or less) to try and arrive at the same overall IBU in the end.

May be a consideration. I think I've been somewhat successful at least.

That's pretty much what I did. The addition with 5 minutes left I kept the quantities the same, the addition with 30 minutes left I adjusted up just a bit and used the 60 minute addition to make up the rest, although I changed out Perle for Magnum.

 

[mashdar]

I think there's a pretty wide gap between using hops with ambiguous alpha acids and being a dataphile. Understanding approximately where your IBUs are going to land is pretty basic stuff.

Shipping hops with no %AA is like shipping medicine with no dose information. How do you even use it?

 

[Deadalus]

Shipping hops with no %AA is like shipping medicine with no dose information. How do you even use it?

Aroma.

I have had it happen before. It wasn't NB. The field just didn't print on the bag. It could be in my freezer still...It was a red bag of some sort...

Speaking of freezers, some labels wear off in undesired locations. Even though you may notice this and think you will finish the bag before it does, it doesn't hurt to take a sharpie to it or even stick a note inside. You might even think you can look at your recipe file to get the AA correct but then find you had two different sources on the last recipe. Not saying that happened to me or that I buy hops in bulk. I mean, why would I buy a pound of high AA hops it's just going to sit in my freezer until the label wears off!

 

[day_trippr]

It was a red bag of some sort

Probably Yakima Chief...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

If it was, you can just use the lot lookup tool.

 

[Deadalus]

It may have been Yakima Valley but I did put on my gloves and dig for it but didn't find it so not sure. Just got this freezer and I think I may have finally tossed it. It was a 1-2 oz pack of something I bought to try.

Good to know @Bobby_M !

 

[Bramling Cross]

Shipping hops with no %AA is like shipping medicine with no dose information. How do you even use it?

Mostly by adding it to the kettle, but frequently I'll add it as a "dry hop" prior to/at packaging.

Marking hops with AA% is a rather new development and one that I've found to be rather useless given that my influence on that (largely made up) number is minimal at best--that includes the years-old pound of Sorachi Ace in the back of my freezer.

You spin the wheel whenever you buy a pound, then you adjust based upon how it tastes.

 

[day_trippr]

Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) /= Yakima Valley Hops (YVH)
They don't make it easy for us

 

[mashdar]

Mostly by adding it to the kettle, but frequently I'll add it as a "dry hop" prior to/at packaging.

Marking hops with AA% is a rather new development and one that I've found to be rather useless given that my influence on that (largely made up) number is minimal at best--that includes the years-old pound of Sorachi Ace in the back of my freezer.

You spin the wheel whenever you buy a pound, then you adjust based upon how it tastes.

? I've been buying hops with %AA information for decades, although it used to be on a chalkboard at the local shop. Even then, I or the clerk would write it on the bag.

I'm also not sure what you mean by made up. It's a lab-generated figure, and solubility of iso-AA is well documented. And now that we're not all buying bulk whole-cones in thin plastic bags, the spectre of oxidation is pretty well gone.

esit: Or are you saying the lab sampling is insufficient?

 

[Willy]

A bunch of folks have made spreadsheets of hops and info. Go check it out, and download it for yourself. Print it out and you will fine.

 

[Kickass]

A bunch of folks have made spreadsheets of hops and info. Go check it out, and download it for yourself. Print it out and you will fine.

That’s a good suggestion but speculative AA values are exactly what many have issue with.