Replacing East Kent Goldings with Saaz?

[poponon]

I'm planning on brewing a porter this weekend with EKG in the hop bill for aroma, but have none available. According to oil ratios the closest thing I've got currently is Saaz. From my understanding , the noble hops also have some distinct flavors not associated with the main oils, so I'm wondering:

Has anyone ever tried replacing EKG with Saaz? Results?

 

[ong]

Got any Fuggles or Willamette? Challenger? Saaz isn't going to taste much like Goldings, IMO.

 

[Braufessor]

Yeah - I would personally pick something else. Above are good suggestions. Glacier?

 

[poponon]

I can get ahold of williamette but none of the others mentioned. After checking the oil profile though, it seems pretty far off from EKG? It looks like williamette is far more mycrene forward than humulene forward EKG. I'm a bit confused. Why do you guys not recommend saaz? I plan on changing the recipe according to oil volumes also.

 

[stpug]

US Golding or WGV would be decent replacements as well.

Otherwise, a good British hop would be a better replacement for another British hop (EKG), but that's not to say that Saaz couldn't be good (it's just not British or similar to EKG).

Besides, in a porter, I would opt for something like Golding, Challenger, Fuggles, Target, or variants thereof. BUT saaz ain't going to ruin your brew either

 

[Braufessor]

Why do you guys not recommend saaz?

For me, as someone who brews a lot of bohemian pilsners with saaz and also brews a lot of english bitters and milds with EKG..... I would not use sazz in place of EKG for the same reason that I would not use EKG in my Bo-pils....... it does not taste the same. I have no idea what the oil percentages are, but those two hops just don't taste the same in my opinion.

 

[Bob]

Yeah, don't get all hung up on this oil or that oil or whatever. There's no real hard science I'm aware of that links this chemical to that perceived flavor, anyway. Numbers don't necessarily translate into flavors. EKG and Saazer simply taste different.

For practical purposes, Willamette - being a Fuggles cultivar - is a fine substitute for English hops. Willamette won't taste like EKG either, because nothing does. But it's more appropriate than Saaz in Porter.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[poponon]

Hmm, ok I figure I'll try the williamette then.

Flavors are measurable and identified as aromatic compounds, usually oils. The particular issue though is that saaz is high in the unidentified oils... supposedly the ones that contribute to the "nobel" character. Wish there was more information in that regard.. would be alot easier to measure/substitute hops

 

[stpug]

Hmm, ok I figure I'll try the williamette then.

Flavors are measurable and identified as aromatic compounds, usually oils. The particular issue though is that saaz is high in the unidentified oils... supposedly the ones that contribute to the "nobel" character. Wish there was more information in that regard.. would be alot easier to measure/substitute hops

Check out
http://beerlegends.com/hops-varieties
for more information. It's pretty decent.