The Golden Nugget

[deathandhops1979]

ive hade my vine now for five years strong. i was wondering if anyone else grows golden nugget and how it reflects the out come of there beer. for me i find it gives my beer a nice even balance

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

I have Nugget bines, and Goldings, but I've never heard of Golden Nugget before. I don't find it as a USDA named variety, though those lists appear stale. Where did you get it, and what is it like?

 

[Retrofit]

Isn't that a restaraunt?

 

[deathandhops1979]

i got it from an online nursery called jung seed company. it is supose to be a hybrid bewteen the golding variety and nugget. i have had the vine for 5 years and i live in the south. it has adapted very well to our hot summer heat. the hop is very piney but not overpowering

 

[Jagdad]

Did you grow it from seeds?

 

[MDVDuber]

I have one too. Got it from Gurney's, mine was a rhizome, I actually planted it before I got back into brewing, mostly as an oddity that I thought might be neat to grow (my bachelors was in Horticulture and I'm a bit of a plant materials geek). My experience is that's it's more like a Goldings than a Nugget. Doesn't seem to be a super high AA at least the one time a did a Single Hop brew from it, but not unpleasant. I remember it being fairly earthy, but it was a while back that I brewed that beer and YMMV.

 

[Jagdad]

You do have a curiously named Hop. Goldings is the female English Aroma Hop and Nugget is a cross of Brewer's Gold x high alpha male. Nugget, I believe, is a sterile female hybrid; so cross breeding it would be near impossible. Female x female? (I don't think so)
I suspect these seed companies renamed an existing variety. They do it all the time to make it appear thay have something unique that the competing seed company doesn't have. (In the plant/ seed business there are no plant police- You can pretty much rename anything) Re-branding is big business.
If I took a guess on your plants genetics; I would say it's Nugget. (Lucky you!) The only other cross I could find is Northern Brewer - Which is a cross between English(Golding) and American (Brewers Gold).

 

[MDVDuber]

I have an "official" Nugget bine and the "Golden Nugget" isn't the same. I think it's much closer to the Goldings I have than my Nugget. I'll have to do some more flavor comparisons (bummer!) and take the time to compare the horticultural characteristics to my other hop bines.

 

[MDVDuber]

HOOT! - Found using a Google Search for Golden Nugget..... This guy must be a Hops EXPERT! I also have a description sheet that Gurney's sent me on the hop. Let me find that and I'll post it also.

"Wow, I just discovered that there is a thread about home brewing and I was wondering if any of you brewers would be interested in two bags of Golden Nugget Hops a friend of mine grows in Illinois. From what I understand, they are supposed to be exceptional, but I just don't have the time make my own beer....
If you are interested here is his write up for his hops.... Send me a pm if you are interested. I am in Sterling Heights.... Laura

***Each bag contains about 4 cups (Approx 1 oz.) of fresh whole Hops cones. These are similar to the nugget style, but have been cross bred with a Gold variety to create a unique “Golden Nugget”. High Alpha (from 10 to 11.5 Typical of Nugget Hops) combined with the sweet aroma enhancement & robust flavor enrichment characteristic of the Golden varieties. These are from organically grown vines on the Illinois Wisconsin border on a windy hilltop.
They are hand tended and hand harvested at exactly the right time for maximum pollen with a minimum of chlorophyll. We hand harvest over a period of two weeks so each cone is picked at exactly the right time! That’s why they are not dark green. We wait for the growing period of chlorophyllation to stop and recede, so there is no “green” taste, but pick them before the flower cone can start to bud open and lose pollen so we have maximum amounts of the bitters and flavor and aroma enhancement from the Golden dust pollen or Gold Lupulin Glands inside. Proper timing of harvest makes for the best crop.
Note the photo at the bottom of the page. Look closely and you can see the bright golden powder sticking to the inside of the bag! We dehydrate dry them naturally on screens, inside an air conditioned room, behind glass, in direct sunlight for several days to a low hydration point. They are extremely light in weight, and heavy with the flowers Golden Lupulin pollen. About 4 cups weigh only about 1 ounce. Hermetically sealed in plastic. We are not brewers or even drinkers of beer! We are farmers with a reputation of quality hops! We have a very limited amount of these each year and they are coveted by the upscale home brewers who seek the best ingredients.*****
Reply With Quote
Reply

Read more at Michigan-Sportsman.com: Golden Nugget Hops for sale, 10.00 - The Michigan Sportsman Forums http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283489#ixzz1ZuXi2Cnr"

 

[MDVDuber]

And from Gurney's Customer Service:

Product Name: Hops Vine
Botanical Name: Humulus lupulus 'Golden Nugget'
Category: novelty
Mature Height: Vine grows 20-25 feet
Spread: Vine
Sun/Shade Pref: Full Sun to Full Shade
Soil Pref: Rich, well-drained, organic
Days to Maturity: Ripens August - September
Color: Pale Yellow
Bloomtime: Late Summer
Fruit: Bears pale, aromatic hops that look like fuzzy catkins
Yield: Mostly ornamental
Foliage: Summer Green (Summer) Yellow-Green (Fall)
Planting Depth: See Comments
Spacing: 8 feet between mature vines
Growth Rate: Fast Growing Perennial
Uses: Used in brewing beer, ornamental. Young shoots and leaves can be eaten.
Culture: Fast growing perennial used as an ornament and beer making. Fruits are borne at the top of the vine in small papery clusters that resemble pine cones. Grow in full sun on trellis, fence, arbor, or other type of support. Keep soil moist, but not too wet or too dry. Collect cones in fall and hang to dry. Cut down vines after they have been killed by frost. New vines grow from the ground in the spring. Will flower 2nd year after planting. Hardy in the North.
Comments: Train to a fence or trellis. Vine grows 20 - 25 feet in one season. Planting Depth: Make trench 6 inches deep, plant on side, cover with 2 inches of soil. Fill in trench as vine grows. All female vines. Variety is 3-4 times more bitter than most hop vines. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS------------------------------------------------------- WATER REGULARLY TO KEEP SOIL MOIST, NOT WET. WILL NOT THRIVE IN DRY LOCATIONS. WATER DEEP ONCE A WEEK; MORE SPARINGLY IN HOT, DRY, WINDY WEATHER CONDITIONS. WINTER HARDY IN THE NORTHERN CLIMATES. YET, IT IS BEST TO APPLY A LAYER OF MULCH IN MID TO LATE FALL FOR EXTRA WINTER PROTECTION. THE PALE YELLOW HOPS GIVES HOME BREWS AUTHENTIC OLD WORLD FLAVOR TO BEER AND ALE. COLLECT MATURE CONES IN THE FALL & HANG TO DRY. CUT VINES DOWN TO THE GROUND IN LATE FALL.

 

[MDVDuber]

And one final "Find" - Also copied from another website

"I did a search, sent an email and here it is from the horses' mouth:

Hi Bob! According to my Grandfather The Golden Nugget is a cross between Pasture Gold they brought from Germany when he was a little boy in the 1800’s, and some Nugget styles they had back east over 100 years ago. My Grandfather and a German friend of his who made beer used to grow them on our farm north of Detroit . I brought back some of the roots when they tore down the farmhouse and have been growing them successfully here in Pecatonica , IL for a few years. They only get about 12 feet high, and have smaller cones, but the aroma is spicy.

I don’t use any chemicals, insecticides or the such. But we are at the top of a continuously windy hill, and I have plenty of cow manure. They seem to grow well. Never get fungus, sometimes get a few insects, but the spicy aroma is unique. Even the leaves have a golden tinge to them. We won the Top Prize at the Winnebago County Fair. I also grow a row of Oregon style Nuggets nearby. I don’t make beer. I am a garden farmer."

 

[Jagdad]

Hate to say it, but in the interests of discussion . . . . 1.) Goldings are ENGLISH heritage 2.) There were no Nugget type varieties 100 years ago (Nugget is a high alpha hybrid released in 1982) Nugget came from Brewers Gold (which is a wild American hop)
I can't find any source of verification for "Pasture Gold" either.
I think you have a straight up variation of a Goldings, based on the plant description given. Compare it to "First Gold" or "Bramling" out of England - very similar. Goldings are open-pollenated, so there are a ton of old English crosses. I don't doubt the old man's story but it sounds like a simple case of lost identity, but without an expensive genetic test this "heirloom" variety will go unchallenged.

 

[MDVDuber]

Yeah, it's a mystery. Maybe a "renamed" older variety, maybe a mystery Heirloom Hop etc.. I's always fun to see the misinformation that can be discovered simply by letting Google have it's head.

 

[Jagdad]

I would love to know where Gurney and Jung are sourcing these hops. (Notice both places cover their A---s by saying "Novelty" and "ornamental").
Do you realize how easy it is to "create" a new hop? I could take any one of the 33 varieties I propagate and call it "Scoobie Doo" or what ever- Who would ever know? Unless you paid for a pricey genetic analysis at Corvallis, Oregon - Just saying . . .

 

[deathandhops1979]

thats about the only 2 things i could find about the "golden nugget." i have also used gurney to order a casscade, that didnt do so well. anyway i grew my vine from a root clipping and got about the same description that was provided by gurney. thatnks for all the info.

 

[deathandhops1979]

even though they are labeled "novelty" and such, they still produce a good cone, both for astetic and brewing value. but i belive you got to be right about the true nature of the vine, i just wish knew more that way i dont look like a jackass when i tell the brewing community i have a golden nugget vine and cant elaborate, LOL.

 

[MDVDuber]

Give it your own name - proprietary to your brewery and beer. I won't tell anyone I've got one too.....

 

[deathandhops1979]

alert, alert, since nobody can make heads or tail of this i am offically renaming the "golden nugget", Tarheel Gold. any public refrence to the use of Tarheel Gold must do so with verbel expressed hate to DUKE

 

[Greatlakeshops]

Duly noted and received! Tarheel Gold it is - and who is DUKE? Go Spartans!

 

[Greatlakeshops]

thats about the only 2 things i could find about the "golden nugget." i have also used gurney to order a casscade, that didnt do so well. anyway i grew my vine from a root clipping and got about the same description that was provided by gurney. thatnks for all the info.

Hate to say it but your Cascade problem might be linked to a story I heard- A large western grower with a virus infected field plowed it out and sold all the rhizomes to a mail order - no names.

 

[MDVDuber]

alert, alert, since nobody can make heads or tail of this i am offically renaming the "golden nugget", Tarheel Gold. any public refrence to the use of Tarheel Gold must do so with verbel expressed hate to DUKE

Oh - I was thinking something that referenced University of New Hampshire Ice Hockey.....but I did give you the suggestion to name it so......

Speaking of which mine is ready for harvest. Gotta go...

 

[deathandhops1979]

i did get the cascade from mail and didnt even last 2 months, so you may be write. @MDV i hade to harvest a lil early "late Aug." because of a bad heat wave we had, so i didnt get as much as i would have liked

 

[samandbekah]

ha just stumbled upon this old post...

I bought a hop plant from a garden store in New Hampshire back in 2012 and they had it labeled as "Golden Nugget" hops...

Last year was the first year they produced - smell is very Piney and Earthy with some Citrusy splashed in... I love em. Taking off like crazy right now in the back yard!

 

[ffaoe]

After doing a few searches on the subject. "Golden Nugget seems to be a made up hop variety. The two seed vendors that were forementioned only sell Nugget hops. They must have been made aware of their mistake. One vendor online actually selling dried "Golden Nugget" hops seems to be a questionable site. There's an informational website that lists "Nugget Ornamental Golden Hops" and clearly states several times it is an ornamental variety.

 

[samandbekah]

I had a feeling... I searched every hop database on the internet for them to try to update my beersmith records and couldn't find them. They still turned out fantastic, used them as a dry hop for a Belgian pale.

 

[B-Hoppy]

And one final "Find" - Also copied from another website

"I did a search, sent an email and here it is from the horses' mouth:

Hi Bob! According to my Grandfather The Golden Nugget is a cross between Pasture Gold they brought from Germany when he was a little boy in the 1800’s, and some Nugget styles they had back east over 100 years ago. My Grandfather and a German friend of his who made beer used to grow them on our farm north of Detroit . I brought back some of the roots when they tore down the farmhouse and have been growing them successfully here in Pecatonica , IL for a few years. They only get about 12 feet high, and have smaller cones, but the aroma is spicy.

I don’t use any chemicals, insecticides or the such. But we are at the top of a continuously windy hill, and I have plenty of cow manure. They seem to grow well. Never get fungus, sometimes get a few insects, but the spicy aroma is unique. Even the leaves have a golden tinge to them. We won the Top Prize at the Winnebago County Fair. I also grow a row of Oregon style Nuggets nearby. I don’t make beer. I am a garden farmer."

I forget where I posted that but that was the email the fellow (forget his name at this point) sent me. He also sent me pictures of the 'Golden Nugget' along with some true 'Nugget' he was growing. I don't know what it actually is and never followed up on his offer for rhizomes but you can see there is a big difference. I'm assuming that when he said the Pasture Gold were crossed with some "Nugget styles" that he was just using Nugget hops as a reference to some other high-alpha type of hop that was being grown back then. Also, remember, high-alpha back then was maybe something with an alpha of like 7 as they didn't have much to choose from at that time.