My issue with using Saaz hops is, that as a US based homebrewer, alot of the saaz hops from overseas arent very high quality by the time they get to me.
another thing to note is PU’s very soft water
I have had PU on draft, in the 16oz cans and in the 12oz brown (sometimes green) bottles. IME, the bottles were the best version. The draft and cans had a pretty noticeable diacetyl character. I have also had PU on draft in Prague and Brataslava and there was NO diacetyl whatsoever. I like the beer but I am very down with diacetyl in any way. I may be sensitive to it. I had a draft Modelo at the bowling alley last night and I’ll be damned if I didn’t pick up diacetyl. I agree on the Saaz hops … they don’t seem to travel/keep well so I tend to use fresh Sterling when I make a Czech Pils. Also, there was some talk about brewers in the US preordering Saaz plugs from hop farms in the Czech Republic and they were marveling at how good they were. Maybe someone knows more about that. If one was interested in such a thing, apparently there is a way to get fresher Saaz hops.
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Guess I’ve been lucky. I’ve been getting super good Saaz pellets the last couple years. Are you guys buying whole or pellet?
Pellet and usually from Yakima Valley hops. I picked up some US Saaz from either YVH or Hop Heaven and I thought they were pretty nice … a little higher AA% and fresher than the stuff from Europe.
I’ll check where mine are from, but I know it’s neither of those. Picked them up at the LHBS, so likely distributed by either Carlson or BSG.
I have seen local suppliers mishandle hops and I have gotten hops from places like Morebeer and Farmhouse and they were NOT in good shape. I got some Hallertau from one LHBS that smelled like stinky socks. I used them anyway and guess what … I made stinky socks beer! 
So now it’s YVH or Hop Heaven … I am never disappointed.
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Hop Heaven is awesome, but I thought Ted is retiring?
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That is correct, as I heard direct from him a few months back.
So will Hop Heaven continue to run or will it close? I would hate to see it close but maybe I could mentally prepare for that. 
I’m pretty sure it will close. It was basically just Ted and his wife Jodi doing it as a sideline from their water slide biz.
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I reached out to Ted today to see if I could get some Edelweiss hops and he did confirm that he is retiring.
Sucks. On one hand I thought the Edelweiss idea was brilliant … blend five hop varieties and give it a name? Love it. OTOH, I could technically make a beer with Hallertau, Spalt, Saaz, Tettnanger, Tradition, Hersbrucker, Perle, etc. and come close.
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I can’t recall drinking it on draft and not getting diacetyl. Cans have mostly been that way and bottles never that I recall. Unclean beer lines can harbor infections and lead to diacetyl at the tap which probably is the issue with your Modelo experience but probably not the issue with PU as it also shows up in cans.
IMO the bite in PU is a combination of high bitterness, soft water and using a lot of low alpha hops in the boil. Low alpha hops means more hop matter in the kettle. The more hop vegetal matter in the beer, the more polyphenols like tannins are in the beer. This is similar to IPA brewing which continues to move away from pellet and flower hops towards extracts for this very reason. You can find the same thing in De Ranke XX Bitter and XXX Bitter which are brewed with low alpha hops as well.
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I agree with all of that. Draft PU (in the US) and the large cans always sport some D. The bottles always seemed better. Also agree on the bite. It takes a lot of hops when they’re low-alpha and the water is soft and muting the hop character. I like the idea of the beer but I must be sensitive to the diacetyl and when I pick it up, I can’t really enjoy the beer. I’ve mentioned this about the sauergut character (that some people describe as ‘grapey’) in good German lagers. I can take some of it but I have had examples where that character is too strong. Weihenstephan is one example … it’s strong to me. Paulaner Original Munich Lager is better and Krumbacher is usually delicious to me … no sauergut character. When I drink Budvar or Czechvar, I don’t pick up diacetyl.
One of my best stouts I made was an old recipe using Hall Mitt. As chance would have it, year old hops are shunned by homebrewers, so I grabbed a pound of whole hops. It was German, their alphas are always lower than the same root stock grown in the US in the 2-3% range. (my local hop growers tell me it is the not virus free, which stunts the alpha production and gives us a good percentage of the different character than with the US grown, I have not researched this). Normally I would have grabbed Magnum or Columbus for bittering. I was very impressed with the quality of the bitterness. Much smoother, in fact it made me change all my lagers to noble hop bittering. With it being smoother and cleaner bittering I did have to up the IBU levels
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After living in fear of low alpha hops, I am no longer scared by by them!
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Yes, I am closing Hop Heaven. After working 80 to 120 hours a week for years, I find that I no longer am fishing, my last beer before yesterday was a “I’m outa beer extract”. To compound the normal busy schedule, I am flying to Texas more often to help my son. Sadly hops had to go
Hops are mostly closed down, down to covid causalities. Lots of older hops (2019-2022) at great prices. Mostly 11 lb bags prices from $8 to 35 per bag, feel free to contact me and let your local brewers know
Edelweiss. It was a little more evolved than grabbing the first 6 hops that people use in lagers. If you loved the hop blend and want to make your own, here are the basics of the recipe:
- 2 major growing regions
- 6 varieties
- use some US grown to get the alpha up
*look up the flavor of the hop so you don’t get to heavy of 1 flavor. IE Villiage Taphouse wrote “I could technically make a beer with Hallertau, Spalt, Saaz, Tettnanger, Tradition, Hersbrucker, Perle” Hallertauer Mittelfruh, Tradition and Hersbrucker are all twins, the last 2 were breed to replace HM - Avoid Perle, woody notes that are not enticing in most lagers
- Overall, I sourced these in whole hops, blended then pelletized. A true labor of love that repaid the effort in every sip!
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I, for one, loved the Edelweiss hop blend. Thank you for tips on the recipe.
Best wishes,
Appreciate all the replies. Lots to consider.
lagerman how to contact to order hops?