Does anyone know of a hop broker who is liquidating 2019 crop whole cone Galena? Galena is my bittering hop of choice.
Man, I havent seen Galena in years.
Ted has 2017 whole Galena
That is a great price, but 2017 whole cone is a question mark with me. It would be interesting to see a current AA profile. The University of Maryland has hop growing research underway. I was surprised to see that Galena is one of the best growing hops in Maryland. I had a bumper crop of CTZ in the second year of growing that cultivar that measured at 17% AA. I thought that CTZ would be a slam dunk in Maryland; however, Galena out performs it, and I prefer Galena to CTZ. To me, Galena has the most versatile bitterness of all of the bittering hops. It is clean and unobtrusive. Galena allows the aroma hops to shine. Magnum is second, but not a close second, followed by Nugget. All of the others are, no, just no when it comes to bittering beers other than strong, hoppy ales. That may not matter to Millennial brewers who appear to be stuck in a yet another variation of IPA rut just like Boomers were stuck in an amber ale and lager rut, but it matters to me because I prefer to stock a one, maybe two bittering hops. For years, I brewed with just five hops; namely, Galena, Cascade, Tettnanger, Willamette, and Liberty (which replaced Mt. Hood because I think that it is a more noble-like triploid than Mt. Hood).
Wasnt that what filled those big USDA fields next to the YCH research fields last year?
Could be. You expect me to remember a year ago?
I grow galena and agree it’s an outstanding and unobtrusive bittering hop. Like you say, it really let’s the aroma hops shine.
anyone here remember Eroica?I liked its assertive bitterness. I think I may have been the only one that liked it though haha.
Give Ted a call or shoot him an email. He might be able to tell you what he expects to come in this upcoming harvest.
Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time!
for sh**ts and giggles I googled them, looks like there were some 2018 for sale. Maybe they arent totally dead?
I placed a several pound order of 2019 pellets with Hops Direct. I ordered eight 1/2 lb bags, which should have resulted in a shipping weight of around 4.5lbs after the weight of the box was added to the equation. The actual shipping weight is 8lbs. Now, I have received bags of hops that were over their stated weight, but 8lbs when I was expecting a a package in the 4.5, maybe 5lb range. I hope that the weight is wrong or I am going to be giving hops away. Eight pounds is more than two years of brewing for me. I use on average 2.5 to 3 ozs per batch. What drove me to get back into brewing was that the local package goods stores stock mega lager and craft ales that are best described as hop stunt beer, most of which have a strong litter box aroma. What blows me away is that a lot of guys perceive that aroma as pine and resin when it smells just like tomcat urine to me. Apparently, women sense the cat pee aroma more intensely than men.
Hops direct has always been generous with their portions, and the quality of their hops has always been excellent. I use them primarily for aroma purposes and if stored well they will last for several years without noticeable degradation.
I can’t comment on alpha acid degradation over time, because I use their hops primarily for “hop stunt” beers where the IBUs don’t matter as much as the oz/gallon in whirlpool and dry hops.
I believe Hop Heaven will be doing their presale soon and I bet he has some Galena
That’s an interesting concept. I have wondered what I would brew if I just had one hop variety around. I feel like I could probably do a lot with just Mosaic and Perle.
Have you tried Millennium for bittering? It seems somewhere between Galena and Magnum, IME.
If I took IPA’s out of the mix, I could brew all my beers with just Sterling and EKG if I had to.
same here, except I use Aurora darn near exclusively.
No, Magnum is my backup bittering hop. Magnum shares the same clean bitterness as Galena because Galena is one its parents.
This year, I will be bittering mostly with Magnum and using Mittlefruh, Zatec Red (a.k.a Czech Saaz), Styrian Goldings, Willamette, Cascade, Mt. Hood, and U.S. Tettnanger (which is actually believed to be a cross between Tettnang Tettnanger and Fuggle) as late hops. If I could have found 2019 Liberty, I would brewing with it in place of Mittlefruh and Mt. Hood because it has characteristics of both hops.
If anyone has never tried it, try using Zatec Red liberally and Cascade judiciously as late hops in a dark gold to amber lager. I got the idea from a contract Marzen-style beer that was sold locally in the late eighties called “Olde Heurich.” If I recall correctly, the beer was brewed under contract at FX Matt. The key is be conservative with Cascade near and at the end of the boil. Cascade needs to complement Zatec Red, which it can easily overpower. Used this way, Cascade adds a brightness to Zatec Red’s spiciness. It makes all of the flavors pop.