Chinese Varieties

[Snow]

:huh: Oh man - sorry to see all these bad reviews after so much initial excitement and effort to get them over here. Gee whizz, I wonder how that Microbrewer GLS referred to who bought tons of the stuff is getting along?

- Snow

 

[MarkBastard]

Wow bit of a shame to see this feedback but good to see some honest information born through experience either way.

Looks like the Cascade is worth keeping and even represents good value, but the others are pretty much garbage?

Bribie is the Saaz a no go even as a bittering hop in very simple (SE Asia megaswill) lagers?

 

[AndrewQLD]

I have a BULK GIVEAWAY if anyone is interested,

These hops are a real disappointment to me and as such I really can't expect anyone to buy them, Marco Polo are very astringent with a back of the throat bitterness that lingers long after the beer is drunk, initially I thought they were Ok but on further sampling I can't get past the horrible bitterness, I haven't tried them as flavour or aroma and don't intend to.
Cluster are very poor quality as well that made me think of tea.

500g Chinese Marco polo
900g Chinese Cluster

The catch is, you have to take them all in one hit, I am not splitting them, I just can't be bothered.
And, please don't blame me if your beer is not up to standard.

First to Pm me wins :huh:
Cheers
Andrew

Gone!
You poor bugger :lol:

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Bribie G]

I'll bring along some bottles to BABBs, I'll have 4 batches. Actually I don't mind these hops as a background bitterer in modest quantities (say 30 or 40g per brew) and I'll plough through them for house keg beers. I only bought the Saaz and Cluster and can't find any 'off flavours' - at least they weren't $80 a kilo
Now my Chinese Pale Pilsener 100% Saaz is on tap I don't mind it as a refresher - beats the crap out of TED so I've changed my mind about chucking them, I'll just pimp them up with some Euro hops.

 

[Fourstar]

Well the last few posts in this thread makes me kinda scared as i decided to make two 'party beers' for a mates 21st. One with Chinese Cascade as a pale ale and one with Chinese Saaz as a blonde/cream ale. To top it off my Marco Polo pale ale is almost finished fermenting and i have a cube of my own Pseudo C Saaz Bohemian Pilsner ready for fermentation too! h34r:

Yikes.. 100L of beer possibly destined for the drain!?!? I damn well hope not!

I must say the aroma from the marco polo coming from the fermenter just before pitching smelt really good! I guess aromas can be decieving. It happens to me every day crossing the street in the city. I get the aroma of sweet perfume, turn to realise its a complete slapper or a mutton dressed as lamb. :icon_vomit:

 

[QldKev]

I have a BULK GIVEAWAY if anyone is interested,

These hops are a real disappointment to me and as such I really can't expect anyone to buy them, Marco Polo are very astringent with a back of the throat bitterness that lingers long after the beer is drunk, initially I thought they were Ok but on further sampling I can't get past the horrible bitterness, I haven't tried them as flavour or aroma and don't intend to.
Cluster are very poor quality as well that made me think of tea.

500g Chinese Marco polo
900g Chinese Cluster

The catch is, you have to take them all in one hit, I am not splitting them, I just can't be bothered.
And, please don't blame me if your beer is not up to standard.

First to Pm me wins :huh:
Cheers
Andrew

Noooo; I blew $100 (5kg + by the time I paid postage) on these crappy Chinese ****** hops :icon_vomit:


QldKev

 

[Fourstar]

Noooo; I blew $100 (5kg + by the time I paid postage) on these crappy Chinese ****** hops :icon_vomit:

QldKev

Hey QLD Kev i notice an oily film on the top of all of my wort when i no chill, i usually whirlpool and leave for 10-15 mins for it all to settle into a nice cone. this is usually very prominent with high hopping rates so i wouldnt be worried.

So, have you tasted your Saaz Pilsner?

 

[Bribie G]

I wouldn't panic 4*, so far it only seems to be the MP that has a disagreeable twang to it. The others so far aren't twangy, just lacking :lol: So the keggies could be dressed up with a bit of aroma, maybe some Euro Saaz hop tea or a plug of Mittelfreuh etc. I'm quite enjoying my efforts up to date and I'll use what I've got but won't be re-ordering.

As someone posted, obviously the Chinese varieties we bought in - despite their fancy names - were intended more for Alpha extraction, and bearing that in mind they are still a useful workhorse. The Bo Pils I would definitely make up some 10 minute tea with a Euro hop and add after a few days.

 

[benno1973]

The Cascade's alright as far as I can tell. Lacking in flavour and negligible aroma, but my IPA is tasting sensational at the moment, even if it's not the beer I planned it to be. My all Chinese Saaz rice lager on the other hand... :icon_vomit:

 

[reviled]

Anyone dry hopped with em yet?

 

[RobW]

Dry hopped a pale ale with 50g CCascade this morning (day 3), on top of 50g at 45, 50 at 10 and 50 at flameout.
Keep you posted.

 

[QldKev]

Hey QLD Kev i notice an oily film on the top of all of my wort when i no chill, i usually whirlpool and leave for 10-15 mins for it all to settle into a nice cone. this is usually very prominent with high hopping rates so i wouldnt be worried.

So, have you tasted your Saaz Pilsner?

Yep wasn't sure if it was just hop oil with the high hopping rate (this is the most hops per brew I have ever done). Havn't tasted it yet, later this week I am planning on geting at least one cube into a fermentor so will give it a taste then. If I can just get away with adding another 50g into a hop tea and add to the fermentor I will be happy.

QldKev

 

[DiscoStu]

I only bought the Chinese Cascade, a luck decision from what I read here.

I have made a basic Pale Ale, 90% JW Ale, 5% Wheat, 5% Crystal and bittered to 35 IBU's and some hops in at 20, 10, 0 mins as well. The aromas coming from the fermentor were pretty good.

It's been in the bottle a couple of weeks and I had a few over the weekend. Pleasant tasting beer, some citrus notes, pretty muted aroma though when compared to what I was expecting based on the smell during fermentation.

Overall I'm happy enough with the results, they'll make lots of house ale and I'll try a few things other styles with'em.

Would I buy them again....probably not

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Well the last few posts in this thread makes me kinda scared as i decided to make two 'party beers' for a mates 21st. One with Chinese Cascade as a pale ale and one with Chinese Saaz as a blonde/cream ale. To top it off my Marco Polo pale ale is almost finished fermenting and i have a cube of my own Pseudo C Saaz Bohemian Pilsner ready for fermentation too! h34r:

Yikes.. 100L of beer possibly destined for the drain!?!? I damn well hope not!

I must say the aroma from the marco polo coming from the fermenter just before pitching smelt really good! I guess aromas can be decieving. It happens to me every day crossing the street in the city. I get the aroma of sweet perfume, turn to realise its a complete slapper or a mutton dressed as lamb. :icon_vomit:

Just make sure you tell em that you are a homebrewer and not a craftbrewer :lol: :lol:


BYB

 

[benno1973]

I hope I didn't fall into the "great" category. I'd hate for my feedback to be misinterpreted!

I haven't seen anyone on AHB (apart from Graham) who said that the hop aroma was anything above poor. Not that that makes a bad hop, just lets not sell the RAV4 as an all terrain offroad vehicle!

 

[winkle]

This is what I've experienced so far.

The nugget seems a good bittering hop at this stage.
The "cascade" is ok for bittering has a pretty good but basic flavour and aroma pretty much disappears, I'll use it again in conjunction with US Cascade in big IPAs.
Marco Polo smelt pretty good going into the fermenter sort of a strong pine/citrus combo but that vanished leaving a harsh bitterness and faint grapefruit. I'm giving it more time in the fridge to see what happens to the bitterness but I've given up hope for the aroma.
I'll give the Saaz a run in a CAP just for my own interest.

Edit: added missing word

 

[Bribie G]

Any BABBs members who are interested, I'll be bringing the following to the Jan meeting:

• All Saaz Pale Pilsener International Style with 120g of C Saaz
• Belgian Blonde with 80g of C Saaz and finished with 2 Styrian plugs
• UK best bitter with 50g C Cluster, finished with 20g Challenger
• UK best bitter with 50g C Cluster, finished with 20g Northdown

Some good, some not too good but the proof of the pudding is in the eating

<rant>

over the last decade or so, the above proverb has been degraded to "the proof is in the pudding" . ********. the full form is "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".

"the proof is in the pudding" is not only lazy but totally dilutes the meaning of the real proverb. *********. Morons.

<end rant> B)

 

[bradsbrew]

OT:





Damn, there goes my chances of getting any wins under my belt





Ok I will go away now...

Which reminds me you never grabbed your samples?

Brad

 

[clarkey7]

Thanks to everyone for comments about the hops.....

Particularly those who have brewed with Saaz (BribieG)......I only bought Saaz and Cascade.

I will be brewing with the Saaz very soon. I was going to attempt a double batch of Bo Pils with around 200g of the Saaz.

I think I should split this batch and DH with Chinese Saaz in one and Czech Saaz in the other. Hopefully I'm skillful enough to capture those pesky aromas :lol:

FYI - I brewed the 60min IPA with 3g/min in the boil and dry hopped with 60g (all Chinese Cascade).

I am more than happy with the drinkablility and flavour of this beer, but for 240g of hops the intensity of flavour is not there and there is Bugger all aroma.

I'm still happy with the Cascade, but I will not brew with them as a single hop again and never use them for DH.

Looking forward to trying others beers...

PB

Will refrain from commenting on other issues here..biting tongue

 

[kook]

Thread re-opened. Unfortunately some good content has been deleted in the process of removing the utter crap posted too. I apologise to those who this has affected.

Just to reiterate - this thread is for posting about your experience in brewing with these hops. If you haven't purchased chinese hops, don't post in this thread!

If you want to bitch and whine at Graham Sanders - do so in email to him.

If you want to accuse fellow members of being substandard brewers just for voicing their opinion about products they purchased through you - then don't post. It will be deleted.