Pride Of Kent

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Innes

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Does anyone know if Pride of Kent hops are still available and if there are any sites they can be purchased from?

I am interested in getting some, but I can't find them anywhere.

I know that Pride of Kent is one of the parents of Pride of Ringwood, but I'm only after the actual Pride of Kent hops.
 
Do you know what the cones look like? I haven't seen any pics on the net.
Someone posted a photo of some wild hops growing in Tasmania which looked a bit like POR or Goldings. Was difficult to tell what variety they were. Maybe they were POK?
 
Do you know what the cones look like? I haven't seen any pics on the net.
Someone posted a photo of some wild hops growing in Tasmania which looked a bit like POR or Goldings. Was difficult to tell what variety they were. Maybe they were POK?
I have found very little information on the web regarding this hop.

I spoke with some brewers in the UK who told me that this hop was quite popular in the 50-60's, but that it became less popular to the point that it was no longer used after a short period of time. They were not even sure if it was still grown commercially.

One of the brewers who said he was familiar with both Pride of Kent and Pride of Ringwood said that POR displays about 95% of the flavour and aroma profile of its parent POK.

It would be interesting if the wild hop found in Tasmania is POK. I'll have to dig around and find the post. If this hop tastes like POR with just a hint of something else, this just might be POK.

But then again, as POR was a cross between POK and a Tasmanian wild hop, the hop that was found might be the long lost parent and is why it looks similar to POR.
 
Prickly Moses Organic Wild Hop Ale uses either Pride of Kent or Pride of Canterbury from the rumours I've heard.

The hop grows wild in the Otway Ranges area of Victoria. No idea where and I'm sure Otway Estate probably wouldn't tell you.

According to their info, these hops are the same ones used to bitter a beer called 'Ballarat Bitter' famous for having a character 'Ballarat Bertie' on the front label.

Here's what the hops look like, link from a facebook page:
Prickly Moses Hop Harvest

Your best bet I think would to go to the source and find a UK based seller.

Hopper.
 
Aside from East Kent Goldings and Fuggles, most current UK varieties emerged in the 60s and 70s as a result of brewery amalgamations, the rise of keg beer and lagers, etc, which shifted the focus of the big breweries to Alpha Acid, Alpha Acid, Alpha Acid. I expect a lot of varieties became extinct.

Also - as happened in the USA - there was a need for new varieties to combat hop diseases that decimated some of the old varieties, and possibly Pride of Kent was one breed that succumbed.
 
This chart shows the pedigree of English hop varieties, incl Pride of Kent.

Magical_Snap___2012.04.05_12.35___002.jpg
 
Great chart Feldon, thanks for posting it.

Andrew


Cheers, Andrew. The chart is extracted from an article The Breeding and Parentage of Hop Varieties.

The PDF of the article is just over the 2MB limit for posting on this forum, but you can download it from www.brewerssupplygroup.com (click on the 'Hops' tab at top of home page, and then click the link to the article - other interesting stuff there too).

The article includes pictures of the cones of different English and American hop varieties, eg.

Magical_Snap___2012.04.05_15.24___003.jpg


(why is it that this pic reminds me of different former girlfiends?)
 
I still can't find anyone who sells Pride of Kent. Not even in the UK.
 
I still can't find anyone who sells Pride of Kent. Not even in the UK.

Try asking 'Prickly Moses Hop Harvest' if they can get you some rhizome from the wild hops they harvest? :blink:
 
Prickly Moses wild hops look like Goldings and Fuggle. That could mean they've been there a very long time.
 
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