One of my favourite brews I do is a single hop using Nelson Sauvin.
I've brewed this about a dozen times and love the flavour of passion fruit you get with these hops. The trouble is that the last few times I've brewed it I'm not getting the passion fruit flavour, it just tastes like a pale ale.
I put it down to the batch of hops I bought which was pellets. The last brew I did was with a new batch of hops which was not pellets and again it just tastes like a pale ale. I haven't changed the recipe or the method. The abv is consistent.
Is it possible my taste buds are no longer picking up these flavours? Is there changes in hop characteristics from year to year?
Nelson Sauvin
Re: Nelson Sauvin
I've had a smilar experience with an Amarillo brew I do, that last one was relatively tasteless even though it was a repeat recipe. It was pellets too rather than leaf with the previous ones, although I can't say for sure if this was the real reason.
I do know hops change/age, I grew some for the first time last year and used them immediately after drying, they were much stronger than the same hop I bought in a vacuum sealed bag from a homebrew supplier.
I do know hops change/age, I grew some for the first time last year and used them immediately after drying, they were much stronger than the same hop I bought in a vacuum sealed bag from a homebrew supplier.