Hops substitues?

[Madbrewer]

I am not sure whether a substitution table may help? Or maybe I am re-inventing the wheel here? These links below are for different types of Hops rather than substituting for nettles, orange peel, twigs and the like. Indeed you may want to consider keeping some hops just for aroma and others for bittering. To be honest I haven't got a lot of experience in this field. However there have been a couple of times in the past when I have had to ask advice in the past when one or another hop type wasn't available.

I guess a comparison sheet would help us when we get the inevitable phone call from the HBS stating that type *** is not available! It would seem that this is likely to be more common this year? I was actually thinking that some advice in the form of a table would help for when your particular hop is gone!

This is a starting point I found ....
http://byo.com/referenceguide/hops/

Another reference:-
http://www.hopunion.com/hopunion-variety-databook.pdf

More info:-
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-3.html

More info not really as helpful:-
http://www.hopsfromengland.com/News.htm


Good Luck through the shortage & I may even type these up and enter into my recipator spreadsheet ...

[Dan]

we could take it as a blessing in disguise. more people will turn to hop growing in their garden

If anything ive always been a bit heavy handed with hops so Im going to be making much more malty beers with low hopping rates. it will make a nice change.

If your desperate you could always buy iso alpha extracts to provide the bulk of the bitterness. i doubt they have changed in price much

[mysterio]

Try some gruit or spruce beer and see if it suits you then take it from there.

They used to make a spruce beer down the road from where I live (same guys who do Fraoch). Oddly enough I discovered it in Canada - i've never seen it sold in Scotland It was actually very tasty and not what you might imagine! I presume hops are used in conjunction with the spruce, though.

[RabMaxwell]

Try some gruit or spruce beer and see if it suits you then take it from there.

They used to make a spruce beer down the road from where I live (same guys who do Fraoch). Oddly enough I discovered it in Canada - i've never seen it sold in Scotland It was actually very tasty and not what you might imagine! I presume hops are used in conjunction with the spruce, though.

I tasted the spruce beer at the Craig Mill brewery when i was there with the SCB although most of there beers were good the spruce beer was especially good to my tastes anyway. I have a spruce tree growing next to my house & i am always tempted to try.

[NzDan1]

I had a spruce beer the other day, cant say I enjoyed it, I had to force myself to finish it since it cost me $6.
I didnt realise you guys had a hop shortage, thats gotta suck, how bad is it?
Maybe you can order pellets from here http://www.nzhops.co.nz/
I pay between $17-$32 (6.5 -12.5 uk pounds) for a kg! freight costs may be not worth it though?
Grow your own then you,ll never run out, Ive got 2, 8 metre high nz cascade monsters in my back garden with hundreds, maybe thousands of developing cones, cant wait till harvest time!

[steve_flack]

I didnt realise you guys had a hop shortage, thats gotta suck, how bad is it?

It's not just us. It's global. The US homebrew shops have been hit hard. I'd check out Morebeer.com to see how bad their hops selection is right now.