Saaz Hops

[skinfull]

Anybody got a recipe containing saaz hops for a bitter.

[Garth]

search for Horden Hillbillys lager recipe, it uses them, and a good recipe it is too, I've tasted the lager brewed by the man himself

[tomU]

Saaz is a lager hop really - it's flavour and aroma are a bit delicate for bitters. Grand Union brewed a one hop pale ale with Saaz and it was pretty bland. I'd try a wheat beer with them, or if you do want to use them in a bitter I'd combine them with another aroma hop, although I do think they'll be overpowered by most...

[skinfull]

Cheers.

[Stonechat]

Hello Skinfull,
I can vouch for Harviestoun Brewery's PTARMIGAN a golden ale with Saaz hops as the only hop in the recipe. I finished the last of 25 litres last week-end and intend to make it again to use up some NZ Saaz hops. Their alpha-acid is 6.8% so not too much wort is soaked up by the hops.
What is the apha-acid of yours and do you want the recipe from Marc Ollosson's book?

[coatesg]

Bishop's Tipple by Wadsworth uses Saaz (and Styrians I think?). Not sure of what the exact recipe would be (website says: 94% pale malt, 6% cane sugar, with "1/3 of the hop additions coming in the hopback"... IBU~40, 5.5%ABV) - it's a nice drop if you can find it

[coatesg]

It's the "new crap one" not the old Gibbs Mew one (though actually, I quite like it, though apparently not a patch on the old one. I never got to try that though; I think it went out of production before I reached drinking-proper-beer age! Dave Line's recipe is probably the closest I'll get to trying it (note to self for a recipe to try in New Year... )

I think the original went off to Thomas Hardy after Gibbs Mew shut. There was some suggestion on here a while back that Wadworth's "Old Father Timer" was like the original, but even then, it's 0.7%ABV less. Hmmm. Either way, I couldn't say if it was a similar beer.

[TC2642]

Saaz is a lager hop really - it's flavour and aroma are a bit delicate for bitters. Grand Union brewed a one hop pale ale with Saaz and it was pretty bland. I'd try a wheat beer with them, or if you do want to use them in a bitter I'd combine them with another aroma hop, although I do think they'll be overpowered by most...

I disagree, if you use them in the right amounts (I used 85gms 3.2% AA in a 1036 beer) you can get a really nice orangy taste and aroma. I would suggest a pale ale using all saaz and dryhopping. A neutral yeast or fementing at around 18oC would also help carry across the saaz character.

[Garth]

TC has a point there, If I remember rightly PoPs V2 Strong Stout originally had only Saaz in it, if there's a beer that hops can get lost in, it was this one, about 7%, a massive thick body and had just about every known roasted malt in it, and it still worked well.