Blackaddler wrote:OK... we agree that they're derived from Goldings, one way or another, anyway.
Probably. I'll grant you that.
Fuggles was different enough from Goldings variations that it was immediately recognized and named thus. While it's true most of what was grown in Kent would nowadays be considered Goldings variations, that's not ALL that was growing in Kent and surrounding Counties. Hops seeds are fertilized by wind-blown pollen, which can travel great distances. There was surely wide biodiversity amongst native English landraces (after all, Farmer Goldings picked his favourite out of the lot...some of the rest were surely still around 80 years later), not to mention the Belgian/Dutch/German "noble" hops brought across the English Channel by Flemish weavers in the early 1500s. That's a lot longer than 80 years, and undoubtedly played a part in the genetic makeup of classic English brewing hops.
For the record, I don't mean to sound argumentative, I love discussing this stuff back-and-forth. You're probably right, even if one Fuggles' parent was a Goldings variety, the other half of its genes can produce
very different brewing characteristics. Again, Chinook is a perfect example.
But back to the OP: if your "wild" hops are descended from cultivated hops, that almost certainly connects them to Fuggles/Styrian Goldings.
Unless--and this is another really cool possibility--they happen to be even older, a naturally Verticillium Wilt-resistant descendent of German noble varieties.
From
The Breeding and Parentage of Hop Varieties by Ing. Gerard W. Ch. Lemmens,
Fuggle was so extensively grown throughout the U.K. that by 1949 it reached 78% of the total English crop. In the 20th Century, it was grown in the U.S., Tasmania, Canada, Belgium, Austria and Yugoslavia (now Slovenian Republic). I mention Yugoslavia because it is not called Fuggle there but Styrian Golding. The reason for this mishap in names is as follows: In the 1930s, the Yugoslavian hop industry went down with a Verticillium Wilt strain that affected their aroma hops which were of German origin. They then looked to the U.K. for new plant material and thought that they had chosen an English Golding, hence called it Styrian (originally Steirer, after a hop growing area on the Austrian/Yugoslavia border) Golding. (page 14)
...Styrian Golding (Austria, Slovenian Republic)
In the former country of Yugoslavia, hops were grown in two districts, one near Lake Bled in the Savinja Valley and the other in Backa near Zagreb. Styrian
(Steirer) Golding are grown on the border of Austria and the Savinja Valley. By genetics they are true English Fuggles, which are grown seedless. Hence, they are slightly higher in alpha acid content, ranging from 4.0-6.0%. The beta acids are very similar to Fuggles, 2.0-3.0% and the cohumulone is 28%.
The Savinja Valley suffered badly in the early 1930s from a disease which devastated their (German origin) aroma cultivars. This resulted in a visit to England to obtain and English aroma variety. They thought they had selected a Golding, so they called it Styrian or Steirer Golding unaware it was a Fuggle they had selected. (page 19)
