UK grown (commercially) Cascade any good??

[techtone]

Used to love cascade (hophead etc) and made a few batches with the hops grown in the USA. Obviously everyone else decided they love them too so the price shot up. So got myself some UK grown cascade and wondering if anyone has any opinions on how they compare or what to look for in any differences, subtle or otherwise. Brew is actually on the boil right now. Simple recipe 93% mo and 7% wheat for head retention. Using 100g of UK cascade, 20g for the boil and 80g in the last 20 minutes. So far, seems to have plenty of oils and the familiar aroma. Will update with my observations but interested in any others, whilst I wait

[scuppeteer]

I love English Cascade, a much more refined and more subtle hop than its American sister. With English you don't get any of the unpleasant (to some) "catty" aromas and flavour. Although I have been informed there are 4 different cultivars of Cascade in the US, so maybe we got the nicer one. I do find the Kent and Sussex grown hops superior to Hereford and Worcester, but I may be bias as I buy direct from my local Sussex farmer.
As with any English hop you have to know how to use it to get the best from it, so if you brew again I would dump a load in the last minute or 2 of boil and maybe a steep addition below 75C. A 20 minute addition won't let it shine quite as it should. But it will still be a tasty brew.

[orlando]

I would go with scups advice but also hold some back to dry hop, suspect the advice is way too late, so next time maybe.

[techtone]

Thanks for the replies, I'm still watching the thread! Will give an update when I keg in a week or so. (give or take Christmas ) When I said "80g in the last 20 minutes" I meant during the last 20 minutes not all in with 20 to go. Didn't dry hop (or steep) this time though. Certainly got lots of aroma on brew day and getting something nice from the air lock, so should be good.


P.S. I had assumed the UK brewers used USA Cascade, just because I wasn't aware we grew so much here. I wonder how many UK brewers actually do use UK Cascade too???

[techtone]

Just kegged and had a 1/4 pint sample. Quite impressed so far, reasonable aroma and a little citrus orange bite to the taste. Very comparable to the US variety if a little more subdued. Obviously not a hop monster with 100g but should be a decent drink. Will see if anything more to report after a couple of weeks conditioning.

[Hanglow]

The slovenian and New Zealand grown versions of it are worth checking out too

[saintmatty]

I have Cascade from Germany (Hallertau and Spalt), France, England and USA right now. I have used NZ Cascade (Taiheke) and Styrian Cascade before. All are not as good as the USA version but still good in their own way.

I have seen Cascade from Poland, Australia, Argentina, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden available online but have not tried them yet.

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[Robwalkeragain]

I love English Cascade, a much more refined and more subtle hop than its American sister. With English you don't get any of the unpleasant (to some) "catty" aromas and flavour. Although I have been informed there are 4 different cultivars of Cascade in the US, so maybe we got the nicer one. I do find the Kent and Sussex grown hops superior to Hereford and Worcester, but I may be bias as I buy direct from my local Sussex farmer.
As with any English hop you have to know how to use it to get the best from it, so if you brew again I would dump a load in the last minute or 2 of boil and maybe a steep addition below 75C. A 20 minute addition won't let it shine quite as it should. But it will still be a tasty brew.

Tbh i think the key there is direct from farm, not so much the growing region although obviously that has an effect. I know more and more brewers going directly to farm or via a good retailer like simplyhops as the bigger wholesalers seem to lose quality in transit/storage and have a habit of tying up good hops with contracts. Ours sold a bunch off half price a while ago, turns out they’d had a chiller breakdown..
As for OP, I love UK cascade and I don’t like US Cascade! I find it much more floral and lychee without the sagey citrus so it makes a fantastic bitter with some goldingey sweetness

[asd]

We get a very nice Cascade here in Norfolk.

[PeeBee]

Interesting. 20-30 years ago Cascade was the best of the bunch (of American hops) but they were getting over-used in UK beer and many people were getting fed up with them (they were very recognisable). Other types of American hops got slated in the few home-brewing books available at the time (often described as "coarse") yet such hops had been used for decades to plump out the hops used in some commercial UK beers.

Now we have many striking hops from the US and elsewhere, and among them the old Cascade has snuck back in favour it seems. To be honest I couldn't pin-point Cascade in beer amongst the huge variety of new hops anymore whereas previously anyone's' granny could have done that.

As for whether they are better grown in the US or UK …

Consider Styrian Goldings - the result of unscrupulous merchants selling "rank" Fuggle root stocks as "Goldings". The same hops grown in different countries to different practices are going to be (perhaps very) different. Which is best will be down to personal preference but for me I've got to get over the prejudices developed in the 1980s first just to have Cascades available.

[asd]

Fuggles are greatly underrated as a hop.

[PeeBee]

Fuggles are greatly underrated as a hop.

But I'm referring back to times when there was "Goldings" (and a handful of others like various Whitebine varieties) and "Fuggles". But not too far back, Fuggles only joined the pack in 1875. Back then Fuggles wouldn't have rated as highly as some.

https://www.britishhops.org.uk/varieties/fuggle/