I made a brew this weekend and realized after I was done that the alpha acids on the US Saaz i was using was 8.1%! This seemed extremely high for this type of hop so I sent an inquiry to Hopunuion to see if the package was mislabeled. I haven’t heard back from them yet and was wondering if anyone has come across this and can provide an answer?
Man that seems crazy high. Should be closer to 4%.
The wiki page on Saaz shows the Czech variety is in the 2-4%. American variety in the 6-7%. quoted from Hopsdirect.
Well, that explains it for me. I’ve only used the Czech variety before.
Yeah, it sucks but it’s another thing you should check. I had a close call not too long ago when I was brewing a Mild and at the last minute I looked at the package to reveal that the hops I had were 2.5% points lower than I expected. This was already pretty low on the IBUs so this could have been trouble I think, but I corrected with some other hops on hand to get the right 60 minute charge.
