Talk:Saaz hops

Comment
Added actual content to this article instead of redirecting straight to the main Hops article -- JudgeNik

History of Saaz
I once read in a book some of the history of Saaz. Apparently when it was first cultivated, it was a crime punishable by death to try to export the rhizomes needed to grow it outside the Bohemian/Czech area (because of its distinct place in their beers and the money generated off selling the hops). I'd love to add it to the article, but I don't have any sources and can't recall the book. I thought it was an interesting tidbit on how prized a hop this was. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.228.81.222 (talk) 21:13, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Beer history is difficult at the best of times. Reliable extensive sources are hard to find. The Plzen style did not fully mature until the Czech brewers combined their Plzen barley with German lager yeast, and lagering storage. Most or all of the German hops were noble anyway, such as Hersbrucker. Not quite as good as Saaz, but similar. Pilsner is a strain of barley that makes a highly fermentable wort with little sugar residue. The beer is light and dry on the palate. While Saaz may be low in acid, Pilsners can be quite bitter as there is very little residual sugar. You just boil more leaf for longer to make it more bitter. Urquell, the first Pilsner, is very bitter. I understand that cultivated noble hops are all propagated by female rhizomes. All males were killed off several hundred years ago. It was though that fertilized cones were inferior. English hop cones are usually fertilized at harvest.